Exclusive: Hear James Blunt's New Single

Click to listen to James Blunt's Stay the Night.

James Blunt may be known for the once-ubiquitous ballad "You're Beautiful," but "Stay the Night," the lead track from his forthcoming LP, Some Kind of Trouble, is a jaunty, upbeat folk-rock track that recalls the Waterboys or Van Morrison more than the song that made him famous. (OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder, who wrote Beyonce's "Halo" and Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone," worked on the song with Blunt.)

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"Stay the Night" is the first release off five-time Grammy nominee Blunt's Some Kind of Trouble, which comes out on January 25. "It captures a bit of the mood of the early Eighties," Blunt says of the album. "There was a global atmosphere in the West that we could do anything — the same optimism we felt as teenagers. Some Kind of Trouble really captures that same sense of freedom and excitement and naivety." That's also a perfect description of the feel and sentiment of "Stay the Night."

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »

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