If You Stay cover art
Lyrics

If You Stay

Gabriela Marina · from Hidden Temptation · 2025 · 3:03

About this song

What If You Stay is about

A painfully honest song about making yourself smaller to keep someone. Phone face down, no questions asked: "If you stay, I'll stay smaller so nothing gets disturbed." Released as a single in December 2025, it also appears on Hidden Temptation.

If You Stay lyrics

I keep my phone face down at night
Like it won’t matter if it lights up
I tell myself I’m not waiting
But I never really shut it off

Your name feels heavier lately
Like it’s asking me to choose
I pretend I don’t notice
What I’m hoping you’ll do

I don’t ask
I don’t say
I just leave the space

If you stay
I’ll make it easy
I won’t ask you where you’ve been

If you stay
I’ll keep it quiet
Like it doesn’t mean a thing

I don’t need you to promise
I just need you close tonight
If you stay
I’ll be fine

I hear myself agreeing
Before I know what you said
Like I’m trying not to lose you
By needing less instead

I tell my friends I’m patient
Like it’s something I’m proud of
But patience feels like standing still
When I don’t know what I’m waiting on

I don’t push
I don’t pull
I just let it happen
If you stay
I’ll make it easy
I won’t ask you where you’ve been

If you stay
I’ll keep it quiet
Like it doesn’t mean a thing

I don’t need you to promise
I just need you close tonight
If you stay
I’ll be fine

Maybe wanting less
Feels safer somehow
Maybe silence is the price
Of keeping you around

I don’t need a future
I don’t need a sign
I just need this moment
To feel like mine

If you stay
I won’t reach for more
I’ll pretend this doesn’t hurt

If you stay
I’ll stay smaller
So nothing gets disturbed

I don’t need you to choose me
I don’t need you to decide
If you stay
I’ll be fine

I say it like I mean it