I Stay Away is a song from Alice in Chains‘ 1994 EP Jar of Flies, and the second single from the album released on March 1994. This song marked the first time the band wrote with bassist Mike Inez. The single reached No. 10 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks, and stayed in the chart for 26 weeks. I Stay Away was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1995. The song was included on the compilation albums Nothing Safe: Best of the Box (1999), Music Bank (1999), Greatest Hits (2001), and The Essential Alice in Chains (2006).
Jerry Cantrell said of the song:
“That was the first time we’d written with Mike Inez, which makes this another special song. The whole Jar of Flies EP proved to both us and the fans what a talented and valid part of the band Mike was. He plays the nastiest, darkest shit but he’s got the sweetest heart in the world.”
The track is notably softer than Alice in Chains‘s previous recordings on both Facelift and Dirt; however, despite the bright opening guitar riff and verse, the song’s pre-chorus suddenly detours into dark, sludgy electric guitar and a haunting vocal harmony. The chorus then reintroduces the upbeat tones with powerfully long drawn vocals and anxious violins performed by Matthew Weiss, Co-founder, President, Concertmaster of the Octava Chamber Orchestra in Seattle, WA. A hard rock electric guitar solo then plays amidst the bright acoustic section.
I Stay Away also uses a great deal of instrumentation that Alice in Chains had previously not attempted, including string instruments. It also effectively demonstrates the harmony between vocalist Layne Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell.
Tracklist UK release
- I Stay Away
- Don’t Follow
The music video for I Stay Away was released in May 1994 and was directed by Nick Donkin, also known for his animated short film The Junky’s Christmas. The video was created entirely using stop motion animation, and includes the band members in puppet form. The band travels to a circus aboard a bus, along with a sinister looking boy holding a jar full of flies.
At the circus, the boy releases the flies that cause chaos to the animals and performers: an angry lion mauls its tamer, a daredevil loses control of his motorcycle during a stunt and crashes, two elephants panic, a trio of clowns crash their car and get in a fight, and a blindfolded knife thrower inadvertently kills his female assistant.
Eventually, the circus burns down with the workers looking on in horror. Once the flies return to their jar, we see the boy petting them as a reward for a job well done. The video is available on the home video release Music Bank: The Videos.
The puppets used in the video are on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland, Ohio.
Alice in Chains
Layne Staley: lead vocals
Jerry Cantrell: guitars, vocals
Mike Inez: bass guitar
Sean Kinney: drums, percussion
Additional Performers
April Acevez: viola
Rebecca Clemons-Smith: violin
Matthew Weiss: violin
Justine Foy: violoncello
Layne Staley (August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002)
