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).
Tracklist:
- I Stay Away
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)
