“Stop and Stare” by OneRepublic

The premise of “Stop and Stare” by OneRepublic is a feeling of discontent the singer (Ryan Tedder) is experiencing. He feels as if his life is stagnating, and accordingly some drastic action has to be taken to rectify the situation. Or within the specific context of the song, the singer has realized that he has failed to achieve his dreams, but there is still opportunity to fulfill these aspirations.

And that brings us to the title of the track, “stop and stare”. This phrase seems to have two meanings in relation to the story being told. One is of course from a self-analytical perspective. What this means is that the singer is pausing to have a look at his life’s progress, as alluded to earlier. The other is that he is referring to the way people actually look at him. His discontent is not only inward, but it also outwardly manifests in the way people perceive him. He actually hints at this in the first verse when he states that “every glance is killing (him)”. 

As such, the narrator’s negative feelings about himself are obviously influenced by the way he feels other people perceive him also. Indeed he concludes the track by asking the audience ‘do they see what he sees’, as in questioning if they do recognize him as a failure.

Facts about “Stop and Stare”

• The songwriting team for this song includes Zach Filkins, Eddie Fisher, Ryan Tedder, Tim Myers, and Andrew Brown.
• It took the sole effort of popular Canadian music producer, Greg Wells to produce this track.
• “Stop And Stare” was released as the 2nd single of the band. It officially came out on the 29th of March 2007.
• This song is part of the band’s first studio album, called, Dreaming Out Loud, and it features as the third track on the album’s tracklist.
• Tedder revealed that he composed this tune in desperation.
• The music video that accompanies this song was released on 28th January 2008. It was filmed in California and directed by legendary film director – Anthony Mandler. This was the first collaboration between OneRepublic and Mandler.
• After its release, “Stop And Stare” became a prominent tune in many parts of the globe. In the U.S. for instance, the song was ranked at No.12 whereas, in the UK, it reached No.4.
• The track was equally successful in other regions, as it became a top-ten fixture on several other European nations’ charts, including the Czech Republic, where it ranked at No.2.
• In 2008, American musical group, Vitamin String Quartet (VSQ) released their version of “Stop And Stare”. German rock and roll ensemble, The Baseball, also covered this single in 2009.