Please Stay by Jake Runestad

Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs - Treble Singers (Grades 9 - 12)
www.angelicaca...
Conducted by Philip Brown
Soloist: Caroline Flaten
Recorded on Dec. 16, 2017
Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, MN
These singers represent high schools all over the Twin Cities area. They rehearse one a week at the Bloomington Center for the Arts.
To Write Love On Her Arms is a nonprofit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. Their 2016 campaign for World Suicide Prevention Day was titled “And So I Kept Living.” Using the hashtag #IKeptLiving, thousands of individuals who battle depression shared their stories on Twitter as to why they chose to live. I read through and collected hundreds of the tweets and used them to inspire the text for this work. “Please Stay” is an anthem for hope - an attempt to destigmatize mental illness and challenge all of us to support those who are battling depression and thoughts of suicide. You are not alone. We can make a difference. We can be the support system that saves a life. -Jake Runestad
Please Stay
No! Don’t go!
Don’t let your worst day be your last.
The storm is strong, but it will pass.
You think you can’t go on another day,
But please stay. Just stay.
Hope is real. Help is real.
You are breath, you are life,
You are beauty, you are light.
Your story is not over.
You are not a burden to anyone.
Please stay. Just stay.