Tonight’s singer is a free spirit. He tells the woman he loves: if you want me to stay, I’ll stay. But I have to be myself.
Learn from Songs · Unit 9a: Zero and first conditionals · B1
If You Want Me to Stay
Sly Stone’s cool, funky song about freedom and staying: the first conditional (If you want me to stay, I’ll be around), want / ask / tell someone to do, and as long as and provided that, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
Sounds like a cat.
SOPHIA
A very cool cat. The bass line is one of the most famous in funk music. Listen to how relaxed it is.
DEMETRIA
If he wants to stay, he’ll have to be on time.
Before you listen: the song
San Francisco, 1973
Sly Stone (Sylvester Stewart) was a radio DJ, producer and multi-instrumentalist from the San Francisco Bay Area. His band, Sly and the Family Stone, was one of the first major American bands with Black and white musicians, men and women, playing together. Their songs, like “Everyday People” and “Dance to the Music”, mixed soul, rock and funk.
“If You Want Me to Stay” is on the album Fresh (1973), and it reached number 12 in America. Sly played many of the instruments himself, and the famous, relaxed bass line is by Rusty Allen. The song has been recorded by many other artists since.
In the song, he tells her: if she wants him to stay, he’ll be around. But he needs to be free to be himself. If he goes away, she shouldn’t try to find him; he’ll come back when he is ready.
Love lets people be themselves.
Listen: the conditions
PHILO
Listen once. What will he do if she wants him to stay? What does he need?
SOPHIA
Listen to the bass. Then answer Section A.
🎸 Listen to the song: “If You Want Me to Stay” (Sly Stone, 1973), by Sly and the Family Stone.Find the recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “If You Want Me to Stay”, Sly and the Family Stone.Read the lyrics →
First conditional
MARCOS
If you want me to stay, I’ll be around. If I go, I’ll come back.
SOPHIA
If + present simple, will + infinitive. The if part can come first (with a comma) or second (no comma): I’ll stay if you want me to.
Want / ask / tell someone to do
DEMETRIA
She wants him to stay. He asked her to wait. I told them to be quiet.
SOPHIA
want / ask / tell / expect + person + to + infinitive. Never “she wants that he stays”. Negative: She told him not to go.
As long as, provided that
PHILO
I’ll stay as long as you let me be myself. I’ll come provided that you’re there.
SOPHIA
as long as / provided (that) / providing = only if, on this condition. They also take the present simple: You can borrow it as long as you bring it back.
Sophia’s comparison: Jacob’s conditions
PHILO
Jacob made a vow at Bethel: if God is with me and keeps me safe on this journey, and gives me bread to eat and clothes to wear, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then I will serve him.
SOPHIA
And Odysseus stayed seven years with Calypso on her island. She wanted him to stay for ever, but he wanted to go home. In the end, Zeus told her to let him go.
MARCOS
Wanting someone to stay isn’t enough.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| If + present simple, will + infinitive | first conditional | If you want me to stay, I’ll be around. |
| want / ask / tell + person + to + infinitive | wanting others to act | She wants him to stay. |
| tell + person + not to | negative | She told him not to go. |
| as long as / provided (that) | only if | as long as you let me be myself |
| will… if… (no comma) | other order | I’ll stay if you want me to. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. What will he do if she wants him to stay?
2. What does he need?
3. What is famous about the song?
4. Which album is it on?
5. What was special about the band?
6. Where was Sly Stone from?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. If you want me to stay, I be around.
8. She wants to stay. (him)
9. He asked her wait.
10. She told him to go.
11. You can borrow it as as you bring it back.
12. I’ll come provided you’re there.
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “She wants that he stays.”
14. “I’ll stay if you want me to.”
15. “I’ll lend it to you as long as you will return it.”
16. “My mother told me not to be late.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Conditions. You are a famous musician. A city wants you to stay and play. Make your conditions: I’ll stay as long as…, provided that…, If you want me to…, you’ll have to…
Discuss. 1. Is it possible to love someone and still be free? 2. What do your parents want you to do, and what do you want to do? 3. Why are some bass lines so famous?
Write (100–120 words). My conditions. Write the rules for sharing a room (or a house) with you. Use as long as, provided that, want / ask someone to, and if.
Now play the gamebook: a famous musician, and his conditions.Play the gamebook →