Corrine Bailey Rae is a British singer-songwriter whose debut album in 2006 was a commercial success, but who stepped back from music after her husband's accidental death in 2008. Her 2016 single "Stop Where You Are" encourages living in the present moment and finding happiness where you are. The song's lyrics tell the listener not to wait for perfect conditions to be happy, but to appreciate life's beauty, pain, and joy in each moment. The music video for the song depicts a diverse group of people from different classes, ages, and backgrounds coming together in an act of human kindness on a London housing estate.

1. STOP WHEREYOU ARE
Corrine Bailey Rae

2. Corrine Bailey Rae's music background:
• Back in 2006 she was a rising star, full of promise and excitement.
• She then released this;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjOhZZyn30k
• She was a bright, young thing like Kate Nash / Emile Sande etc.
• Music was a hybrid of soul / pop, with a strong British vibe.
• She's from Leeds
• She was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2006. She released her
debut album in 2006 and became the fourth female British act in history to have her first
album debut at number one.
• In 2007 she was nominated for 3 Grammy awards, 3 Brits and 2 MOBO’s.

3. Where has she been?
• In 2008, her husband died of an accidental overdose of methadone and alcohol. It
was totally unexpected and it took her a long to emerge from the grieving process.
• She channelled her inner emotion into her music, and much of her work was now
influenced by this experience.
• ‘StopWhereYou Are’ was released in 2016 as a single from the album ‘The Heart
speaks inWhispers’.

4. Lyrics:
Tender is the light that shines on you
Gentle is the morning made anew
Delicate, the grace we’ve come into
My love
Wonder why you wish your life away
Waiting for the perfect boat to take
Waiting for the perfect wind to sail away
Life’s shining around you
Don’t miss a day
If you’re caught up in the chase
You hold your happiness away from you
Stop where you are
Under fading stars
This is the world we’ve made
There is no better place, it’s true
Light a fire where you are
Underneath a blanket of the cold
Lying in the dark, your seed will grow
Miracles just like a winter rose will be
Give up all the things you can’t control
Still yourself and watch them come and go
Wherever you are, you’ll find you’re home at last

5. What has CBR said about the song:
‘Sometimes we hold our happiness away from ourselves because were waiting for
the perfect moment and we say ‘When I get this job, ill be happy.When I lose this
weight, ill be happy.When I get a partner, ill be happy. So I really wanted to write
this song, which is about being in the moment and being present, and stopping and
ritualising the moment, celebrating it. I love the image of being in darkness and
lighting a fire and saying ‘Here we are together.This is the life with all its pain, all its
agony, all its beauty, all of its joy.This is it, this is what we have, this is the world that
we have made.’
‘StopWhereYou Are’ is about being present, stopping and celebrating what's
happening right at this very moment.

6. Notes on the music video:
• Setting – London, housing estate, low social demographic
• Themes – equality, class, helping each other, homelessness
• Class – long high shot looking down on the lower class
• Age – 12 – 40, wide range of ages
• Gender – men and women come together, homeless woman and suited man,
genderless identities
• Ethnicity – multi-cultural, mixed ethnicity
• Icons – red dress
• Characters – 12. e.g. man in the suit, homeless woman, dancers