Why Ringo Starr Compared Songs He Wrote for The Beatles to Sam Smith’s ‘Stay with Me’

Ringo Starr wrote songs for The Beatles that were not-starters. Ringo compared his rejected songs to Sam Smith’s “Stay with Me” for a very specific reason. The “You’re Sixteen” singer also discussed his evolution as a songwriter — and why he prefers to work with co-writers.

Ringo Starr wrote songs for The Beatles that felt familiar a la Sam Smith’s ‘Stay with Me’

With some notable exceptions like “Octopus’s Garden” and “Don’t Pass Me By,” very few of The Beatles’ songs were written or co-written by Ringo. During a 2015 interview with Goldmine, Ringo discussed why some of the tunes he wrote for the Fab Four garnered ridicule. “Well, you know it was very difficult at the beginning for me as a writer because we did have Lennon and McCartney,” he said.

“I used to write these songs and they would roll on the floor laughing because I’d just rewritten someone else’s song and I hadn’t realized it,” Ringo added. “Then you have a case of today where [Sam Smith] has rewritten Tom Petty’s melody [‘I Won’t Back Down].'”

Why Tom Petty received a songwriting credit on Sam Smith’s ‘Stay with Me’

Ringo was referring to a famous musical dispute. Rolling Stone reports Smith reached a settlement with Petty because Smith’s hit “Stay with Me” had a chorus similar to Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” Due to this controversy, Petty and “I Won’t Back Down” co-writer Jeff Lynne received writing credits for “Stay with Me.” While Smith acknowledged similarities between “Stay with Me” and “I Won’t Back Down,” their representatives said the resemblance between the two songs was unintentional.

The irony here is that “I Won’t Back Down” is a macho song about keeping on in the face of adversity, while “Stay with Me” is a very needy song about wanting someone else’s approval. Listening to “Stay with Me” now is also weird for other reasons. Firstly, it’s odd that one of the biggest ballads of the 2010s sounds a lot like a heartland rock hit from the 1980s. Also, “Stay with Me” is oddly chaste compared to later Smith singles like “Unholy.”

What Ringo Starr had to say about ‘It Don’t Come Easy’ and ‘Photograph’

Smith evolved over time as a songwriter, and so did Ringo. In his Goldmine interview, Ringo discussed his songwriting chops. “Finding my way as a songwriter has been a long process, really,” he said. “But I’d say in the last 20 years I’ve become really comfortable with writing.

“You know, I wrote ‘It Don’t Come Easy’ and then I wrote ‘Photograph’ and ‘Back Off Boogaloo,’ but that was over a five-year period,” he recalled. “There wasn’t a lot in between. Even on the Ringo album I was doing other people’s songs and then some I did with Vini [Poncia].” Ringo revealed that, although he has written songs without any help, he prefers to work with a writing partner.

Ringo and Smith both wrote songs that allegedly sounded too similar to previous songs but that didn’t stop them from becoming musical icons.