Get Out And Stay Out Lyrics – 9 to 5
Get Out And Stay Out Lyrics
{spoken} If I want to have an affair, or smoke pot, or do M&M's, you can't stop me
Well, It's funny how you waltzed in here, assuming I'd come back
Well let me tell you something, you are way off track
Can't you see I'm different, or are you still that blind
No - you stand right there and take it, there's no love to hide behind
Well, I am proud to tell you I'm really feeling good.
I'm doing so much better than you ever thought I would.
Got my own place, my own space, to think and dream and plan
It took me this long to realize I do not need a man
I used to need you, then I finally learned
I used to want you, not the tables turned
I used to love you, now it's your time to squirm
Cause I'm saying goodbye and I won't wait for your return.
So get out and stay out, I've finally had enough
Don't kiss me on your way out, it wouldn't move me much
You used me, abused me, you cheated and you lied
So get out and stay out, I'm taking back my life
I wonder what you'll do when I am not around
Now that your new love has up and let you down
You've always come crying to me throughout the years
To mend another broken heart, to dry your selfish tears.
So get out and stay out, I'm moving on at last
Oh, I've been so foolish, but that was in the past.
I never thought I'd be the one to say goodbye
You get out and stay out, I'm taking back my life.
Dreams and plans are in the making
Success is out there for the taking
Wish it was as simple as it sounds
I have no choice I have to do it
Face the future, walk into it
Now that I'm unfettered and unbound
Get out and stay out, I've finally had enough
Don't kiss me on your way out, it wouldn't move me much
You used me, abused me, you cheated and you lied
So get out and stay out, I'm taking back my life
My life
Song Overview
“Get Out and Stay Out” is the 11 o’clock thunderbolt of 9 to 5: The Musical - Judy Bernly’s breakout where fear flips into resolve. On the cast album, Stephanie J. Block rides clean guitars and a wide orchestra into a full-body declaration. It lands like a door clicking shut and a window swinging open, a rallying cry with pop-country bite and Broadway lift.
Review & Highlights
This is the moment Judy stops auditioning for approval and starts writing her own script. The band tees up a steady backbeat, the verse talks straight, and then the chorus opens into ringing vowels you can feel in your ribs. As a theatre beat it’s catharsis; as a track it’s a self-respect anthem that travels. Key takeaways: conversational set-up, clean harmonic climb, and a final crest that’s built for sustained belt without losing clarity.
Verse 1
It begins in spoken rhythm - clipped phrases, frank punctuation - like a conversation you’ve rehearsed a thousand times in your head. Guitars stay dry, drums pocketed, strings only hinting at the scale to come.
Chorus
The hook hits with a simple thesis and an unambiguous beat. You can almost see the posture change - shoulders back, jaw set - as the harmony widens and the groove presses forward.
Exchange/Bridge
The bridge is the reckoning. Doubt gets named, then dismissed, while the arrangement lifts a semitone in spirit if not in key - more light, more air, more dare.
Final Build
Last chorus, last stand. The band swells, the vowels bloom, and the cutoff is surgical. No afterthoughts, no fade - just a line drawn clean.
Song Meaning and Annotations
The heart of it is agency learned in public. Judy walks up to the mic as the version of herself that used to apologize and leaves as the one who won’t.
“She says this part with a type of disbelief and exaggeration, as if she never thought she could be so happy.”That disbelief is the charge under the melody - shock turning into stance.
The lyric turns a private mantra into a room-sized promise. You hear the pivot from need to want to choice, and that sequence is the spine of the number.
“Judy fully realizes how much growth she has undergone... She enjoys that Dick is now feeling this instead of her, as karma takes its toll.”The phrasing stretches as the self-knowledge deepens.
It’s not naïve. The song nods to how hard change is even when it’s right.
“Wish it was as simple as it sounds.”That line lands like a bruise - honest, not hopeless - and the band answers by giving her more runway.
Genre-wise, it’s a Dolly Parton hybrid: pop mechanics, country idiom, Broadway architecture. The groove keeps you moving while the vowels invite ring and spin.
“She says it far more confidently and determined, ready to grab this success and follow her dreams.”Form follows character - tighter, brighter, bolder.
As storytelling, this is the key in Judy’s lock. The show needs her to stop reacting and start directing - and the orchestration obliges, stacking harmony like a crowd at her back.
“It was only after she left him did she find the happiness she desired.”Cause, effect, cadence.
And culturally, it’s the kind of cast-album cut that outlives its scene - an audition staple, a memeable yell, a gym playlist victory lap.
“Now it’s your time to squirm... I’m taking back my life.”The sentiment travels because the language stays plain.
Message
Draw a boundary, keep it, breathe. The song reframes leaving as construction rather than escape.
Emotional tone
From iron calm to bright defiance. The heat rises without the tempo rushing - confidence, not chaos.
Historical context
Written for Broadway by Dolly Parton, the number caps Judy’s arc in the 2009 production and has since become the show’s signature solo moment, echoed in West End and touring mounts.
Production
Produced by Dolly Parton and Stephen Oremus for the OBCR, with Alex Lacamoire co-producing and Frank Filipetti recording and mixing. Studio polish keeps the vocal front and the band punchy.
Instrumentation
Rhythm section, rhythm guitars, piano, sectional strings, brass lifts, and stacked ensemble support - a modern pit band recorded like pop-rock.
Analysis of key phrases and idioms
Direct imperatives (“get out and stay out,” “take it back”) invite clean diction and forward placement. The simplicity is a feature - it keeps the message frictionless.
About metaphors and symbols
Doors, tables turned, a “damn dam” earlier in the show - recurring images of control and flow. Here, the symbol is simpler: a line. Cross it and you’re out.
Creation history
Tracked for the Original Broadway Cast Recording at Legacy Recording Studios in New York, released first to digital, then on CD later that month. A live West End recording in 2020 enshrined the London company’s take, demonstrating how the song adapts across casts without losing its edge.
Key Facts
- Featured: Stephanie J. Block (Judy Bernly)
- Producers: Dolly Parton, Stephen Oremus - co-producer Alex Lacamoire; recording/mix by Frank Filipetti
- Composer/Lyricist: Dolly Parton
- Recorded: May 3-4, 2009 - Legacy Recording Studios, New York
- Release Date: July 14, 2009 - digital; July 28, 2009 - CD
- Genre: Broadway pop with country color
- Instruments: drums, bass, guitars, piano, strings, brass, ensemble vocals
- Label: Dolly Records - distribution via Artist2Market
- Mood: resolute, liberating, high-voltage
- Length: 4:19
- Track #: 17 on the Original Broadway Cast Recording
- Language: English
- Album: 9 to 5: The Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
- Music style: talk-sung verses into sustained belt chorus, pop-rock orchestration
- Poetic meter: accentual lines with iambic cadences in refrains
- © Copyrights: 2009 The Dolly Parton Company - sound recording ? Dolly Records
Questions and Answers
- Who sings “Get Out and Stay Out” on the cast album?
- Stephanie J. Block as Judy Bernly - her calling-card solo on the OBCR.
- Who produced the recording?
- Dolly Parton and Stephen Oremus produced, with Alex Lacamoire as co-producer and Frank Filipetti recording/mixing.
- When did it come out?
- Digital release landed July 14, 2009, with the CD following July 28, 2009.
- Are there other official versions?
- Yes - the West End Cast Recording (live, 2020) features Amber Davies on the number.
- Did the cast album get awards attention?
- It received a Grammy nomination for Best Musical Show Album at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.
Awards and Chart Positions
The album housing “Get Out and Stay Out” earned a Grammy nomination for Best Musical Show Album at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. On the charts, the OBCR peaked at 130 on the Billboard 200, 3 on Top Cast Albums, and 16 on Independent Albums.
| Category / Chart | Result / Peak | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Grammy Awards - Best Musical Show Album | Nominated | 52nd Annual Grammy Awards |
| Billboard 200 (album) | #130 | U.S. albums chart peak |
| Billboard Top Cast Albums (album) | #3 | U.S. cast albums chart peak |
| Billboard Independent Albums (album) | #16 | U.S. indie albums chart peak |
How to Sing Get Out and Stay Out?
- Vocal range & key: Commonly notated around Ab major, with a practical range roughly Ab3 to F#5 for Judy. It favors a chest-dominant mix that can bloom without spread.
- Breath map: Treat verse quatrains as two balanced phrases. In the chorus, save air for the sustained “stay out” - think appoggio, then release into the cutoff.
- Diction & groove: Keep consonants forward and rhythmic in the verses - speech-true. Open vowels on the chorus for ring, but anchor the tongue so words stay intelligible.
- Acting beats: Start grounded, not angry - conviction reads stronger than volume. Let pride color the timbre before power does.
- Practice keys: If Ab feels high early in the process, rehearse a step down in G or Gb, then return to show key once stamina sets.