"Let's Stay Together" is a man renewing a lease he has no intention of breaking. Al Green recorded it in 1971 with a vocal so tender it sounds like he is convincing himself as much as her. The question is whether she still wants the same future he does. The answer is not guaranteed. That uncertainty is what makes the declaration matter. Certainty has no dramatic tension. A man risking the question does.

Luther Vandross answered that question in 2003 before she could speak. Green left the contract open, trembling with possibility. Vandross closed every door. His version slowed down, filled the arrangement, and turned the question into a statement. He is not asking. He is telling her the decision has been made and she is going to be happy with it.