 Stephen was written by Kesha Sebert , in collaboration with her mother Pebe Sebert , David Gamson , and Oliver Leiber . The song was produced by Gamson with additional production by Leiber . Gamson played all the instruments on the song , with the exception of the accordion which was performed by Kesha . The song 's recording was commenced at ACME Recording , Long Island , California , and at <unk> Studios , Hollywood , California , by Gamson . Kesha told Rolling Stone that Stephen was one of her favorite tracks on the album . She explained that the song stemmed from her experiences with a man that she had been " stalking since [ she ] was 15 . " It was written when the singer was sixteen , in collaboration with her mother . She found David Gamson to produce the song . " He does all the keyboard stuff , he 's amazing , a crazy cynical genius guy , and he liked my voice and my thing , and I really liked his thing , so we decided to work together " she explained . 
