Key
from Candor
2023

Although the basic chord structure of this song was something I came up with in the 90s, Outside as a complete song concept was written during the first part of the pandemic — somewhere in mid-2020. The original demo for the piece began as early as 2016. It was one of those ideas that I initially did only a minimal amount of work on, in this case, a simple piano part, then but then it was put away to be forgotten about for a while.
In 2020, I pulled it out as again I was assessing incomplete projects, and there were suddenly lyrics in my head to be written. I must have been having a bad day, because the lyrics were quite dark and depressing. I tried a few things, experimented with it as a drum & bass piece, lost inspiration and then back on the shelf it went again.
Then early in 2023, as I was again scouring my drives for projects for Candor, I did some more work on it. I retooled the lyrics to take away some of the darkness and so in this iteration, the choruses in the song become increasingly more hopeful, in spite of the verses still being a little ominous.
Essentially, the song turned out to be, as one friend put it, ‘a love song to humanity’. During and since the pandemic, many of us became genuinely ill; either physically, mentally or emotionally. Things seemed bleak and everything seemed terrible. But with a little determination and insight and the will to stick together with the people who support you, things can be overcome. And even though you may not be the same person you were again, you can move forward better and perhaps stronger.
The song was always called Outside, since the original work was done. But the duality and similarities of being confined in a pandemic lockdown as well as being confined in your mind because of the way you feel, the title became a central lyrical point of the piece. Stylistically, the song is inspired heavily by Depeche Mode, both in musicality and lyrical tone.
I advance-released Outside to my Bandcamp page in March 2023.
Outside (Demo)
Key
The pre-album release which is essentially has demo vocals, otherwise not much different than the later version.
Outside
Key
The final album version from Candor.
Outside (Album Instrumental)
Key
Credits
written, produced and arranged by Key.
Lyrics
I’ve shown you illusion, people
It’s what you wanted to see
But believe me, people
It’s not really me
I’ve got my own world, people
Cut off in my mind
To reveal the truth, people
Would feel like a crime
I feel the sorrow
I feel the pain
I want to feel joyful
Like childhood again
Forgive all my worries
Forgive all my cries
I’m just a trapped soul
Please let me outside
You know we’re so tired, people
Of travelling blind
It’s wearing us down, people
We’re getting left behind
It feels like the end, people
Like we’ve all had our best
It’s like we’ve got nothing left, people
No solace, no rest
We’re scared of this world
We’re scared and we hide
We’re locked in our cupboards
We’re trapped in our minds
But refuse to give in
And ride out the tide
We must wait out the storm
Until it subsides
So forgive all our worries
Forgive all our cries
We’re all poor lost souls
Just living a lie
We refuse to give in
We’re not standing by
We’ve opened the door
And we’re going outside