Outside by Childish Gambino Lyrics Meaning – An Odyssey of Adolescence in the Urban Labyrinth
Lyrics
I’m hopin’ that it’s ’cause I’m livin’ everythin’ I want
I used to wake up in a bed between my mom and aunt
Playin’ with this Land Before Time toy from Pizza Hut
My dad works nights, puttin’ on a stone face
He’s savin’ up so we can get our own place
In the projects, man that sounds fancy to me
They called me “fat nose,” my mom say, “You handsome to me”
Mrs. Glover ma’am, your son is so advanced
But he’s actin’ up in class and keeps peein’ in his pants
And I just wanna fit in, but nobody was helpin’ me out
They talkin’ hood shit and I ain’t know what that was about
‘Cause hood shit and black shit is super different
So I’m talkin’ hood shit and cool it now like New Edition
Mom and dad wouldn’t listen
They left the Bronx so I wouldn’t be that
All their friends in NY deal crack
It’s weird, you think that they’d be proud of ’em
But when you leave the hood
They think that you look down on ’em
The truth is we still struggle on a different plane
Seven dollars an hour, WIC vouchers, it’s all the same
Facebook messagin’ hopin’ that could patch up shit
But all they get now is, “Can your son read this script?”
There’s a world we can visit if we go outside
Outside, outside, we can follow the road
There’s a world we can visit if we go outside
Outside, outside, no one knows
There’s a world, there’s a world if we go outside
Outside, outside, we can follow the road
There’s a world, there’s a world if we go outside
Outside, outside, no one knows
Yeah
Dad lost his job, mama worked at Mrs. Winner’s
Gun pulled in her face, she still made dinner
“Donald watch the meter so they don’t turn the lights off”
Workin’ two jobs so I can get into that white school
And I hate it there
They all make fun of my clothes and wanna touch my hair
And my uncle on that stuff that got my grandma shook
Drug dealers roughed him up and stole his address book
He’s supposed to pay ’em back
He owe ’em money but his bank account is zero
So my momma made us sleep with Phillips heads under the pillow
Like that would do somethin’
But she’s got six kids, she’s gotta do somethin’
She don’t want me in a lifestyle like my cousin
And he mad ’cause his father ain’t around
He lookin’ at me now, like
“Why you so fuckin’ lucky? I had a father too
But he ain’t around so I’ma take it out on you”
We used to say, “I love you,” now we only think that shit
It feels weird that you’re the person I took sink baths with
Street took you over, I want my cousin back
The world sayin’ what you are
Because you’re young and black, don’t believe ’em
You’re still that kid who kept the older boys
From teasin’, for some reason
There’s a world we can visit if we go outside
Outside, outside, we can follow the road
There’s a world we can visit if we go outside
Outside, outside, no one knows
There’s a world, there’s a world if we go outside
Outside, outside, we can follow the road
There’s a world, there’s a world if we go outside
Outside, outside, no one knows
Can you hear me now?
Can you hear me now?
Oh, help us, Lord
Oh, I’m screamin’ baby, baby
Amidst the congested veins of contemporary music, Childish Gambino’s ‘Outside’ stands as a haunting tableau of urban childhood, the complexities of identity, and the strife-ridden rite of passage through societal and familial expectations. Through the lens of Gambino’s visceral verse and poignant imagery, this song dissects the narrative of dichotomy – the one lived within the confines of concrete walls and the dream of an existence beyond.
Like peeling layers from an onion, each verse of ‘Outside’ sheds light on the unspoken trials faced by countless youths in the cityscape. Gambino, with the finesse of a streetwise poet, compels us to acknowledge the double-edged sword of seeking a world outside the known while wrestling with the gravitational pull of where one comes from.
A Melancholy Echo of Dreams Deferred
Childish Gambino, the multifaceted artist born as Donald Glover, opens ‘Outside’ with a melancholic reflection on the fading of dreams. Where once the corridors of his mind brimmed with nocturnal fantasies, now lies an unsettling silence, possibly hinting at the loss of innocence or the burden of early maturity. The iconic reference to a childhood toy bridges the gap between his simple joys of youth and the underlying desire to escape socioeconomic confines.
Contemplating the familial sacrifice and the stone-faced endurance of his father, Gambino underscores an archetypal journey many face – the relentless grind to elevate beyond the assigned societal coordinates. Yet these coordinates, like gravity, hold a force over one’s trajectory, shaping perceptions and aspirations.
The Unseen Shackles of Community and Perception
Embedding his narrative in the concrete underbelly of New York’s Bronx, Gambino dissects the false sheen of ‘projects’ as seen through childlike eyes, contrasting it with the crude reality of derogatory labels and internalized community views. His recounting of academic potential soured by behavioral issues poses a poignant question on the interplay between intelligence and environment – how might one’s setting shape the opportunities and identities we are afforded?
This verse tugs at the threads of an insidious societal fabric – an observer from outside might see leaving the ‘hood’ as an escape and a step towards betterment, yet those within may view it as a betrayal, an act of growing apart cradled in judgment. In the struggle between connection and alienation, Gambino lays bare the shared struggle across the socioeconomic spectrum.
Unraveling the Knot: ‘Outside’s’ Underlying Message
Residing within the repetitive, ethereal chorus of ‘Outside’ is a core of yearning for exploration and breadth of existence. Symbolically, the ‘outside’ is more than a physical space – it represents uncharted emotional and intellectual territories. For Gambino, ‘outside’ is an elusive promise, a place unbound by the constraints of poverty and prejudice, a realm where dreams aren’t asphyxiated by the struggle to survive.
The song’s recursive cry to go ‘outside’ mirrors the Siren’s call, alluring yet distant. By weaving this call throughout the narrative of everyday hardship and familial challenges, Gambino not only accentuates the omnipresence of the desire to break free but also reflects juxtaposition; light vs. dark, hope vs. desperation, the known vs. the unknown.
The Crushing Weight of Expectation in Verse
Gambino doesn’t shy from exposing the raw underbelly of his youth – a childhood hemmed in by economic strain and the looming specter of violence. The anecdote of his mother’s encounter with a gun divulges a truth many know all too well – the fight for normalcy amidst chaos, the mother’s stoic resilience becoming both an anchor and a symbol of the ceaseless battle for survival and dignity.
Attending a predominantly white school exposes Gambino to a different battleground – one where cultural differences brand him an outsider, insensitive curiosities about his physical appearance mark him as an exhibit rather than a peer. Here, he captures a duality that countless individuals negotiate daily: the friction between the places we inhabit and the spaces we are forced into.
‘We Only Think That Shit’ – The Lingering Power of Memorable Lines
Gambino’s poignant examination of familial bonds transforming under duress unveils in the intimate illustration where love morphs from an openly expressed sentiment to a silent assumption. This shift encapsulates an evolution within, where harsh realities quench the youthful straightforwardness of emotion.
The line ‘Why you so fuckin’ lucky?’ stirs an emotional vortex around privilege, envy, and fate. Through his cousin’s eyes, Gambino is seen as the fortunate one – untouched by the dysfunction that claws at his cousin’s life. There’s irony in this sentiment. It’s a poignant acknowledgment of the relative nature of hardship and the complexity of family dynamics when aspirations diverge, creating an invisible chasm of experiences and worldviews.
