“Outside” is a song from Mariah's 1997 Butterfly album. “A lot of people could relate to it for a lot of different reasons,” Mariah told Molly Meldrum in 1997. “For me it was basically about being multiracial and feeling like I come from another planet because I never knew anyone in the exact same position as me in that way. And I know other people that are mixed, but somehow because of the way I look — because I'm kind of ambiguous looking, I could be anything really — the experiences that I've had made me feel like an outsider in a lot of ways in every situation that I'm in. Less now, but then things will turn up that will just kind of reinforce that inner feeling that rises every now and then.”
To commemorate the anniversary of the Butterfly album, Mariah included a previously-unreleased Acapella version of “Outside” on the 25th Anniversary Expanded Edition of the album.
| Song | Remix | Run time |
|---|---|---|
| Outside | Acapella |
4:16 |
It's hard to explain
Inherently it's just always been strange
Neither here nor there
Always somewhat out of place everywhere
Ambiguous
Without a sense of belonging to touch
Somewhere halfway
Feeling there's no one completely the same
Standing alone
Eager to just
Believe it's good enough to be what
You really are
But in your heart
Uncertainty forever lies
And you'll always be
Somewhere on the
Outside
Early on, you face
The realization you don't
Have a space
Where you fit in
And recognize you
Were born to exist
Standing alone
Eager to just
Believe it's good enough to be what
You really are
But in your heart
Uncertainty forever lies
And you'll always be
Somewhere on the
Outside
And it's hard
And it's hard
And it's hard
Irreversibly
Falling in between
And it's hard
And it's hard
To be understood
As you are
As you are
Oh and God knows
That you're standing on your own
Blind and unguided
Into a world divided
You're thrown
Where you're never quite the same
Although you try—try and try
To tell yourself
You really are
But in your heart—uncertainty forever lies
And you'll always be
Somewhere on the outside
Lyrics: M. Carey. Music: M. Carey, W. Afanasieff.
Produced by Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff. Co-produced by Cory Rooney.
