“Outside” by Skuttlefuzz is a song about remembering things that have passed on. It is about how things you leave behind can consume you if you do not address them.
Skuttlefuzz talks in the first person throughout the song, through a mostly unstructured story. He refers to a few different experiences that do not directly follow a linear pattern but still relate to both each other and the overarching theme.
Rippling is a common motif throughout the song. “Time ripples in my mind” repeats in the chorus, referring to how past events slowly consume other thoughts, like ripples and slowly consume a pond. The last line in the song, “Skipping stones on a shallow tide,” repeats that motif in a similar context.
“Roll up my sleeves/My palms/Consumed by thoughts” are the first few lines in the song. The third line is the most direct lyric in the song, confirming the theme, but the first couple lyrics do not make as much sense until the lines “Dressed loose thread/Undone” later in the song, and the line on skipping stones.
The first three lines could be comparing holding on to the stone to holding on to those memories, and throwing those stones to ignoring those memories. Holding on will make you unravel, but ignoring them will consume you.
I chose this song because I felt he did not get enough attention despite how good his music was. I felt that this could be a good way to give him some eyes.
Skuttlefuzz is a bedroom pop artist, who is most well known for the track “Memory Box” from the short film of the same name made by Emmy Stork. Despite not being on any label, he still managed to gain a small audience of around three thousand monthly listeners on Spotify.
You can find “Outside” on most major streaming services.