I didn't know what I would find
When I went looking for a reason, I know
I didn't read between the lines
And, baby, I've got nowhere to go
[Pre-Chorus]
I tried to take the road less traveled by
But nothing seems to work the first few times
Am I right?
[Chorus]
So how can I ever try to be better?
Nobody ever lets me in
I can still see you, this ain't the best view
On the outside looking in
I've been a lot of lonely places
I've never been on the outside
[Verse 2]
You saw me there, but never knew
That I would give it all up to be
A part of this, a part of you
And now, it's all too late, so you see
[Pre-Chorus]
You could've helped if you had wanted to
But no one notices until it's too late to do anything
How can I ever try to be better?
Nobody ever lets me in
I can still see you, this ain't the best view
On the outside looking in
I've been a lot of lonely places
I've never been on the outside
[Post-Chorus]
Oh, yeah
[Chorus]
How can I ever try to be better?
Nobody ever lets me in
And I can still see you, this ain't the best view
On the outside looking in
I've been a lot of lonely places
I've never been on the outside
[Outro]
Oh-oh
Oh, oh-oh
Oh-oh
Oh-oh
About
“The Outside” was written by Swift about loneliness. She wrote it when just she was 12 years old.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, she talked about this song:
It’s about what I was going through at the time. I was a complete outcast at school and never fit in, never felt like I belonged. A lot of times back then when I was 12 or 13, I would write songs about relationships, when I wasn’t in relationships, because I would look at other people and try to observe what they were going through. But in the case of ”The Outside,” I was writing exactly what I saw. I was writing from pain. And I’ve always felt so lucky, because I’ve never needed an escape like drinking or drugs or anything like that to escape from the bad days. Music has always been that escape for me.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
The journals released alongside Swift’s 2019 album Lover included journal entries with the lyrics to the song, dated February 13th and 14th, 2004.
Swift amusingly noted in those entries that she finished the track on Valentine’s Day because she had “nothing better to do”.
In the lyric booklet, Taylor declared, “you are not alone”.