Mental illness is a serious issue that is rarely talked about in general, let alone rap music.
Oddisee outlines his purpose for the track in an interview with NPR:
There’s another song on the album, called “Waiting Outside,” that talks about mental illness. I mainly focus on mental illness in the A...
[Verse 1]
Been a hot minute, we ain't speak
Been a little while, we ain't fought
Guess you doing better than the last time we met up
When you ran away from feelings getting caught
Why you always got to get a grip?
When you ever gonna let it slip?
Bottle up your pride, never drinking what's inside
But when you ever gonna sip a thought?
Why you always gotta make a split?
What you say and how you feel don't ever fit
Ain't nobody watching, you can lay away the caution
This the perfect opportunity to vent
Say it while we're sitting in the dark
You don't need nobody else to talk
Talking to myself and my brain spoke back
When you finish trying to block
[Chorus]
I’ll be waiting on you
On the outside, after last call
I’ll be waiting on you
On the outside, after last call
I’ll be waiting on you
On the outside, after last call
I’ll be waiting on you
On the outside, after last call
[Verse 2]
Chat with I, myself and me
I never stop to asked what helping needs
It works for me and I don't work at it
Like some type of service to curve a habit
Don't believe in magic, shirts and sleeves
Rabbits and such as luck would have it
I am one of many to converse the tragic
And pride myself in the worst of me
That's a vital part in the art of blackness
We don't get depressed, we compress the sadness
Feeling anyway about a day's a privilege
Conversing to the doc to get expensive answers
Never visible but I could fill a room
With people of the sun who run away from feeling gloom
Anger is an illness that I'm tired of containing
That's why my mind's saying
[Chorus]
I’ll be waiting on you
On the outside, after last call
I’ll be waiting on you
On the outside, after last call
I’ll be waiting on you
On the outside, after last call
I’ll be waiting on you
On the outside, after last call
Instrumental
[Chorus]
I’ll be waiting on you
On the outside, after last call
I’ll be waiting on you
On the outside, after last call
I’ll be waiting on you
On the outside, after last call
I’ll be waiting on you
On the outside, after last call
Waiting Outside was written by Oddisee.
Waiting Outside was produced by Oddisee.
Oddisee released Waiting Outside on Fri Feb 24 2017.
https://twitter.com/ODDISEE/status/834468398444711936