“Watching Strangers Smile” is the B-side of the Black Widow Spider 7" vinyl, released by Big Love Records, limited to only 100 copies.
The first public performance was aired on The Ellen Show on January 11, 2022. It was released on streaming services the next day.
[Verse 1]
Watching strangers smile
Never knew it was a privilege
Until the wide fearful eyes was all I saw
Filling out forms as the hold music loops
Now I've been trapped inside for weeks on end
My knees, my back, my brain all start to bend
[Verse 2]
City music makes me want to lose my mind
Like when it taunts me through the bite of summer evenings
Walk out the door to the store, buy a beer
And I'm so paranoid my mask will slip
I just can't seem to get a goddamn grip, a grip, a grip
[Bridge]
Do you think about luck and let her
Make the effort that you won't?
Do you have 20/20 vision?
I don't
[Instrumental Outro]
Watching Strangers Smile was produced by Rodaidh McDonald.
Parquet Courts released Watching Strangers Smile on Wed Sep 22 2021.