From the recording We Don't Go Outside Anymore
released February 4, 2022
Written, performed, recorded by Henning at Rub Wrongways Records.
Cover art: Max Germer
Lyrics
There’s a guy wearing shoes going door to door
Looking for someone to tie ‘em.
There’s a woman in the sun with a head full of tears
Looking for some place to cry ‘em.
And I’m in the hallway away from all the doors
Cause I don’t go outside anymore
No, we don’t go outside anymore
Frozen in the light there’s a goose in mid flight
Is it leaving or is it returning?
Does this happen every night? You fly the moon like a kite.
I can’t tell you the things I’ve been learning
I’m in the bedroom lying on my back
Stuck between the ceiling and the floor
Cause I don’t go outside any more
Don’t go outside, maybe, baby, maybe we’ll survive.
On the window pain there’s a memory of a stain
From a candle that used to be burning
The wax all disappeared. It’s somewhere in the air
Don’t you find that a little concerning
I’m in a funk after breathing in that junk
It’s built up and I’m coated for sure
Cause we don’t go outside any more
There's a parade on the sidewalk, people with no faces.
Each one looks colder than the last one
They’re all heading one direction, but they’re all from different places
And dressed in last season’s fashion
And I’m on the staircase, one foot in the air
Securing the deadbolt on the door
Cause we don’t go outside anymore
Don’t go outside, baby, maybe, maybe we’ll survive.
There’s a man wearing camouflage. He wants to stand out
He also wants to let you know that he got you.
He’s shaking his fist as he’s jumping off a cliff
All because someone told him not to
And I’m on the sofa soaking in Get Back.
Distraction is greater than cure
Cause we don’t go outside anymore
See two neighbors meet. One walks across the street.
They wave, duck their heads, and keep moving
Don’t like the eyes on that tree, the way it’s looking at me.
What’s all this nature think that it’s proving?
I’m in the basement scratching out these lines on a subject I’d like to ignore
But we don’t go outside anymore
Don’t go outside, baby, maybe, maybe we’ll survive.
Don’t go outside, baby, maybe, maybe we’ll survive.
Maybe just a step, maybe just a moment,
Maybe just to the end of the driveway.
Get some sunshine on our arms, we could walk around the block
Or to the underpass over by the highway.
Now we’re in the flowers buzzing in the field. The horizon with arms open wide
If you need us, we’ll be outside
What a nice bright thing to see at the end of the day