Inside Out
Surface 2 Air Lyrics

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You're the cage that's locking away the obscene.
Tell me, can you feel it eating at the inside of your skin?
I can see your eyes are screaming the sound your mouth won't make,
Because it's bleeding the secret you try to keep.

How can you say that you're okay
When the only comfort you find, is isolating yourself inside?
Feed the fear. Tighten the chain. You play right into his hands. Exaggeration is the game he plays.

The secret never goes away if you keep it inside.
It grows and grows until you can't handle it's size.
It never goes away if you run and hide.
Growing, destroying until you live inside out.

Your body aches; begins to break. It's got to find a way out somehow,
At the seams, your skin is ripping.
Initiate; open the gate,
Before it explodes and destroys you in unwanted release.

You're the cage that's locking away the obscene.
Tell me, has it still been feeding at the inside of your skin?

You're still hanging on to the fear of purchasing freedom;
It's so relieving. But the price tag turns your eyes away.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Surface 2 Air's song Inside Out depicts the struggle of keeping a secret inside, and the impact it can have on one's mental health. The first stanza portrays the confinement and the unbearable feeling of being locked up, knowing that something inside is eating away at one's soul. The individual suppresses their emotions and refrains from speaking up, leaving their eyes to silently scream the truth. Keeping secrets takes a toll on the body and can be felt physically, as stated in the second verse, where the body begins to break and tear apart, almost like the suppression becoming too much to handle.

The chorus highlights the fear that one experiences in keeping a secret inside. The fear builds up, creating a chain reaction destroying everything in its path until the secret is revealed or released. The bridge warns against the high stakes of keeping secrets inside from growing and destroying everything from the inside. The final verse shows a potential way of breaking the cycle- purchasing freedom from the isolation that the secret creates, but it comes at a price that the person is not willing to pay. The song's lyrics and melody leave a lasting impact, leaving the listener in deep reflection about the consequences of keeping secrets.

Line by Line Meaning

You're the cage that's locking away the obscene.
You're restraining and concealing things that are considered shameful and immoral.

Tell me, can you feel it eating at the inside of your skin?
Can you sense the emotional and psychological distress that's gradually consuming you from within?

I can see your eyes are screaming the sound your mouth won't make,
Your nonverbal cues reveal that you're going through unbearable pain that you can't explicitly express.

Because it's bleeding the secret you try to keep.
Because it's causing the concealed and shameful information to leak out

How can you say that you're okay
How can you claim to be fine

When the only comfort you find, is isolating yourself inside?
When the only way you can endure the pain is by withdrawing into isolation?

Feed the fear. Tighten the chain. You play right into his hands. Exaggeration is the game he plays.
You're fueling your anxieties by overreacting, which makes it easier for whoever is exploiting you to manipulate you.

The secret never goes away if you keep it inside.
The concealed information will forever weigh on you if you don't reveal it.

It grows and grows until you can't handle it's size.
It intensifies and becomes harder to bear as time goes by.

It never goes away if you run and hide.
It will forever persist if you evade confronting it.

Growing, destroying until you live inside out.
It will continue to malign and destroy you until it takes over every aspect of your life.

Your body aches; begins to break. It's got to find a way out somehow,
Your physical and mental health are deteriorating, and you must address the issue to improve your well-being.

At the seams, your skin is ripping.
The pressure you're under is causing physical harm to you.

Initiate; open the gate,
Take action and begin to confront the issue.

Before it explodes and destroys you in unwanted release.
Before it unleashes its destruction on you in a violent and uncontrolled manner.

You're still hanging on to the fear of purchasing freedom;
You're reluctant to face the facts and acknowledge the truth about your situation for fear of the consequences.

It's so relieving. But the price tag turns your eyes away.
It's tempting to want to escape your problems, but the cost is too high, so it's easy to ignore it.

Contributed by Gavin W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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