Garrett Nash, known professionally as gnash, has never shied away from talking about his struggles with mental health in his songs. His latest singles “outside” and “inside” discuss the current climate of the world and the toll it can take on your mind.
“Outside” characterizes it best in my opinion (and is my personal favorite of the two). Soft acoustics back gnash’s distinctive voice. The chorus talks about how it’s scary to do a lot of things like take a drive, be alone at night, go to school, read the news and just go outside. While this song isn’t really fast at all, the tempo increases just a little when gnash sings about all of the things to be scared of, and then comes to a halt as he then sings “Oh wait, what were we talking about?” That moment reminds me of your thoughts and emotions spiraling out of control until something pulls you out of it.
At the very end of the song, gnash discusses what it might be like to be a child right now. If we’re all scared as adults, how must a small child be feeling about this and what kind of emotional baggage could it come with later?
While “outside” strikes a chord with both the pandemic and protests being a major source of stress, “inside” is an introspective song taking the form of a stream of consciousness. The phrase “I don’t like who I am sometimes” loops through the song and is reminiscent of the little voice we all have proclaiming that we aren’t good enough. Gnash vows to change some of those things throughout the song.
Overall the two songs encapsulate two main emotions together beautifully: fear and hope. Fear of what is going to happen next this year and the hope that it will all get better soon. I really enjoyed these two songs and how bluntly gnash put his emotions out into these songs. Being able to listen to something so relatable has helped make this situation a lot easier.
Stream “outside/inside” on all platforms here.