The Outsider (A Perfect Circle song)

"The Outsider"
Single by A Perfect Circle from the album Thirteenth Step
Released	2003
Genre	Alternative
Length	04:06
Producer	Billy Howerdel Maynard James Keenan (Executive)
A Perfect Circle singles chronology
"Weak and Powerless" (2003) "The Outsider" (2003) "Blue" (2004)

"The Outsider" is a song from A Perfect Circle's second album, Thirteenth Step. It uses a seamless mix of 6/8 and 4/4 time signatures. The lyrics describe an individual who looks on the acts of another as reckless and suicidally "destructive". The individual watches as the other becomes reclusive, the change in the timbre of the guitar from clean to heavily distorted brings on the change from empathy for the other to apathy as this act could be seen as a cry for attention. The continuence of this tone brings on the initial feel of frustration as the individual continues to struggle to get through, in conclusion of the song the last verse is an outburst towards the suicidal other the lyrics "If you choose to pull the trigger, should your drama prove sincere, Do it somewhere far away from here."

Remixes

Two remixes of "The Outsider" were made for aMOTION. James Iha made the "Frosted Yogurt mix", which uses a much more toned-down, quiet, synthesized sound than the original. Danny Lohner's "Apocalypse mix", on the other hand, takes the opposite direction, making a darker, scarier, and much heavier version that starts as an ambient doomscape and ends in a way that resembles a music-playback program crashing. The latter version was included in the soundtrack to the movie Resident Evil: Apocalypse under the title "Resident Renholder mix".

Music video

While the song itself sets a very serious tone, the music video is entirely comical, featuring The Bikini Bandits and voice-overs by the various actors. The beginning of the DIRECTORS CUT video resembles paid programming on channels auctioning things off. They auction off The Thirteenth Step from "Vagina" records and the real video starts. At the end of the song it shows record executives from "Vagina" records insufflating cocaine and commenting on how much more "blow" they could have bought with the money they spent on this video. Andy Milonakis appears in the video as a boy scout. The clerk in the shop is named Maynard.