Cults – Step Outside

I didn’t know what to think when I heard this song for the first time. It is very atmospheric to listen to but very catchy. I didn’t hear it on the radio, I saw the video and that is what made me uncomfortable at first. I read about the making of it and they got the blessing of the survivors. I guess I better describe the video…they feature Jim Jones and the People’s Temple. They intercut themselves into the footage…and yeah it looked real. 

They first showed the People’s Temple when they were in California and then when they landed in Guyana. They showed most everything up to the night before the mass murder/suicide where over 900 people died. The survivors were happy with this video because it showed some of the good times they had there. The band did screen it for them before they released it…after that, I was ok with it but some would think differently. There are not many humans I hate but Jim Jones is one of them. He was an avowed atheist using people’s vulnerabilities to build a “perfect” socialist/communist town in Guyana and worked them day and night.

The sad part is the people were happy at first in Guyana but Jones refused to let them go if they wanted to leave. He collected their passports and would not give them back and had armed guards around the camp. The town they made had a post office, doctor’s office, school, and about everything they needed but a drug-fueled Jones pushed people to the brink and most were too worn down to resist. 

The Cults was originally a duo comprising Madeline Follin on vocals and Brian Oblivion (multi-instrumentalist and producer). The two met while studying at film school in New York City. They released an EP called Cults 7″ and this song went viral and put them on the map. Since then they have released 6 albums including To The Ghosts released last year. Some of their songs have a sixties-girl group vibe along with that atmospheric sound on top. 

They didn’t release this song but the video was hit a lot. I found it while reading a Jonestown book and searching for more information. 

They evidently made two videos for the song. The Jonestown video is on the bottom. 

Go Outside

But to me, death is not-Death is not a fearful thing, it’s living that’s treacherous

Do not be afraid to dieIf these people land out hereThey’ll torture some of our children here, they’ll torture our peopleThey’ll torture our seniors, we cannot allow this

I, I really want to go outI really want to go outside and stop to see your dayYou, you really want to hole upYou really want to stay inside and sleep the light awayI, I really want to go outI really want to go outside and bathe in light all dayYou, you really want to hole upYou really want to stay inside in the cave where you lay

Well, I know what’s goodExactly ’cause I have been there beforeYeah, I know what’s goldExactly those things night cannot behold

I, I really want to go outI really want to go outside and stop to see your dayYou, you really want to hole upYou really want to stay inside and sleep the light awayI, I think it’s good to go out‘Cause if you don’t you’ll never make a memory that will stayI, I think that we should break upI think I want to live my life, and you’re just in my way

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

31 thoughts on “Cults – Step Outside”

      1. And of course they were too far away to get help and he had their passports and armed guards to keep them imprisoned. I wonder if they had guns pointed at them to make them drink the kool-aid or if they chose death as relief from what was essentially slavery at that point?

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      2. Yes Lisa! They DID have guns pointed at them and most of the rest were injected by the guards. A few people escaped and yes it was more murder than any suicide.

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    2. Just like the plot of Animal Farm by George Orwell. The pigs led the rebellion and said all animals are equal — until they said, “pigs are more equal.” I honestly think our dna is flawed.

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  2. Pingback: Cults – Step Outside – MobsterTiger

  3. A strange little song. I felt it never really got going and kept waiting for something to happen, but it didn’t. It sounded nice, though. Parallels between Jim Jones and Trump?

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    1. It’s more atmospheric than anything…although pleasant. It stuck with me for some reason and the video was really well put together. No there is no one I would compare to Jones….I hate most all politicians liberal and conservative… but not like this.

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  5. Jonestown was terrible to say the least and should have been a lesson for generations to come but new cults with potential for same amount of damage keep popping up every few years all over the place.
    The song sounds very 2010s-y to me, when did it actually come out? It sounds kind of like it was made for ambient background music in some movie soundtrack

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    1. Oh 2010 lol…sorry I thought I put that in there…I better check! Yes it is…the song just fits after watching it….they thought they would have blowback is my guess…and they made another video.

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  6. A strange tune from a strange band. I remember the Jim Jones debacle well. An evil man that is waiting in Hell for the rest of his ilk. Taylor Swift and her swifties comes to mind when the word ” cult” is thrown out there. Yes, we have them, even in pop music.

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  8. I agree, it is atmospheric. As for cults the answer is the same- Think for yourself, no one man/woman/person is ever the answer. If you believe ‘they’ have the answer then check your brain at the door and follow the flock to whatever fate awaits you.

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    1. I see why people fell for it in California…he got poor people and helped them…then he read something about communism and socialism…the extreme…and that brought out the worst. They tried to move to Cuba, USSR, and China…none would take them.

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  10. Clever way of interjecting themselves into the archival video footage. Mass hysteria draws them in and imprisonment in a way of thinking keeps them there. The minute that mofo took my passport is the day I’d be planning an escape. The victims buy into the narrative but reality will inevitably creep in.

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      1. I can see you reading a book about the whole tragedy would get your blood boiling. I watched Tarantino’s movie, “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” and then read Tarantino’s book on it. Such a malignant and manipulative individual.

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  11. I guess Jim Jones is a great illustration of what can happen to people when they blindly follow another individual like a herd. I also have to say I find the first video a bit creepy – it’s nearly impossible to understand the spoken words that precede the singing. If you just listen to the latter and watch the video, you’d never guess its serious background.

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    1. Yea when he took away free speech is when it the rot started…that is the reason I’m always about free speech…
      The song is catchy as hell…it really is….but yea the video brought me in

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  12. Geez. I remember the newscast. I was just a kid, but I remember it gave me the chills to see the aftermath. You’d probably never see that today. They’d censor dead Americans. There was a lot of stuff you’d see in the news those days you wouldn’t now. The execution of Gary Gilmore sticks out in my mind as well.

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