Songfacts®:

• This is the opening track from American singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile's third studio album, Give Up the Ghost. This song is a duet with Carlile's friend, Indigo Girls' Amy Ray. The singer-songwriter told Billboard Magazine: "She actually sang the background vocal live in the booth with me, which was really cool. A couple times she laughed at me really hard when I missed some notes. It was really fun."
• This song reflects Brandi Carlile's personal and musical journey. The phrase "looking out" has a lot of meaning to her - it's the name of the foundation she started in 2008, a year before she released this song. It was through the foundation that she met Catherine Shepherd, whom she later married.
• Rick Rubin produced the Give Up The Ghost album, proving that no genre is out of his reach. Other artists he's produced include LL Cool J, Slayer and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
• Brandi Carlile wasn't widely known when this song was released in 2009, but many heavyweights in the music industry were fans. Also on the album, Elton John guests on the song "Caroline, Benmont Tench on "Pride And Joy," and Chad Smith on a handful of tracks. Carlile managed to grow her audience while staying true to her mission of activism. Her 2018 album By the Way, I Forgive You crossed her over to a much wider fanbase. That one includes her hit "The Joke."