Outcast

Album: Memories of a Beautiful Disaster (2011)
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Songfacts®:

  • Durbin penned this song with Motley Crue lead guitarist Mick Mars and Swedish hard rock band Hardcore Superstar. Both acts also play on the track.
  • The song deals with bullying, but in a tongue-in-cheek way. Durbin explained: "Middle school through high school was when I got bullied most until I said, 'I'm not going to take it -- no more timid little James,' and I created an alter-ego for myself and became 'Crazy James.' I literally made people call me that. I put it on my dental records and had to change it recently. [Laughs] I finally got some dignity and some pride in myself when I finally decided this is who I am. I'm a freak, yeah. I'm crazy. I'm f---ing out of my mind and that's when I started getting serious about my music and my band and writing songs while I trained my voice to go high. This song really coincides with that crazy James s--t – 'You're the outcast, you cry when we all laugh, I'll be the one that you want, I'll be the outcast.'"
  • This is one of several tracks on Memories of a Beautiful Disaster inspired by Durbin's difficult experiences of being picked on during his school days. "The underlying theme of the album is bullying and being an outsider, because growing up, I wasn't the popular kid at school," Durbin explained to Billboard magazine. "I've heard from fans about how inspiring I am to their kids through singing covers on 'Idol,' and now I get to put out my record and give these people real emotion, stuff that I've gone through and someone to look up to."

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