Priscilla Ahn

Fine on the Outside is the theme song of the film When Marnie Was There.

Background Priscilla Ahn, in common with the protagonist, saw herself as friendless and alone, and turned to music and other interests as a way to compensate. "...would literally sit on my bed and look out the window at night at the moon, and wonder if I was loved... if anyone would miss me if I was gone." This led her to writing "Fine on the Outside" in 2005, but she had never released it due to the lyrics being too personal, and because she didn't want to have to change the song in any way to make it fit in with her other albums. A big fan of Ghibli, she read the original novel When Marnie Was There after the announcement they were working on a movie adaptation, saw herself in Anna, and eventually decided to submit the song to Ghibli. The movie's producer Yoshiaki Nishimura contacted her soon afterwards saying how much he loved the song, and it was later officially chosen as the theme song.