Cardiff wrote the "jaunty song about death" with a chorus that states "goodnight, go home, there is nothing more to see here," for his daughter, who was 17 months old at the time, to explain to her what happens to people when they die. After hearing the song, DJs at campus bars in British Columbia and Ontario asked to use it as their last song of the night. "I explained that I actually wrote it for my daughter for when she starts asking questions about death and funerals" says Cardiff. The "Brant Advocate" pointed out the connection between Brantford, Ontario, and the song "Dance Me Outside". The song was inspired by Cardiff's mother telling him about growing up in Brantford and about First Nations woman outside of town. "She was trying to hitchhike, to catch a ride back in, and couldn't," explains Cardiff. "She ended up passing from exposure. The worst part is that it's all over … Each community has a story like that; it's difficult. So there was that story that existed, and then there was the Bruce McDonald film Dance Me Outside. I hadn't seen the film, but it just had this idea that even in hard things, still having dignity, still standing up tall, even to a very bitter, sad end. That was the idea."