On the Downside is an EP by the San Diego, California band Counterfit, released by Alphabet Records in 2000. It was the band's first EP, recorded shortly after the members had relocated to San Diego from Fairfield County, Connecticut. It was recorded in their rehearsal space and was mixed and mastered at the Mira Mesa Epicentre, a youth cafeteria which had been converted into an all-ages music venue. The EP is considered to be a demo, since it was so cheaply recorded and the songs are all in rough form. Two of its songs would be re-recorded the following year for the band's first proper studio EP. Original guitarist James Dennis left the band shortly after the release of On the Downside, and was soon replaced by Daniel Reed.
Downsiders is an award-winning 1999 novel by Neal Shusterman.
The Downsiders which is located underneath New York City, is a secret community of an unknown population (either native-born or "fallers" from the topside) that are never allowed to travel to the Topside (the surface). Talon, a fourteen-year-old Downsider, is curious about the Topside; he travels to the Topside and meets a fourteen-year-old girl named Lindsay Matthias, who just moved to her father's NYC townhouse after her mother went to Africa with her professor for three years to study the white rhino. Things get off to a rocky beginning, but they become friends. However, when Talon brings Lindsay to the Downside, the Wise Advisors (the Downside's government) find out and sentence Talon to death by executing him in the pipe system. Talon survives; he winds up on Coney Island "under the boardwalk," and has the time of his life, experiencing the "strange Topside rituals" for the first time.
Meanwhile, Mark Matthias, Lindsay's father, is working on an Aqueduct Shaft downtown. He has been noticing strange behavior from his daughter lately, most notably not coming home until the early morning hours, and his stress from home spills over into his work life. He comes down hard on his workers, causing an extreme speedup in progress. However, one dump truck that lurches forward too quickly to receive its load collapses through the ground into the Downside's Brass Junction. While the Downsiders panic about the Topsiders discovering them, Talon sees what is happening on Lindsay's TV screen and, after seeing more than he could bear, rushes back to the Downside with Lindsay in hot pursuit.
There was something you wanted
It was really a blessing for you
How could you believe that
That dream was to come true
That's so unlike you
The downside is, you're full of fear
The stars were in line that day
Gods were watching you
You thought that it was your time
There was nothing you couldn't do
That's so unlike you
The downside is, you're full of fear
Must be hard, to go on
Light will shine, Fade away
Must be hard, to go on, Fade away
Seems for you it's no joke, there's no hope
The downside is, you're full of fear