Bo Burnham's 'Inside' is going to cinemas this week (so let's rank the songs)
Tuesday, July 20, 2021 at 11:30AM By Glenn Dunks
Was Promising Young Woman your first interaction with Bo Burnham, playing the too-good-to-be-true doctor? Was it his directorial debut Eighth Grade with its acute insight into social media culture of young adults? Or was it maybe his career as a stand-up comedian, a sort of Weird Al Yankovich for the millennial age? Maybe it was Inside, Burnham’s quarantine inspired one-man musical Inside, which is now receiving a one-night only screening in theatres across the United States on the July the 22nd.
I have watched the Netflix special several times already, as well as multiple trips to its various musical sequences while the soundtrack remains on constant repeat. I think it’s brilliant for all the reasons Cláudio explained (and more). A true swing-for-the-fences achievement that makes elaborate use of its lo-fi trappings, straddling a delicate line between sarcastic mockery of cultural taboos and politically aware understanding of the times that are indeed changing.
Inside became instantly famous for a lot of reasons, landing six Emmy nominations despite being released on the very last day of eligibility. So to celebrate its brief detour to theatres, I am going to rank all 20 songs that appear in it! Keeping in mind, of course, that there isn’t a single dud out of the bunch.
Produced out of Burnham’s own guest house, the soundtrack is a fusion of styles, using contemporary pop inspirations and a healthy dose of theatrical razzle dazzle. With more space to move musically than he is on stage where his songs are usually played out on a simple keyboard and pre-recorded audio manipulations, Burnham has made songs that (lyrical content often notwithstanding) wouldn’t sound out of place on a pop record in the upper echelons of the Billboard chart.
20. “Any Day Now”
“It’ll stop any day now…”
End credits crooning of just a few words, although knowing full well that the pandemic definitely did not stop any day now lends those words (some of them even sung by his puppet, Socko) something of a menacing tone. Given what has come before it, Burnham clearly doesn't believe it.
19. “Unpaid Intern”
“You work all day, go back to your dorm,
And since you can’t afford a mortgage you just tore into porn.”
The shortest song at only 34 seconds that is here more to set up the following sketch about reaction videos (one of Inside’s best sequences). Still funny, though.
18. “Don’t Wanna Know”
“Am I on in the background? Are you on your phone?
I’d ask what you’re watching, but I don’t wanna know.”
By saying (singing) the quiet part out loud, Burnham probably pulls a few people back into his whole thing following an (actual real) intermission.
17. “All Time Low”
“A few things start to happen, my vision starts to flatten,
My heart, it gets to tappin', and I think I'm gonna die.”
Super brief follow-up to “Shit” (see down below), but it amuses for its high-energy observation.
16. “Content”
“Sorry I look like such a mess,
I booked a haircut, but it got rescheduled.”
Inside’s opening refrain plays over a synthesised beat not too far removed from something by the Eurythmics or Visage (or, probably more likely, an indie synth-pop group inspired by them). A fitting intro to the show given Burnham’s lyrics about ‘creating content’, which certainly became a recurring theme across 2020 as people attempted to use their newfound interior lives to do… something.
15. / 14. “Bezos I” and “Bezos II”
“Zuckerberg and Gates and Buffet,
Amateurs can fucking suck it.”
Like “Unpaid Intern”, neither of these two tracks run longer than a minute and are probably more of an idea than a fully realized song. But “Bezos I” especially leads to a sequence that sells Burnham’s thematic concept. “Maybe the flattening of the entire subjective human experience into a lifeless exchange of value that benefits nobody except for a handful of bug-eyed salamanders in Silicon Valley. Maybe that as a way of life forever, maybe that’s not good.” Quite.
13. “FaceTime With My Mom (Tonight)”
“Watching as she looks for her glasses,
I’mma face-time with my mom tonight.
She’ll tell me all about the season six finale of The Black List,
I’mma face-time with my mom tonight.”
Sillier than most, and a fitting early track before some much heavier material. Although as is his want, even when singing a goofy song about the mental toll it can often take to speak to relatives, Burnham slides moments of genuine human drama in there. It’s also the first instance of Burnham’s real pop-writing prowess.
12. “How the World Works”
“The simple narrative taught in every history class,
is demonstrably false and pedagogically classist.
Don't you know the world is built with blood?
And genocide and exploitation.”
Bo Burnham is attached to an upcoming Sesame Street movie and despite its bleak themes, “How the World Works” feels like a perfect audition—or at least an early melodic draft that he updated with lyrics about genocide and paedophiles.
11. “Look Who’s Inside Again”
“Well, well, look who’s inside again,
Went out to look for a reason to hide again.”
If there is a mental shift among Inside’s soundtrack, it is probably this brief minute-and-a-half number. It bridges the gap between the isolation of being a teenager trapped in your house to, well, the isolation of being an adult trapped in your house.
10. “That Funny Feeling”
“The live-action lion king, the Pepsi half-time show,
“20,000 years of this, seven more to go.”
Burnham’s song-writing can often fall into a style where he just lists a whole lot of seemingly disconnected things that tie together once his song moves closer to landing its theme. There are a few in Inside that do this. This more solemn entry addresses a whole lot around the idea of disassociation, the absurdity of reality (“gift shop at the gun range”), and our inevitable destruction from climate change.
9. “White Woman’s Instagram”
“Some random quote from Lord of the Rings,
Incorrectly attributed to Martin Luther King.”
It is perhaps easy to see “White Woman’s Instagram” is needlessly cruel, taking aim at harmless Live Laugh Love woo-wooism. But hidden among its list of nonsense is a real cunning look at how social media often twists our perceptions of people and how even among our feed’s most tiresomely performative concept of perfection there lies moments of genuine heart that we are often too cynical to recognise. It’s not particularly flattering of anybody. Probably the most reliant on its visuals of all the songs.
8. “Shit”
“Wake up at eleven thirty feeling like a bag of shit,
All my clothes are dirty so I’m smelling like a bag of shit.”
A bit that makes me want to laugh thanks just to his delivery, and also nod in solemn agreement because of its no nonsense lyrics. It’s brief, but in just a few moments encapsulates the way emptiness/sadness/whatever you wanna call it became a mundane part of life during quarantine. For many it often wasn’t the dark, soul-destroying sort of depression that cripples minds. It was just, well… feeling like shit.
7. “30”
“My stupid friends are having stupid children,
Stupid fucking ugly boring children.”
I feel like there’s very few ways of discussing this song without airing a whole lot of personal feelings about children and the prioritisation of people with them in workplaces, so instead I’ll just say this: cool tune.
6. “Sexting”
“They made the internet for nights like these,
I love you baby, send a picture of your tits please.”
Was Bo Burnham listening to a bit of Usher at some point of quarantine? “Sexting, it isn’t sex it’s next best thing” is such a well-written hook to hang a song on. Of course, like many of the songs here, “Sexting” relates to one facet or another about the lockdown experience. In this case, sheer ubiquitous horniness is the answer. You could maybe be convinced that he was taking a stab at a genuine pop hit but there are enough references to emojis, Eraserhead dick and AT&T that means you won’t be taking it too seriously even if it sounds like a hit song.
5. “Welcome to the Internet”
Welcome to the internet, what would you prefer?
Would you like to fight for civil rights or tweet a racial slur?”
A twin to “Comedy” that appears very early on. I read once somewhere that this sounds like a big Disney villain musical and that is so deliciously spot-on as Burnham churns through the many evils of the internet while simultaneously seducing. “Could I interest you in everything all of the time”, he asks knowing full well that we really don’t have any other option. We’re sitting here in a pandemic with so many connected devices around us. Could we disconnect even if we wanted to in a world where “apathy’s a tragedy and boredom is a crime”?
4. “Goodbye”
“So long, goodbye. Hey here’s a fun idea,
How ‘bout I sit on the couch and watch you next time.”
A pensive ballad that weaves in musical motifs and themes from throughout Inside’s 87 minutes and leaves the special in even more of a contemplative place than others by turning his self-therapy back onto the viewer.
3. “Problematic”
“I started doing comedy when I was just a sheltered kid,
I wrote offensive shit, and I said it.
Father, please forgive me for I did not realize what I did,
Or that I'd live to regret it.”
Inside’s horniest visual moment with a trope-skewering video that frames him as a sweaty self-depreciating nerd sexpot. It also places as the absolute best version of Burnham’s synth-pop aesthetic. Burnham covers his familiar ground about white privilege with candour and hilarity as he admits to past misbehaviours and his desire to atone for the ‘vaguely shitty’ sins. An anthem for every comedian who claims you can’t be funny anymore because of political correctness and who is afraid of ‘cancel culture’ (a term he never uses, thank god, because it is not real).
2. “All Eyes on Me”
"You say the ocean's rising, like I give a shit.
You say the whole world's ending, honey it already did.”
Inside’s most menacing atmospheric song. Beginning with the distorted vocal style that Burnham has used on previous specials like, he washes himself in deep blue light and Twin Peaks-ian synthesizers and takes on the persona of emcee performer at a concert. But where it could’ve just been a curious stylistic diversion actually synthesises the show’s themes around depression and anger and helplessness in a way that is at once soothing and also frightening.
1. “Comedy”
“Healing the world with comedy,
Making a literal difference metaphorically.”
The special’s lone nominee for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics, on “Comedy” Burnham revisits themes he’s explored before but with even more bells and whistles. Swerving through a variety of styles (plaintive electro-folk, absurdism) and sticks its landing as the lyrical modus operandi for the special. He confronts his own silly position as a person with a relative position of power and white people in general as he throws in laugh tracks, sexual sight gags, Sandra Bullock, and white saviour complex. If this second track doesn’t grab you then Inside probably isn’t for you, but it lays out Burnham’s credentials smartly and uses his vocal range to fun/melodic advantage.
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Tickets for "Inside" are available here. What are you favorites from Bo Burnham's Inside?
Bo Burnham, Inside, musicals
Reader Comments (8)
I fear this is the only musical that will do well this year.
Goodbye would be my #1, and I would rank "Content" higher. The only weakness is that "Content" is way too short. I want more content!
Love your writing and positive tone Glenn! Hope it's contagious.
Raul, yes, it may very well have been higher if it were longer (all the full-length ones are all towards the top end).
Peggy Sue, that's so sad.
GudXmpL, "contageous" maybe not the best word right now! :D
Just FYI, that lyric in "Unpaid Intern" is:
“You work all day, go back to your dorm,
And since you can’t afford a mortgage you just
tore intotorrent a porn.”Also, the best lyrics from the whole special are from "30":
"It's 2020 and I'm 30
I'll do another 10.
In 2030 I'll be 40
And kill myself then."
I really loved this special and the songs especially, but I haven't had time to re-watch or re-listen. I wonder what the experience is with just listening to the songs without the visuals.
Ryan T.-The songs hold up even without the visuals. I've been constantly listening to the album. It probably helps to have seen the special so that as you listen you can envision the images, especially with a song like "White Woman's Instagram."
I'm also really impressed at how deftly Burnham emulates a variety of music styles from electronic pop to Tin Pan Alley ditties. I hope he writes a musical some day.
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