"We used to have all the money and land, and we still do but it's not as fun now," is probably one of my favorite Bo Burnham lines, honestly! 😄 This song is just pure, straight up sarcasm and irony and I'm here for it!
Bo really plays with emotions through his music. If you tie the lyrics in with the change in mood, he says "Can't you just leave us (straight white men in power) alone, and also no to the things you asked for (human rights)" then he goes into this powerful dark piano solo, the villain "playing" the victim.
2:00 It’s not a size issue. He’s joking that, as a straight white male, his problem with that situation was the inconvenience suffered trying multiple times to find, well, not a _need_ so much, but something convenient and comfortable. Then, even after three trips trying to find what he wants, he still didn’t get it. A problem (and sad ending) for a straight white male, that less privileged people would roll their eyes about (and even their friends would ask, “Why not just get jeans instead of khakis for now, and order your khakis online?”).
Your beautiful breakdown of his music just got you a new follow. There are plenty of people that break down his lyrics, but no one talks about his music like this. Finally someone that breaks down his musical complexity. Thank you for existing!!!
There's a lot I could say about this vid but honestly, the world just needs more people like Dave treating others the way you want to be treated. You won't always get it in return, a hard lesson a lot of us learn early, but becoming bitter and full of hate isn't worth it. Even if that's not a fate everyone can avoid.
your interpretation of the piano bridge solo he played is something I've never even thought about. Good job noticing something like that i would have never noticed that
Obviously, Bo is making light of things - that's his job - but having straight/white/male privilege does not mean your life is without issues. It means that your sexuality/skin color/gender aren't making your issues worse.
This song can clearly be looked at from a variety of angles, but I like to think of it in terms of who is the audience as a lens. Depending on who's listening, the meaning may seem different. So, to someone who is NOT a straight white man, this is somewhat a parody of their complaints: they are SO ANGRY and their problems are insanely petty (exaggerated for comedic effect). However, for straight white men in the audience, Bo is pointing out the things that they *don't* have to deal with, which answers the debate about privilege and educates without inspiring so much defensiveness. Maybe someone would think, yeah why *are* we so damn angry? I really think that with songs like this, Bo is trying to make the world a better place by opening people's minds to other people's experiences. He is so good at this!
I think one of, if not *the*, biggest problems with discussion of white privilege is that people insist on interpreting it as meaning that white people automatically have an easy life. Then they pointlessly argue against that even though that's not what it means anyway. Clearly not all white people have it easy. What it means (and obviously I'm talking about people living in white majority western countries here) is that the difficulties in their life are not a result of their skin colour. That's a key point in Bo's song here. The difficulties he has are ones everyone can have. The difficulties he *doesn't* have are ones that other people are disproportionately affected by because of their skin colour. Quite often (always) it's far better to resist the reflexive "this sounds like it's about me and it's negative therefore I will automatically argue based on what I assume it meant" and take a step back to think "ok, what's *really* being talked about here?" and look into things a bit more. That reflexive argument is natural and something everyone deals with when hearing all sorts of things, but it never helps and we can all do our bit to control it. Edit: Oops, accidental essay.
I believe Bo knows exactly what he's doing with the music & tone in relation to the lyrics & overall meaning. As far as I can infer, you're spot on with you're brakedown.
That piano solo lives rent free in my head. I think the light change and the tone puts me in mind of a bit of villainous aspect. There's a version online from the official recording from Make Happy which is worth a watch- the musicality is even better x
I can't remember the name of the piece now, but the piano section without singing sounds very similar to a classical piece that was used a lot in very early movies to depict a villain or a monster. I think the red lights that come up while he is playing are trying to imply that he sees himself as the villain in this song.
The thing about khakis was just about how insignificant the problems of the typical white person is to minorities. We don't have the same American experience
I always saw this pieces as having two sides to a coin. One the one side, he’s poking fun at the (sometimes true) stereotypes of white men: they’re the only race who willingly wears khakis, the biggest problems being silly things like spam emails. It pokes fun at the general reality of the world we live in. On the other side, while he points out these ridiculous “problems”, the unspoken point is, even tho the problems some people have may not be as serious of life altering as others, that doesn’t always mean that it’s wrong or petty for someone to be upset about their problems. Maybe you don’t have to worry about how you’re going to pay your phone bill, but your laptop just died and you need to buy another one for class. Maybe you have a good job, but your mom has cancer. Basically, just cause one group may have things generally easier than the rest of us doesn’t mean that they are somehow immune to having real problems, and we shouldn’t treat them that way.
Your reaction made me realise that we need more reactors doing this! I’ve found that you and Knox Hill are pretty good at breaking down the music itself!
I've always seen this as satirical commentary on whiny white men but this take was different. ^^ it was interesting to see your interpretation of the lyrics and tones and stuff
I love your content, and I still enjoyed this breakdown, but the very diplomatic and "don't want to offend anybody" approach cuts the legs out from under this song. It speaks volumes about you having a good heart, but that's not the message Bo is getting at. Straight as opposed to lgbtq+, white as opposed to bipoc, male as opposed to female, that part is spot on with what he's doing by referring to himself in those terms. It's the bit about khakis that starts to slip. "I talk about my problems and people roll their eyes. Three trips to the mall and no khakis in my size." That's not about weight, that's Bo mocking an example of a straight white man's problem. The way we know that is the next section where he refers to a problem women have historically had; having equal rights as men. The right to be paid the same as a man in her same position at a company. Women weren't allowed to have their own bank accounts until the 1960s. Prior to that, accounts had to be in a man's name. It would be years later that an act had to be passed to stop banks using credit scores to discriminate against women. Women had to campaign for the right to vote. That history is what Bo is referring to. "The gays want kids" is just what it sounds like. Same-sex couples wanting to be able to get married and start a family. There isn't a single country in the world that bans marriage of straight couples. Protections for gay marriage were established in a court case less than 10 years ago in the US, and already it's being threatened that it will be struck down. To have a reasonable shot at being able to adopt kids and have a family, couples have to be married. If two women aren't allowed to get married, then their odds of being able to adopt are extremely low. Like, under 10% low. That's a struggle gay couples have to deal with. All of that, juxtaposed against the straight white man's problem of not being able to find khakis that fit. He's not saying straight white men don't have problems, he's saying their problems have never been because they're straight, white, or men. In a nutshell, this song is in the same genre as Chris Rock's stand-up bit "a black man has to fly, to get to a place a white man could just walk to."
Love the satire in this song. I always read it in part talking about those people (usually straight white men) who deny other people the solutions to their problems by saying "Well I have problems too so what makes you so special."
3:00 OMFG...I just realized this recording is from the show I went to. "If this doesn't work in Syracuse, I don't know where the fuck it's gonna work."
People don't always want to hear things you want to hear or in the way that you want to hear them. Take for instance when women and men talk to each to each other the way they want the other to talk to them...
There's always exceptions to stereotypes, but yea, stereotypes exist for a reason. And this whole song is a giant brilliant riff on first world problems.
The line "zero khakis in my size" isn't about weight, it's about being privileged as a straight white man. It doesn't matter what size he actually is. The mall doesn't have his favorite pants in his size. It's a minor problem that he sees as a big problem because he is too privileged to have any bigger problems than that. That's the joke. That said, I completely disagree with the whole "privilege" argument (in that it assumes you are privileged if you are a certain type of person). I just recognize that's what he's doing. Also, if the lyrics at the bottom give away the punch line, and you don't like that, then don't read them. Also, also... whoa in regard to your break-down of the music at the part where the stage goes red. I have never put that much thought into it, and I can't find any fault in your assessment. I just saw it as him displaying the darkness in his struggles and that's as deep as I went with it.
8:17 That chord that keeps being repeated sounds stressful, so I feel like it’s a musical representation of continued struggle, especially with the other parts ascending, then descending, like almost making it up a hill, then rolling back down. The melody becomes nearly happy and triumphant (but still with that same chord repeated, backing the story), then descends back to sad, frightful, and pained. It’s a good metaphor for how close an average straight white male is to being successful, but everyone has things about their life that could be better, no matter how privileged. Even at the top, it’s hard. I bet Bill Gates regrets saying “I love Dick’s” about some burgers, from the way the internet used that clip. Also, the second layer of “just cause it’s true, doesn’t mean that it’s right” (or the first layer I saw), is that just because it’s true, we have more opportunities, doesn’t mean that we think it’s fair either. It’s not right (not meaning “untrue,” rather that it means “unfair”) that we have easier access to things we want, being so far past worrying about not having needs like food, water, and shelter, just based on where we live and the qualities (or lack of, like melanin) we were born with. As Chris Rock said in “Head of State,” “That ain’t right!”
I love that you talk about the technical music stuff. It’s be fun if you checked out Snow Tha Product. She’s an indie rapper, and nobody does what she does. I seriously think she might be magic lol I know this is a bold claim, especially with rap, but trust me, and do yourself this favor. ;-P - Really Counts -BZRP Music Session #39 -Dale Gas ft. Alemon -Tell You Like This -On My Shit -How I Do It -Goin Off -Flexicution Remix -Immigrants - We Get The Job Done (this is on the Hamilton Mixtape (you need the video version) and everybody always over looks it. I still get in my feelings, and I don’t have a soul, so that tells you something lol
So instead for going for the high quality video with high quality sound version.. you went for a low quality phone filmed video with lyrics to spoil the comedy and ruin the comedic timing? Nice one. I mean when you start laughing before he even says the joke, that's just sad. (that's btw another one you can react to (in hq ofc))
"We used to have all the money and land, and we still do but it's not as fun now," is probably one of my favorite Bo Burnham lines, honestly! 😄 This song is just pure, straight up sarcasm and irony and I'm here for it!
Bo really plays with emotions through his music. If you tie the lyrics in with the change in mood, he says "Can't you just leave us (straight white men in power) alone, and also no to the things you asked for (human rights)" then he goes into this powerful dark piano solo, the villain "playing" the victim.
2:00 It’s not a size issue. He’s joking that, as a straight white male, his problem with that situation was the inconvenience suffered trying multiple times to find, well, not a _need_ so much, but something convenient and comfortable. Then, even after three trips trying to find what he wants, he still didn’t get it. A problem (and sad ending) for a straight white male, that less privileged people would roll their eyes about (and even their friends would ask, “Why not just get jeans instead of khakis for now, and order your khakis online?”).
Your beautiful breakdown of his music just got you a new follow. There are plenty of people that break down his lyrics, but no one talks about his music like this. Finally someone that breaks down his musical complexity. Thank you for existing!!!
There's a lot I could say about this vid but honestly, the world just needs more people like Dave treating others the way you want to be treated. You won't always get it in return, a hard lesson a lot of us learn early, but becoming bitter and full of hate isn't worth it. Even if that's not a fate everyone can avoid.
your interpretation of the piano bridge solo he played is something I've never even thought about. Good job noticing something like that i would have never noticed that
Obviously, Bo is making light of things - that's his job - but having straight/white/male privilege does not mean your life is without issues. It means that your sexuality/skin color/gender aren't making your issues worse.
I got 99 problems, but my race/gender/sexuality ain't 1.
This song can clearly be looked at from a variety of angles, but I like to think of it in terms of who is the audience as a lens. Depending on who's listening, the meaning may seem different. So, to someone who is NOT a straight white man, this is somewhat a parody of their complaints: they are SO ANGRY and their problems are insanely petty (exaggerated for comedic effect). However, for straight white men in the audience, Bo is pointing out the things that they *don't* have to deal with, which answers the debate about privilege and educates without inspiring so much defensiveness. Maybe someone would think, yeah why *are* we so damn angry? I really think that with songs like this, Bo is trying to make the world a better place by opening people's minds to other people's experiences. He is so good at this!
I think one of, if not *the*, biggest problems with discussion of white privilege is that people insist on interpreting it as meaning that white people automatically have an easy life. Then they pointlessly argue against that even though that's not what it means anyway. Clearly not all white people have it easy. What it means (and obviously I'm talking about people living in white majority western countries here) is that the difficulties in their life are not a result of their skin colour.
That's a key point in Bo's song here. The difficulties he has are ones everyone can have. The difficulties he *doesn't* have are ones that other people are disproportionately affected by because of their skin colour.
Quite often (always) it's far better to resist the reflexive "this sounds like it's about me and it's negative therefore I will automatically argue based on what I assume it meant" and take a step back to think "ok, what's *really* being talked about here?" and look into things a bit more. That reflexive argument is natural and something everyone deals with when hearing all sorts of things, but it never helps and we can all do our bit to control it.
Edit: Oops, accidental essay.
I believe Bo knows exactly what he's doing with the music & tone in relation to the lyrics & overall meaning. As far as I can infer, you're spot on with you're brakedown.
That piano solo lives rent free in my head. I think the light change and the tone puts me in mind of a bit of villainous aspect. There's a version online from the official recording from Make Happy which is worth a watch- the musicality is even better x
I can't remember the name of the piece now, but the piano section without singing sounds very similar to a classical piece that was used a lot in very early movies to depict a villain or a monster. I think the red lights that come up while he is playing are trying to imply that he sees himself as the villain in this song.
Agreed.
Yes
The thing about khakis was just about how insignificant the problems of the typical white person is to minorities. We don't have the same American experience
I always saw this pieces as having two sides to a coin. One the one side, he’s poking fun at the (sometimes true) stereotypes of white men: they’re the only race who willingly wears khakis, the biggest problems being silly things like spam emails. It pokes fun at the general reality of the world we live in.
On the other side, while he points out these ridiculous “problems”, the unspoken point is, even tho the problems some people have may not be as serious of life altering as others, that doesn’t always mean that it’s wrong or petty for someone to be upset about their problems. Maybe you don’t have to worry about how you’re going to pay your phone bill, but your laptop just died and you need to buy another one for class. Maybe you have a good job, but your mom has cancer. Basically, just cause one group may have things generally easier than the rest of us doesn’t mean that they are somehow immune to having real problems, and we shouldn’t treat them that way.
Your reaction made me realise that we need more reactors doing this! I’ve found that you and Knox Hill are pretty good at breaking down the music itself!
"The best philosophies for happy living are walk softly and carry a big stick, both adage' are metaphor and true AF.
I'm so happy you enjoy Bo as an artist
When he goes to the red light and plays that tone of music, The Phantom of the Opera comes to mind for some reason. Likes it's terrifying ...
Great reaction! I love this talented clever human! Thank you for your thoughts!
I've always seen this as satirical commentary on whiny white men but this take was different. ^^ it was interesting to see your interpretation of the lyrics and tones and stuff
It’s very phantom of the opera anger and disdain for those with power and status
I love your content, and I still enjoyed this breakdown, but the very diplomatic and "don't want to offend anybody" approach cuts the legs out from under this song. It speaks volumes about you having a good heart, but that's not the message Bo is getting at.
Straight as opposed to lgbtq+, white as opposed to bipoc, male as opposed to female, that part is spot on with what he's doing by referring to himself in those terms. It's the bit about khakis that starts to slip. "I talk about my problems and people roll their eyes. Three trips to the mall and no khakis in my size." That's not about weight, that's Bo mocking an example of a straight white man's problem. The way we know that is the next section where he refers to a problem women have historically had; having equal rights as men. The right to be paid the same as a man in her same position at a company. Women weren't allowed to have their own bank accounts until the 1960s. Prior to that, accounts had to be in a man's name. It would be years later that an act had to be passed to stop banks using credit scores to discriminate against women. Women had to campaign for the right to vote. That history is what Bo is referring to. "The gays want kids" is just what it sounds like. Same-sex couples wanting to be able to get married and start a family. There isn't a single country in the world that bans marriage of straight couples. Protections for gay marriage were established in a court case less than 10 years ago in the US, and already it's being threatened that it will be struck down. To have a reasonable shot at being able to adopt kids and have a family, couples have to be married. If two women aren't allowed to get married, then their odds of being able to adopt are extremely low. Like, under 10% low. That's a struggle gay couples have to deal with. All of that, juxtaposed against the straight white man's problem of not being able to find khakis that fit.
He's not saying straight white men don't have problems, he's saying their problems have never been because they're straight, white, or men. In a nutshell, this song is in the same genre as Chris Rock's stand-up bit "a black man has to fly, to get to a place a white man could just walk to."
Bo's facial expressions add so much!
Love the satire in this song. I always read it in part talking about those people (usually straight white men) who deny other people the solutions to their problems by saying "Well I have problems too so what makes you so special."
3:00 OMFG...I just realized this recording is from the show I went to. "If this doesn't work in Syracuse, I don't know where the fuck it's gonna work."
If i ever get married I would love for someone like bo to play the piano like that. I beautiful.
Now I’m just thinking of someone playing that at a wedding
People don't always want to hear things you want to hear or in the way that you want to hear them. Take for instance when women and men talk to each to each other the way they want the other to talk to them...
There's always exceptions to stereotypes, but yea, stereotypes exist for a reason.
And this whole song is a giant brilliant riff on first world problems.
You need to listen "1985" by Bo after this one :)
Another great Bo reaction,Thank you Dave x
That last line is everything lol
The line "zero khakis in my size" isn't about weight, it's about being privileged as a straight white man. It doesn't matter what size he actually is. The mall doesn't have his favorite pants in his size. It's a minor problem that he sees as a big problem because he is too privileged to have any bigger problems than that. That's the joke.
That said, I completely disagree with the whole "privilege" argument (in that it assumes you are privileged if you are a certain type of person). I just recognize that's what he's doing.
Also, if the lyrics at the bottom give away the punch line, and you don't like that, then don't read them.
Also, also... whoa in regard to your break-down of the music at the part where the stage goes red. I have never put that much thought into it, and I can't find any fault in your assessment. I just saw it as him displaying the darkness in his struggles and that's as deep as I went with it.
WOOO to tired to think of something meaningful to say just got back from a trip take my algorithm points
8:17 That chord that keeps being repeated sounds stressful, so I feel like it’s a musical representation of continued struggle, especially with the other parts ascending, then descending, like almost making it up a hill, then rolling back down. The melody becomes nearly happy and triumphant (but still with that same chord repeated, backing the story), then descends back to sad, frightful, and pained. It’s a good metaphor for how close an average straight white male is to being successful, but everyone has things about their life that could be better, no matter how privileged. Even at the top, it’s hard. I bet Bill Gates regrets saying “I love Dick’s” about some burgers, from the way the internet used that clip.
Also, the second layer of “just cause it’s true, doesn’t mean that it’s right” (or the first layer I saw), is that just because it’s true, we have more opportunities, doesn’t mean that we think it’s fair either. It’s not right (not meaning “untrue,” rather that it means “unfair”) that we have easier access to things we want, being so far past worrying about not having needs like food, water, and shelter, just based on where we live and the qualities (or lack of, like melanin) we were born with. As Chris Rock said in “Head of State,” “That ain’t right!”
This song makes me feel seen... 😅😂
Interestingly, I think class factors into this song without him explicitly stating it.
Whenever he discusses privilege, you often seem to try to protect the privileged hahah.
I like to see things from both sides.
every race and gender has their own privileges
Just a small correction. Straight is about his sexuality, so not the entire lgbt community. (Specifically trans people) good reaction though
Sorry if this is worded bad, I hope you understand what I mean though.
It’s all good ❤️
Common sense isn’t that common unfortunately. Great vid 👍🏽
Is there a reason you decided to watch the shaky version with lyrics on it?
Yeahh I’ll give you 60:40 lmao
-SWM
I'm not sure what version you watch but I'm pretty sure there's a better one
I love that you talk about the technical music stuff. It’s be fun if you checked out Snow Tha Product. She’s an indie rapper, and nobody does what she does. I seriously think she might be magic lol
I know this is a bold claim, especially with rap, but trust me, and do yourself this favor. ;-P
- Really Counts
-BZRP Music Session #39
-Dale Gas ft. Alemon
-Tell You Like This
-On My Shit
-How I Do It
-Goin Off
-Flexicution Remix
-Immigrants - We Get The Job Done (this is on the Hamilton Mixtape (you need the video version) and everybody always over looks it. I still get in my feelings, and I don’t have a soul, so that tells you something lol
So instead for going for the high quality video with high quality sound version.. you went for a low quality phone filmed video with lyrics to spoil the comedy and ruin the comedic timing? Nice one. I mean when you start laughing before he even says the joke, that's just sad. (that's btw another one you can react to (in hq ofc))