Bo Burnham released “Inside” to Netflix on May 30, 2021 without any warning or advertisement. Burnham is a comedian, song writer, singer, and actor. In the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Burnham came back from his five year gap of performing to record, edit, film, and produce the entirety of “Inside” on his own. Burnham quit performing live due to frequently having panic attacks on stage, performing his final show in 2016. Throughout “Inside,” the idea of those panic attacks are used to make jokes and songs, in the typical Burnham fashion. However, his panic attacks weren’t the only topic that he used to make songs; he also used the troubles and challenges of the world shutting down to make songs that people could either relate to, laugh to, or both.
One of the most popular songs is also the one that has the most to do with his relation to his mental health, “All Eyes on Me.” The song delves into how it felt to be a comedian, how he misses the attention of the audience, or even having an audience to begin with. The middle of the song is interrupted with Burnham talking directly to the audience, which in this case is his camera. During this speech, he details the reason he stopped performing, and how he eventually got better due to the time he took for himself. The song finishes with Burnham grabbing the camera, making the performance seem significantly more personal as he shows the room around him, wires, cameras, and lights filling the room where an audience normally would be.
Looking at the more relatable songs, a personal favorite was “Facetime With My Mom Tonight” due to a variety of reasons. The first was the ratio of the musical itself changed from filling the entire screen to only filling about enough to fit on a phone, making it feel like the audience is seeing the song through Facetime itself. In terms of music and lyrics, the song shows the positives and the negatives of technology when being separated from family. For the positives, Burnham highlights that an occasional 40 minute conversation with his mother is essential. However, it displays the negative side of a generational difference as well. For example, at the end of the song as Burnham is getting visibly frustrated, the lyrics “my mother’s covering her camera with her thumb. I’ll waste my time FaceTiming with my mom” is repeated until the song ends. The song’s overall feel with the instrumental is positive despite some negative language, showing that despite the frustration, it’s still healthy to talk to family during stressful times.
Finally, a look into the song that achieves relatability and comedy while portraying a bit of panic, “Welcome to the Internet.” This song is one of, if not the most, accurate depictions of modern day internet as if it were personified. The song begins with an upbeat tempo, as if it took place in a circus, with Burnham brandishing glasses that resemble those of a snake oil merchant, already signifying that the personified internet is sketchy. The song continues to ramp up the tempo with every verse, the lyrics serving as popup adds or recommended searches, things that many people had to deal with during the pandemic. At the bridge right before the final chorus, the song takes a significantly slower approach, detailing a time before the internet was as chaotic and huge as it is today. This point in time is aimed toward younger generations who have grown up with the internet constantly being at their fingertips. “Mommy let you use her iPad, you were barely two. And it did all the things we designed it to do. Now look at you.” These lyrics can relate to many people from the younger generations in both a positive and negative way. The positive way shows the progression of humanity, and how people have adapted to the new technology given to them. But, the negative side shows that most of the younger generations’ lives have been perfectly documented and preserved all on the internet for the whole world to see. The song ends in a perfect way, the tempo and lyrics are slow and quiet, but quickly speed up and get louder. Overlapping audio and voices are audible as it gets faster and closer to the end, perfectly detailing the overstimulation that the internet can bring.
Overall, “Inside” gives a deep dive into the mind of Burnham, showing his frustrations, wishes, and beliefs all through songs and comedy. It is very important to note; however, that the content is not appropriate for all ages, because the songs consist of some inappropriate language. Despite that, it deserves a rating of 5/5.