Bo Burnham's 'Inside' is going to cinemas this week (so let's rank the songs)

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. 

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Why I love Bo Burnham's "Inside"

by Cláudio Alves

In 2016, Bo Burnham announced he was quitting live comedy. The artist, whose career started on Youtube, attributed the decision to a series of panic attacks he'd had while on stage during the tour of his latest show. When transforming said show, Make Happy, into a Netflix special, Burnham built the ending to resonate with a sense of finality that went beyond the end of the stand-up act. The smirking meta-performance reaches its zenith with a parody of a Kanye West rant, interrupted midway through by unexpected sincerity, a confession of the comedian's anxieties. After saying he hopes the audience is happy, he leaves, and the camera follows. Not backstage, but into Burnham's home, a nondescript white room with a lonely keyboard. The special ends with the instrument left behind after one last song, the funny man exiting through the door on the corner. He goes out of the shot, out of the show, out of his life as a comedian.

Five years later, after redirecting his attention to cinema both as a writer, director, and actor, Bo Burnham is back in that room. He's alone, performing once more. Like most of us, for the better part of 2020, he's Inside…

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