Art Is Dead?
Bo Burnham wrote Art Is Dead in 2010, well before ‘Netflix-special’ Bo Burnham existed.
The entire narrative of the song is incorrect.
The lyrics of the song describe regular working people who pay money and attention to artists. The thesis is that artists - teenage Bo Burnham particularly - do not deserve this attention and are inherently phoney.
This is obviously not a fully formed thought or thesis about the world. Instead, it is the opinion of a teenager. Almost like my blog posts!
I must be psychotic
I must be demented
To think that I’m worthy
Of all this attention
Of all of this money, you worked really hard for
I slept in late while you worked at the drugstore
Fundamentally the trouble is teenage Bo Burnham does not feel it is fair that he can do fairly little work for a vast amount of money while many people are in the opposite situation. He does not understand the free market. You monetize the value you provide, whether it is selling drugs, growing crops, or making people laugh.
This is the juxtaposition in modern society between the artist and the labourer. This isn’t a particularly perfect framework, but some people think it’s useful. Both the artist and labourer are fundamental to society. Both are absolutely necessary in different ways, as with men and women.
The lyrics are fundamentally on the side of the business person and manufacturer. In other words, teenage Bo Burnham is obviously conservative. This appears to be attributable to a teenager not knowing who he truly is. This is what leads to the ‘I’m depressed but it’s funny’ nature of Inside and millenials joking about themselves not being fully developed adults.
Entertainers like to seem complicated
But we’re not complicated
I can explain it pretty easily
Have you ever been to a birthday party for children?
And one of the children
Won’t stop screaming
Cause he’s just a little attention attractor
When he grows up
To be a comic or actor
He’ll be rewarded
…
These lyrics are an interesting take on how comedians come to be. Seems mostly accurate, I’ll save the blog post on how we develop our personalities for the future.
Art is dead
So people think you’re funny
How do you get those people’s money?
Said art is dead
We’re rolling in dough
While Carlin rolls in his grave
This is fundamentally where I disagree with the premise of the song. Yes, you’re incredibly funny. Yes, you should make fuck tons of money for that. Maybe the comedy isn’t as pure, but this allows for more comics. I love free markets.
The Mr Beast business model is the perfect anti-thesis to these lyrics:
- Make a video about giving away money
- Through the proceeds from this video give away even more money in your next video
- Repeat until you possess and have given away infinite money
This is the most amazing application of monetizing attention on the internet. An infinite money machine centred around amazing content and giving away money. “We live in an attention economy.” - Andrew Tate
We should aspire to have more Mr Beasts in the world. People who love their work and do amazing things with their skills. I don’t want more slightly depressed and aimless ‘adults’ in the world.
Regardless, as with many other songs, I will continue to listen to it because it sounds nice.
They’re really gonna make me vote for joe biden.