Inside: Welcome to the Internet
Welcome to the Internet is a song that is performed during the comedy special named ‘Inside’ by comedian Bo Burnham. ‘Inside’ was created during quarantine in a single room. It is quite intense and not for the faint of heart. Welcome to the Internet touches on many things that people prefer to push to the back. Burnham uses his unique style to draw people into his happy little song about the internet. This is Burnham’s commentary on the endless expansion of the internet and the chaos it feeds. Out of all of the songs to talk about during this special, Welcome to the Internet felt the most relevant in the discussion of digital media.
This special would not exist without the Internet. It would not have spread and allow people to make the connections to the lyrics in every song. It can be seen on platforms like Tiktok and Youtube which have exploited these songs and remade them into something a person can claim as “original content”. The verse of “anything and everything all of the time” is an especially popular part of this song that creators have spun into different things.
This special is categorized as a comedy special. Bo Burnham is a comedian. Nothing this man creates will ever be taken seriously. Welcome to the Internet is an interesting commentary to make from Burnham’s point of view as he was able to manipulate a viral video into a comedy career. Without platform’s such as Youtube, Bo Burnham’s career and content would have never existed.
If you want to analyze solely the lyrics of Welcome to the Internet, the full message will not be visible. The visual can be considered as equally important as the lyrics of the song. Burnham’s aggressive style of editing and mixing makes the lyrics and message of the song all the more unsettling.
Welcome to the Internet is Burnham’s attempt to make the internet a comforting and nice place. He has established himself as this unidentifiable and all-knowing benevolent being that sits behind the entirety of the “internet” and gives it a physical, comprehensible version of the internet. The internet is not a physical place and no one gives you a warning about the intense contents. The Internet is a conglomerate of websites and search engines that attempt to take your personal information to use for the company’s personal gain. The consistent use of “we” and “us” that Burnham uses to create a sense of a community that can be achieved by accepting the contents of the Internet without much questioning.
Another thing to look at in this song is the consistent use of “you”. It is an interesting train of thought to follow about who Burnham could be talking to. I think Burnham is referencing the generation that has grown up with the Internet and social media so they don’t know any differnet. A way to support this idea is the lyric “You, Insatiable you, Mommy let you use her iPad, You were barely two” which can be interpreted as, we have made digital media an integral part of this generation’s lives that I believe they will not be able to function without it. A nickname for the generation of people who are on the younger side of Gen Z and then Generation Alpha is iPad Kids. These are children that can’t function without an iPad or tablet to stimulate their minds. Burnham’s overwhelming style at the end of the song can be seen as a commentary that people become bored with content unless it is chaotic and overwhelming. Children, nowadays, don’t know any different than streaming services, social media, and the instant access to “anything and everything all of time”.
Digital media has allowed the rapid spread of information. Before the creation of the Internet as we know it, people achieved relevant status as a celebrity by starring in movies and other cinematic means. The creation of Youtube was a big factor in changing how people discovered talent. Youtube especially changed the game. It changed how we consume media. Bo Burnham went viral on Youtube and has been famous ever since. He used Youtube to keep himself relevant in the growth of web stardom. This special came after Burnham’s five year retirement and this song was the first thing he had posted on his Youtube channel in three years. Welcome to the Internet is a song that would not exist without digital media. It requires the creation of Netflix, a streaming service, and Youtube, a video platform of social media. The progression that allowed us to reach this point in media is a meta-concept. To use digital media to critique the reach of digital media is a very strange approach to the topic. ‘Inside’ is a movie that will not be taken seriously as society does not take anything labeled as “comedy” despite the intense topic and very serious issues that it brings to light.