More about: Bo Burnham

Taking over hearts, minds and TikTok, Bo Burnham’s musical comedy special Inside will surely go down in history as an iconic piece of pandemic creation. Perfectly capturing the ups and downs, the hysteria and the depression of being stuck at home for too long, the viral special has been spiralling around my head ever since.

Rising to fame on Vine and now conquering TikTok, Bo Burnham knows exactly how to make a catchy little ditty that will loop in your head for weeks. So in an attempt to finally lay the songs to rest so I can concentrate on other things, here is the Inside soundtrack, ranked in order of how much they’re been stuck in my head.

20. 'Don’t Wanna Know'

Inside’s musical interval, 'Don’t Wanna Know' is too functional to be truly catchy. Honestly I can barely even remember it but looking up the lyrics he definitely captures a big pandemic mood when he says "I thought it’d be over by now", because same.

19. 'All Time Low'

At only 54 seconds, with the majority of the track being a spoken monologue, Bo might have cut this one too short. It could’ve had the same catchy potential as 'Shit' if there was less talking and more pity partying involved, but sadly there's not quite enough for my brain to latch onto.

18. 'Facetime With My Mom (Tonight)'

Much like the actual act of Facetiming with your mum, I mostly just wanted this track to be over and then couldn’t remember anything that happened during the second it was over. Yeah it nicely done with a good beat and some funny little moments, but in comparison to the other tracks it was a bit too literal with no big catchy climaxes. I’m sure Bo’s mum is lovely but this track about her is forgettable.

17. 'Unpaid Intern'

Honestly I think I’ve blocked this one out of my mind, buried it deep down inside me along with all the memories of being said unpaid intern. 

16. 'Sexting'

Don’t get me wrong, I fancy Bo Burnham as much as the next person. And while I did love this seductive little moment crafted to remind us all how absurd pandemic flirting really was, Bo thrusting in a white T-shirt was too distracting for me to pay attention to the song. Though the video plays on a loop in my head, the track only occasional makes it onto shuffle.

15. 'Welcome To The Internet'

This might be a controversial one as the song is doing the rounds on TikTok. Sure it’s packed full of classic Burnham tactics: the steady piano rhythm is custom made to be painfully catchy, the semi-creepy Willy Wonka Dr Strangelove-eqsue character is meant to be stuck in your mind and the raising tempo does hook me in. But as a person with a tiny attention span thanks to being raised on the internet, and with no brain space to truly confront that yet, this one doesn’t land high on my list. I do think about the lyric “apathy's a tragedy and boredom is a crime” all the time, but more in the context of the finale track than 'Welcome To The Internet’s cheerier beat.

14. 'How The World Works'

The song? A skip. The thought of that bit where the sock puppet calls Bo Burnham "Sir"? Constantly replayed. 

13. '30'

This is a real highlight in the special, paired along with a big light show and some great choreo from a topless Burnham. In the same way that Taylor Swift’s '22' is a birthday must, I have no doubt this track will absolutely haunt me when I approach my 30th birthday. But for now I relate more to his attack on zoomers with dissociative mental disorder. All that being said, this track finds a place right in the middle of the ranking as I occasionally catch myself singing “My stupid friends are having stupid children / Stupid, fucking ugly, boring children” every time I hear a child scream.

12. 'Bezos ii'

A decision had to be made, and as the slower of the two with far less mania, 'Bezos ii' loses the battle of the capitalist worshiping tracks.

11. 'Problematic'

As we settling into the best of the best, 'Problematic' just misses the mark. This song plays regularly in my head every time I leave the tap running while brushing my teeth, laugh at an episode of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia or think about the Princess Jasmine costume I had as a child. However, it’s not threatening to dominate my end of the year Spotify Wrapped quite like some of the others, no matter how much I love its '80s aerobics class vibe. 

10. 'Anyday Now'

I can’t quite put my finger on what it is about this track that is absolutely haunting me, but its popped into my head at least once a day since I watched the special. As the credits song, maybe my obsession with it is because the looping lyrics played on repeat as a I sat trying to recover from what I’d just watched. But either way this sweet ditty spins round my head every time I need a little comforting or a dash of optimism for my day - and I’m not mad at it.

9. 'Comedy'

Placing 'Comedy' as the second track in the special, Bo Burnham didn’t spare a second thought to infusing Inside with his brand of self-aware yet self-deprecating humour that’s full of social commentary without being heavy. The narrative storytelling in this track moving from piano ballad to godly gospel to a catchy pop tune has made it a regular player in my mind. A track for all the people that use humour as a coping mechanism, the way he sings “I'm a special kind of white guy / I self-reflected, and I want to be an agent of change” scratches my brain in the best way and I’m obsessed.

8. 'Look Who’s Inside Again'

I guess you could call this the title track so of course it’s a favourite. A nice one to sing along when you find yourself stuck inside isolating again, this track feels like a perfect ballad for covid times. Neither sad nor happy, its bittersweet energy and simple form has made it a regular listen...I only wish it were longer.

7. 'Goodbye'

Taking the best lines from all the other songs, of course 'Goodbye' is stuck in my head. Perfectly wrapping up the special, the versions in this song are actually more memorable than their original forms. From the creepier version of 'Looks Who’s Inside Again' to the tender take on 'Comedy', 'Goodbye' made me want to watch the whole thing again, making sure I had these songs stuck in my head before the film had even finished. 

6. 'Shit'

This song is stuck in my head every weekday at 8am when I drag myself out of the house to work. 

5. 'White Woman’s Instagram'

'White Woman’s Instagram' both attacks and heals. I hear it in my head every time I post an irrelevant Instagram story of whatever book I’m reading perfectly positioned on my white duvet, or even contemplate taking a photo of my food. If you’re Zoella or simply haven’t purged your Instagram of all those oversaturated pastel heavy pics we all took back in 2012, this song might be too personal for you to enjoy. However, if you can sit in the discomfort its genius. Nice Guy Bo never strays into mocking, and the softer bridge actually makes 'White Woman’s Instagram' a really cute song that pokes fun rather than taking low blows at women like so many other comics do. And for that reason, I play it loud and proud while second guessing every post I make.

4. 'That Funny Feeling'

This is just a Phoebe Bridgers song in disguise, so naturally I’m obsessed.

3. 'Content'

As a content writer by trade, this one hits especially hard because I too have made you some content, open wide. As an instant add to my morning rise and grind playlist to make engaging in capitalism a little more fun, 'Content' has been on a loop in my head ever since, replaying with every full stop I type or new document I open. Short and sweet with that one glorious, disco-ball filled chorus, Bo Burnham - originally the king of vine - knows how to do a lot in a short time and boy did he serve on this track. 

2. 'Bezos i'

The supreme Bezos song. This track gets my blood pumping, packed with so much power it could honestly pass for an ad made to get Gen-Z to stop boycotting Amazon. Come on Jeff: Get’ em!

1. 'All Eyes On Me'

I think Bo put some kind of hypnotic magic into this song. Sounding like he’s speaking direct to you like some kind of cultish preacher, I will do literally anything he says as this song has been looping round my head like I'm being indoctrinated. From the first time I heard him sing “Don't be scared, don't be shy / Come on in, the water's fine” I dove straight into dedication to this song, singing along like it’s a hymn EMand I’m an overexcited primary school kid. Hands up, all eyes on him, I’m a slave to this song and Bo Burnham is my leader.

More about: Bo Burnham