REACTION to Bo Burnham - That Funny Feeling | De & Dre Reacts S:2 E:1

[@Layne_M]

I find that this song is hard to digest when you first listen to it, but I believe that the "funny feeling" Bo is talking about is existential dread. The feeling that the world is going downhill as rapidly as ever and will soon be past the point of repair both on a cultural level and with real impacts to earth. Bo takes the chance to juxtapose the real huge issues we have to face like climate change, gun violence, and an increasingly bold oligarchy that keeps the government serving the corporate elite at the expense of the rest of us. On the other side of the coin is the things we use to placate ourselves, Steve Aoki, Logan Paul, Deadpool, Sports, Technology. We the people of the United States, are too busy consuming the endless drove of content pushed at us, that we've become too lazy, selfish, and disconnected, that only when we step back and try to view things in their entirety can we really recognize what that funny feeling is. At least, that's what I think he was getting at.

[@ZacharyFinch]

Excellent breakdown. I also love the haunting words of the outro. From my interpretation, each repetition of the words represents a following generation that is just as hopeless and apathetic as the last, so much so that they make excuses for themselves for not stopping or slowing the end of the world, dismissing the fact that there will always be another generation that must inherit the increasingly dire consequences of the previous ones. Bo’s sentiment is similar to Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” only more self-aware, and much more guilty. Bo isn’t just mourning the end of the world. The world and even human civilization could survive in theory. Bo’s message is much darker. Bo is mourning the death of hope. The death of humanity’s soul. In his eyes, our fates are sealed, not because we can’t change, but because we’d simply prefer to die, but not before living on time borrowed from our descendants. In desperation, they will one day ask us, the elders, “Why didn’t you do more to stop it?” And instead of owning up to our failure, we will simply respond, just as our elders did, saying “Well, what can you say? We were overdue. But it’ll be over soon… Just wait.” And so, we are doomed to spiral down further and further.

[@amirabella23]

I agree. Turns out DREAD is the word

[@mattd7828]

Well put, Layne. I also like that the title emobies both sides of the coin. "That funny feeling" can be either literal (the jokes and entertainment that placate us), or figurative (existential dread). And I think playing down his ability to sing and play guitar in front of a fake fire is a subtle recognition that even he knows his song is not really doing anything apart from entertaining us.

[@unclefoot]

Spot on explanation. I think cognitive dissonance is the coin itself. There wouldn’t be two sides without it. If we didn’t continuously find ways to ignore reality, there wouldn’t be any separation from it.

[@cotybecker2351]

Found Bo’s burner

[@Anotherhandle_name]

“7 years to go” refers to the time scientists said we had until it’s impossible to reverse climate change(2027 I believe). After that no matter what it’s still going to occur but we have a window to help slow and possibly fix it.

[@CharStar654]

Thank you that was what my assumption was as well!

[@stevemoneybags9498]

Yup. Pair that line with, “the whole world at your fingertips, the ocean at your door”

[@MrKahrum]

We could fix it in a week even after that time, but we would need to actually take the reins on whats in our air and water, rather than just dumping our byproducts and figuring it out "later"

[@beatrixishere]

@@MrKahrum I'm sorry but that isn't what the data shows. Not that long from now we risk having a self-reinforcing system of change due to the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere heating up the planet. That in turn leads to release of more greenhouse gases. The damage done to environment and lost flora and fauna will make us unable to revert in the short term (as in it will take many generations to turn around, IF people like even can manage to stick around for long enough to see it). At a point in time not far from now reducing or fully stopping our emissions will not stop climate change.

[@MrKahrum]

@@beatrixishere sure, the planet will have lost the reins. But if WE take control of the air scrubbing, we can work Way faster than the natural order.

[@Jenn-rv3qs]

The amount of irony in this song is insane, I mean Civil War by itself is a major oxymoron, along with the gun shop/mall comparison, and the agoraphobic person getting a self-help book delivered by a drone. It illustrates the absolute chaos that is society and the expectations we are forced to comply with, how incredibly exhausting it is, at least that’s how I see it. I also think it’s beautiful that it means so many things to so many people. That’s what good art does ❤️

[@SubterrelProspector]

That funny feeling is existential dread. Bo knows like many people that bill is due for humanity and it might not end so well.

[@wouldiwasshookspeared4087]

Also, the feeling is noticing the absurdity of modern society and how stupid some of the advances seem from an outside perspective.

[@stephonix616]

“I root for humanity probably more than I should”. I felt that one deep. Just started watching you guys and I really enjoy your dynamic and the fact that both of you come to each of these reactions with differing perspectives, but you share them thoughtfully and respectfully. Gonna have to go listen to the podcast now 😉😆

[@holdencaulfield8429]

actual sincere reactions are rare, these guys are great.

[@zacharylyell6299]

Not meaning to nitpick, just explaining something. S*icide, coming from someone who has and is suffering from clinical depression, is not harder on the family than clinical depression is on the individual. I get that people feel that way, and trust me I completely understand it, I'd never want to cause that much pain to my mom. However, if you were to ever step into the mind of a depressed person(clinically depressed, not the mood "depressed" they are 2 different things), it is a minefield. I've had times where the simplest things caused me so much mental anguish that I physically couldn't function. I still currently only work part-time and barely do anything outside of sleep, because finding motivation to even move is insanely difficult. The death of a loved one and the guilt someone may feel due to their s*icide is an immense pain that I'd never wish on anyone, but at the very least people can at least USUALLY recover from the death of a family member or loved one. It may take months or even years, but most people can recover from it and move on. Of course, you never really forget and it will always be a sore spot,but you can go back to daily life and be happy most of the time. Depression on the other hand, is a constant battle that stays with many people, almost every single day until they die, whether that be from natural causes or s*icide. I've had times where, despite loving my mom, I've had to tell her that I can't take it. I've had times where she's threatened to send me to places(that usually don't treat the mentally ill very well), because of my depression and I've literally threatened to end it, not because I hate her, but because I'm constantly hurting to the point where I want to do that and she wanted to send me to a place that would make it worse. A person can only take so much. Imagine how much it actually takes for you to want to end it. Think about how hard it is for something to get you to that point. Now imagine constantly feeling like that, almost every minute of every day, for the rest of your life. Or at the very least for a few hours every day, every other day, or whatever. Imagine this constant looming feeling of, "Am I gonna feel like dy*ng today?" It's an unexplainable feeling, an incurable, but mildly treatable illness, and causes 850,000 d*aths a year as of 2011 and has likely only gone up since then. Many depressed people have lost loved ones, many have even lost them to s*icide. They know what d*ath is like on people, if they felt as though that pain was worse than their everyday pain, they wouldn't end it. Is it selfish? Yes. But it's also selfish to ask people to stay when they mentally can't. That's not me saying you should let people do it either, save those that you can, please. But understand where they're coming from.

[@bareakon]

I lost my best friend to s*icide 2 years ago, almost to the day. I made two attempts last year. The grief was manageable. The despair and desperation was not.

[@ericc4040]

I came here to say the same thing. You guys used way more words than the two that I had planned…

[@honeybadgerzombie1159]

This is the one I wanted the most, it’s my favorite song he’s ever written. Period.

[@gcarsk]

The improvement in editing of this channel over the months has been crazy. Awesome seeing the channel grow!

[@HzizsVynryn]

I always thought the "funny feeling" was anxiety. A couple times he brought in the chorus after mentioning really dark things like a mall shooter. In the verses, the subjects he brings up are either meaningless or impactful, one or the other. Kind of like how we browse the internet; see funny memes on one post, impending doom on the next one down. We can't do anything about our doom so we scroll and consume worthless information (like Pornhub's ToS) while we try to ignore that funny feeling that we're going to die and can't do anything about it.

[@JAYLONDBAR]

Could be, I thought it was feelings of depression. Im not depressed but I get those sometimes.

[@HzizsVynryn]

@@JAYLONDBAR Anxiety can encourage depression to appear. It's a 1-2 punch in the mental health world.

[@peterlewis2178]

I feel like it's kind of the irony of reality. How all the facts of our reality seem wrong, or somehow unreal. He keeps using juxtaposition throughout the song of things that don't quite make sense. Like an 8k resolution meditation app, when you don't even look at the screen when meditating, or the live action Lion King movie. And, on the more serious note, the gift shop at the gun range and mass shooting at the mall. And then getting into the whole world at our fingertips but the ocean at our door (rising sea levels), and the unapparent summer air in early fall (rising temperatures).

[@cristhianzerimar]

I like to call it existential dread but anxiety definitely is part of it.

[@Comrade_OMR]

This song is so emotional, it hits so deep. I think it takes a good amount of time to process and filter it through your personal experiences, and the slightly vague nature of that funny feeling is meant to be open to interpretation. Its so interesting your relatively similar reactions but different conclusions. Your whole channel is brilliant so far, I can't wait for more!

[@godzillaeyes]

Hey this is one of the best first reactions to this song I've seen (and I've seen 'em all). Ditto what others have said about the 7 years left on the Climate Clock before catastrophe is unavoidable. My interpretation of the ending, where he's smiling while saying it'll be over soon, is that the world is difficult and scary right now - but when it all (the world, or just humanity) ends, at least our suffering will also end.

[@ronaldpobuda835]

NO - IT WON'T Without Jesus as you're savior the suffering will be eternal. Be born again into the truth and the Holy Spirit will give you understanding. Jesus said; "I am the truth, the way and the life." The truth is not something we create, it is not subjective, it does not change with time and we don't get to decide anything about it. Something is true or it's not... period. Jesus is true. The way is not a path we create, based on our feelings and personal preferences. Jesus came to be the way - not to just show us a way; but to be THE way. He is the path to heaven, and all are free to and welcome to walk that path - but there is no other path to heaven... only Jesus. The life is not for a few decades here on earth - it is for eternity. Life is in the blood; Jesus shed his blood willingly so that we might live and have life eternal with Him. Without his blood there is eternal death, not life. An eternal existence of regret, sorrow, darkness, pain, loneliness, bitterness, hopelessness... basically all things opposite of God's presence.

[@Lionstar123]

@@ronaldpobuda835 My dude this is the wrong community to bring this to lmao people who watch bo burnham generally accept that humanity is fucked and the world's gonna end. a LOT of his fans aren't on board with the jesus train. peddle your religion to a community that cares and read the room

[@kylesargent9395]

I agree @godzillaeyes! It’s almost a comforting ending like many other camp fire songs. Like you don’t have to worry about trying to fix it now, it’s already over, and we won’t have to suffer for long.

[@godzillaeyes]

@@kylesargent9395 Yesss!

[@veius5487]

@@ronaldpobuda835 believe in what you will but don’t put your opinions on other people and force them to listen to you cause you think it may be the correct answer. I personally think that when we die it’s just black and void and nothing is left after it’s done, it’s scary to think about it but that dissasociation from the rest of the world is crazy scary to experience for the first time like thinking about what happens after we die. We’re not sure about it, I wouldn’t mind heaven cause I bet that’d be cool to hang out up there and mess with people as ghosts in the future. But in the end we’ll all grow old and eventually not care about dying cause we’ve been here for what we needed to do and well idk where we’re going after this. Have a good life and I’ll see you in a billion years.

[@silentfenrir6927]

I think the feeling is "This is stupid and we're distracted idiots sleepwalking over the precipice"

[@jesseculp651]

Just the fact u guys are gonna do the whole special... Sub immediately. U guys are excellent and intuitive and perfect fit to analyze bo. Also doin this, u really need to just do everything from the beginning in order leading up to inside, so u can get the full, true understanding of this brilliant, broken man. Like many of us.

[@Shinegamikira]

Could not agree more

[@daniellecorley2595]

This special is best taken all at one time as a complete work of art. To fully get deep into it... I didn't feel good when it ended but it was powerful. Now I go back just to certain pieces and take a little here and there. But it hits hard as one whole, long vibe because he takes you into this madness of being stuck in a room. (even though he really wasn't when he made it; it's art) It's sort of a journey into madness experienced by someone w/mental health issues that gets worse due to pandemic isolation and commercialization of social causes, etc.

[@doctorlyethelimbcollector]

I wouldn't call this song a country song, it's much more of a campfire song in terms of the genre, but his reach is absolutely insaaaane with musical diversity. Also, the 20,000 years of this, 7 more to go is in reference to the climate clock running out. Essentially the idea that if we don't begin fixing our negative impact on the planet there would only be 7 years before the damage to our planet is irreversible. Though I do believe the climate clock has run out by now, or is rapidly approaching the end of it's limit.

[@bigdawg702]

Folk song more like

[@Floedekage]

@@bigdawg702 yes

[@OrenAjb]

campfire song is not a genre . this is folk music

[@smilectics]

imo a countdown clock until irreversible damage isn't an accurate way to view climate change. there's a series of tipping points that are approaching (or have already passed), and the longer we go with governments actively collaborating to make climate change worse, the more of those points we will pass, but there isn't gonna be one day where it's suddenly irreversible

[@666Mrfrisco]

Acoustic does not equal country... Folk maybe... But if you don't listen y you don't know

[@ritalula864]

Could be fun to watch a reaction to the "chicken" song, from the Inside Outtakes ;)

[@Floedekage]

14:44 "you play guitar, you have a beard" Damn, I love that you guys can both have fun and say some very interesting and insightful things at the same time! 💜

[@technizzle71]

I would definitely say there is a lot missed watching his material isolated from the rest of the show it's from, as everything feeds off of and in to itself. You'll get a much better experience watching a whole special. While you have been watching all the "fan favorites", I have found that most people "like it" but get a deeper appreciation of it's meaning and impact after seeing the whole show.

[@nyxdarkness1]

I recently shared this on another creator's reaction, but wanted to share this here with you guys. imo, the feeling is a few different things; cognitive dissonance, existential dread and crisis, the knowledge that everything in this world is FUBAR, but not knowing what to do about it or how to react to it. To me, the corn - hub line is possibly about consciously doing something monotonous to gain some control, and the GTA line to me is describing doing anything to feel a sense of normalcy in the only way you know how. The outside world is so crazy and messed up, and video games are a form of escapism; how do you escape from chaos? By forcing normalcy, even if its silly (like obeying traffic laws in a game which is usually played by creating chaos). The ocean at your door is climate change; the ice caps melting and ocean levels rising. 7 years (at that time) was the estimation by climate researchers of how long we had before hitting the point of no return. "A gift shop at the gun range, a mass shooting at the mall" - Guns are an attraction, a personality trait. As a result, gun violence in US is higher than ever before. Places in which we should be safe, we aren't. These two things seem contradictory, but both ideas are commonplace in modern America. Disassociation and derealization are having the sense that things happening aren't real, or having a disconnect between what's happening around you and how you react to and feel about it. "In honor of the revolution, it's half-off at the Gap" - Our revolution (BLM, LGBTQ+, Women's rights, unionization for workers' rights, etc) has been commodified, commercialized, trivialized. We aren't taken seriously even when demonstrating in the streets. Most of the things you speculated as being a waste of time, I think is pretty close. More specifically, distraction. Things for us to focus on so we don't have to think about the truth of the world we live in. "The quiet comprehending of the ending of it all" is pretty self explanatory, and descriptive of all the things that came before it.

[@ronaldpobuda835]

The 'feeling" is recognition that things are not as they were meant to be. Death is not the natural order of things as designed, strife and hatred have no part in the original plan. Revolting with violence is not an answer, it is an admission and cooperation with that feeling that things are not as they should be. Celebrating and approving perversion, hatred and evil is not a revolution, it is a rebellion against goodness and truth. Guns are a tool - in the hands of tyranny a tool of control and oppression, in the hands of freedom lovers a tool of resistance to oppression and the protection of self-determination as granted us by our Creator. Escapism into games is a fool's errand - it changes nothing in reality and usually worsens the persons state physically and emotionally, maybe mentally as well. I would suggest that seeking the truth is a much better response. Learn how things were meant to be, learn what the end will be like and learn how to truly escape to how things were truly meant to be / created to be. So, Nyx the Floof King - you have hit so close to the truth of somethings, but without understanding it seems. The truth and understanding come from your Creator - read the bible (preferably in the King James version for better accuracy -written/translated from better sources) = God's Word to communicate to His children, but true understanding comes from the Holy Spirit of God - 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 - For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God....For the foolishness of God is wiser than mankind, and the weakness of God is stronger than mankind.... 1John 5:20 - And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

[@WhisperTaraneth]

@@ronaldpobuda835 Wow I went into this comment not knowing what to expect and the fact that it went straight to Jesus is the most hilarious thing I’ve read all day. Thanks for the laugh and the bad take, Ron.

[@nyxdarkness1]

@@ronaldpobuda835 hoo boy. There are so many things wrong with this comment I barely know where to start. Assuming everybody else believes what you believe is a huge issue in our world today. You speak of hate and perversion; You need look no further than your own congregation. You condemn our fight as "celebrating hatred", and in the same breath spread hate for people you don't agree with. Isn't it your own Bible that says to address the beam in one's own eye before the mote in your brother's? You say the fight for equal rights for PoC, LGBTQIA+, and women is a "rebellion against goodness and truth", and promotes perversion hatred and evil. People just want to be treated like people, and people like you won't let them live their lives how they see fit. Reacting with violence against violence is sometimes the only way to get things done. But I assume you're speaking about the BLM "riots"; almost all cases of violence during one of those demonstrations were incited by opposing groups or the police themselves. You say that revolting is "admission and cooperation with the idea that things are not as they should be" - Do you disagree? Do you think the state of the world as we know it is how it belongs? And by the way, yes, death is the natural order of things. Death is the one absolute guarantee in life. Every person is owed a death; I do think some people are owed worse deaths than others though. And you're so confidently wrong, too - If you honestly think Bo Burnham's "Funny Feeling" has anything to do with God or religion, then you know even less about Bo Burnham than you do real life.

[@ronaldpobuda835]

@@WhisperTaraneth I am sorry you consider Jesus a joke - that won't bode well for you eternally!!! 😢😢

[@JeremyEllwood]

"gift shop at the gun range, shooting at the mall" Can we just... can we linger on that for a moment? I'm pro 2nd but SOMETHING has to give. --I've seen "Inside" about 12 times and it never gets old. The message is just so insanely powerful.--

[@ronaldpobuda835]

It's our hearts that are sinful, deceitful and wicked - don't blame the tool that is used - take it away and another tool will be found.

[@Smascheratore]

@@ronaldpobuda835 nahh that's a dumb way to view it, you have sooo many examples where gun control is applied in a country and you don't have mass shootings at school, ofc the people are the problem, but having no gun control is giving them a free ticket to do something real bad. In the country where i live (italy) there were 5 mass shootings in the WHOLE history of Italy, USA ha 60 recorded mass shootings between 2006 and 2022, also take into account that it only counts MASS shootings, you dont get how many shootings happen in the US. We literally have mafia in Italy and active mafia leaders and we barely have any shootings. US has 1/3 of the whole Mass shootings IN THE WORLD. You can take any european country and you can see we barely have any mass shootings cause we have gun control. After all this stats do you still really believe you shouldn't have gun control??

[@sammybutler3027]

@@ronaldpobuda835 easier to stop said people with smaller tools than those with literal killing machines

[@expletivegg]

i think something even sadder is black on black crime in inner cities. its at extreme proportions and we hear nothing about it. babies in strollers, cribs and walkers are literally being shot at random. the only reason we hear about mass shootings is because a white man and a gun was used and it furthers a political agenda. i think there are about 4 or 5 problems right there that also need addressing. i think we have a culture, poverty and mental health problem far more important than firearms. unfortunately i think well never get rid of these problems because theres just too many people who take life and our position on the planet for granted. everyone lives for themselves when we need to be living for our childrens childrens children. as far as the song existential dread is a pretty reasonable place to be because in my heart of hearts i see nothing good in the future any time soon. just an opinion from another depressed american who used to believe in their government and country. "hey what can you say, we were overdue, itll be over soon.... you wait."

[@CyRxJustin]

​@@expletivegg I think something even sadder is the genocide in Darfur where more than 1 million children have been killed, raped, wounded, or traumatized. What the fuck does that have to do with anything? We hear about mass shootings because they're horrific. If you hear about a school shooting and you aren't horrified but instead think "Oh boy here comes a political agenda," then you're a fucking problem. I'm military, I like guns, they're fun. A lot of people use them as a security blanket, and that's great, I want everyone who feels small inside to have something that makes them feel less afraid of everyone and everything around them. But you have to weigh these advantages against the costs. What we're doing ISN'T WORKING. You can spout rhetoric from breitbart all day "WUDDABOUT black on black crime? WUDDABOUT a mythological good guy with a gun? WUDDABOUT my fantasy of saving the day with my toy?" but no matter what you come up with, it doesn't change the facts: This problem ONLY EXISTS in our country. Other countries have had similar tragedies and they responded by taking the toys away when the kids couldn't play nice. It worked every time. The fact that some of you can watch children being slaughtered in their schools regularly and just go "If I can think of something sadder, can we just ignore all of it?" - it's fucking baffling to me.

[@amiraameera8302]

I think the 7 years he was referencing was something like the estimated timeline to when we'll have done permanent damage to the climate. 20K years of humanity scraping away at the earth to survive, and 7 more until we'll have doomed ourselves for good.

[@yat282]

I'm always curious to see what people make of this song. On my first listen, it took me until the halfway point to identify the feeling I think Bo is describing. To me, it's the feeling the the way the world in is just wrong, and that it can't last forever, and there's nothing we can do about it.

[@yeetkunedo]

20K years and 7 more to go is a reference to human history and the climate crisis threatening eventual human extinction. The song is a number of ridiculous references to ridiculous things happening during what might be the beginning of the end, and “that funny feeling” is the realization of how quietly the cumulative failure has arrived. No one needs to hear “Bugles’ take on race,” or to read “PrnHub’s terms of service,” no one needs the Pepsi Halftime Show distracting them, everyone should be noticing how the world is at our fingertips - smartphones - and how the ocean is soon to be at our door due to rising sea levels. This is a very somber song about realizing that we as a species don’t have much longer to go at the rate we’re going with the amount of apathy and unawareness we generally tend to possess, and how distraction as a survival mechanism will ultimately accelerate our undoing.

[@Poitisan]

Shooting before I even finished the video here, but: First of your your guys' videos I watch, first off. Secondly, I wanna say I listened to this song soooo many times and I watched so many reactions on this so far, but your take on it being a reflection on his deeply personal experience and journey is new to me. Never even occured, I was so focused on the overarching subject of "the end of (western/industrial) humanity", that deeply personal approach never occured to me. Kudos, you just opened up a new facet of this song to me. Thank you very much for that. EDIT after finishing the video: From just watching this one vid of you guys, you seem like very sincere, serious people. Fun, when there's ome to be had but invested when there's need for it. Whoever may call you friend is very lucky from what I can tell. Alright, I'll stop now before making a complete fool of myself. Take care.

[@De.Dre.Universe]

This is such a heart warming comment!!! Thank you for the support and interaction. We're lucky that you found us! -De

[@Katy-sh3ru]

You are indeed awesome reactors ❤

[@Scrub_Jake]

Ok look then, I was gonna list all the songs you need to hear, but then you said you’d be doing “the full special”. But here’s the thing… “Inside” is his 4th special. You should start from the beginning! #1. Words, Words, Words (2010, Bo was 20yrs old) #2. What. (2013, Bo was 23yrs old) #3. Make Happy (2016, 26yrs old) #4. Inside (2021, 30yrs old) And to be quite honest, I’ve been following him since 2010 and while Inside is an amazing special, it’s certainly not his best ever. I’d argue Make Happy and What are even better, with WordsWordsWords being just under inside. But of course that’s just my opinion.

[@frostyfb7290]

Honestly, have to agree. I remember watching What. years ago and it's still my favorite today

[@Scrub_Jake]

@@frostyfb7290 Seriously What. is super good, I even listen to just the audio during work sometimes lol

[@RobloxRetroRushOfficial]

"The whole world at your fingertips, the ocean at your door." This is such a brilliant piece of writing.

[@FCHollywoodFCB]

scientists have said that we have about 7 years of "normal life" unless we start caring about climate change and that stuff

[@AP-gb3eh]

That’s when it’s too late

[@laceybee1268]

"We were overdue..." is likely referencing what many epidemiologists had been saying about a worldwide pandemic being eminent. Books like 'Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs (2017)' talked about this very thing. Warning that historically we were overdue for a pandemic as largescale as SARS-CoV-2. I consumed unreasonable amounts of information from epidemiologists, immunologists, and virologists over quarantine and heard the word "overdue" repeatedly.

[@RabbitFooFoo]

Great to see you guys back…Hopefully you can check out Burnham’s ‘Five Years’, from the Inside outtakes…it definitely offers a more upbeat tone than TFF

[@elsieinthevoid]

Love you guys. Excited to hear you're going to watch the whole Inside special, because -- echoing several other comments -- it gives this song and all the others more context and a focused deeper meaning. Anyway, I was stoked to see you in my feed again, looking forward to the next 🙏🏻

[@jakobeckstein7837]

I think this song is about the deep, surreal absurdity of modern life, and the nihilism that can inspire in people. The verses consist of examples of the terrifying absurdities we're all confronted with every day, but shrug off because we're too tired to actually feel them anymore. "gift shop at the gun range, mass shooting at the mall", "obeying all the traffic laws in grand theft auto five", "in honor of the revolution, half off at the gap." These are all deeply, hilariously self-contradictory and absurd things. But they also all hit really close to home, because they resonate with the reality we all live with day to day. In fact, most of the stuff Bo lists in these verses are actually real, even though they sound like they were made up by some surrealist TV writer. And so even though it might seem funny on the surface, this song makes us cry, or stare blankly into space. It's a song that draws our attention to just how far off the deep end our society actually is, gently forcing us to stare into the abyss that our future could become. That's what I think "that funny feeling" is. It's that part panic, part vertigo, part relief feeling you get from confronting oblivion, from admitting to yourself that you might just be alive to witness it all come crashing down. For the record, I dont necessarily believe the world is gonna end, but i'll be damned if it doesn't feel that way sometimes. The nihilism Bo espouses here (and in a lot of his work) is a seductive emotion, but that doesn't mean it's true. This song is a masterpiece, but be careful with it. Don't let it seduce to into giving up on the world.

[@nerdherdsman]

To me, "that funny feeling" means depression. 2020 had a lot of mindless scrolling through all the insane stuff like "discount Etsy agitprop" and "Logan Paul", distracting yourself from the funny feeling that keeps coming back when you read the bad news.

[@rebeccawilliams7986]

I have been waiting for this one since my husband and I stumbled onto your channel a few months ago!

[@intermedianguitarsguild4482]

Loved the interpretation that this was about himself, his journey, and how he's feeling the same way he felt before. No doubt this is one of those songs that speaks more about how bo is feeling about the world than about the world itself. It's a reflection of bo's perspective in quarentine. Loved the reaciton

[@lorenheckard5146]

For a reaction channel with under 10k subs I'm really impressed with the camera work! Great video guys, appreciate the Bo content too

[@djthrust2948]

Please do a video on "The Chicken." It's a song that Bo released during the outtakes from Inside.

[@Legolegs]

You guys have become my favorite Bo reactors!

[@PrajDy]

YES! IKR!?

[@bart1506]

Existential Dread at its finest. 😬 You should hop over and catch Phoebe Bridgers cover of this. Bo went to see her perform it! 🔥

[@TellahC]

Late to the party, but I've binged all of your Bo reactions this morning. Ive watched so many others and you two are grasping these themes better than anyone else on the internet. Im actually excited when you pause. Insightful fellas.

[@YNergy]

I think this is more folk music than anything... thanks so much! Also BIG thanks for doing the whole special! Can't wait...

[@prosebuds5124]

So excited for you guys to get the full uncut special! Inside is best watched all together :)

[@amirabella23]

I'm so glad you guys are going to do the whole special. I really like watching you guys. Subscribed.

[@skooshtastic]

I think the funny feeling is a panic attack. Disassociation and derealisation can be symptoms of one. I think the song is about him feeling overwhelmed and he's starting to have panic attacks again in a way he thought he'd stopped (as mentioned in all eyes on me) and that's we he's saying they were overdue. I think it's really personal, but I certainly related to it when I first watched this. Aside to the song, I've gotta say your production quality is looking awesome. Huge step up from other videos I've watched of yours.

[@FatZangief]

Currently trying to learn this on guitar. It has some tricky chord transitions. Well, tricky for me anyway. Beautiful song.

[@DJKuroh]

How long have you been playing the guitar? I checked the tab and it seems fairly simple for a chord based song with a few hammer ons. (Not trying to be a dick, just wondering if I can help out).

[@Miss-Hellcat666]

Same here! A to Bm is clunky as heck for me. I prefer playing solos and really lazed on chords, _especially_ Barré..

[@FatZangief]

@@DJKuroh I've been playing for a few years now, it's not so much the chord transitions themselves, it's more remembering where the split measures are. For some reason, I keep messing up the strumming pattern when singing along too!

[@FatZangief]

@@Miss-Hellcat666 with you there! Barre chords suck!

[@DJKuroh]

@@FatZangief That I definitely get. And no guitarist loves playing a Bm barre on acoustic lol. I switched from guitar back to piano and haven't looked back!

[@DrKanin]

I appreciate the channel, I've been watching all of the Bo reactions. I think this one had fewer reactions than expected from you guys, and some missed points, because it kinda requires a certain dark view of the current world situation. I think the song describes the feeling of watching the world in decline from multiple sides, e.g. nearing climate crisis and manipulative marketing, while the world at large is too busy being distracted by superficial things, e.g. shallow "dumb" entertainment like carpool karaoke. There's some good lines in there. I see other comments mention some, but one I like is the one about a book on self improvement hand-delivered by a drone. To me that represents trying to improve, strengthen, and repair what you can control yourself, being juxtaposed with the dystopian surrounding world in decline.

[@Katy-sh3ru]

To be fair, this song took me a couple of listens to really begin tuning in... and I've been thinking about this stuff for 15 years...

[@WelcomeApathy]

I agree with your comment, it's a good one. I wanted to add to the line that you mentioned, the one about self-improvement delivered by a drone. That one immediately follows the line about agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is the fear of open spaces, being around people, crowds, things like that. And so not only is it about, you know, trying to get better in a world that's falling apart, but also the fact that you're trying to get back out there with people and the world has become this type of place that you don't need to be around people anymore. It's become so easy to be disconnected. All in the idea of modernization. It's never been easier to be agoraphobic, with our current environment.

[@PatrickHogan]

After doing Inside make sure you do the outtakes too!

[@ironiceilidh]

the way the song fades out feels so symbolic to me bc the world isn't ending in a big kaboom unless some kind of asteroid is gonna surprise us. but yeah it's gonna be a slow fade and we'll all fizzle out n be gone soon enough. ending the song on a clean note would've been contradictory and i love that he chose to have it fade out.

[@mollymccracken2740]

I found your channel through these Bo Burnham reactions and I’ve really enjoyed binging, listening to your thoughts. I feel seen, heard, you make me think, I love how grounded and authentic you guys seem to be. I’m going to have to check out your pod. Thanks for sharing your time with us.

[@De.Dre.Universe]

You are the proud new owner of my favorite comment 😊. Thank you Molly. LETS GOOOO -De

[@bschart]

"... ocean at your door". This the end of the world type stuff... oh, wait. You just said that. That funny feeling is a statement of the disassociation shown when we decide that the situation is, "desperate but not serious." Oh well, at least we were well entertained.

[@Katy-sh3ru]

So happy to see you guys back, and I'm super excited for the special reactions 🤗

[@De.Dre.Universe]

Its good to be back! It was SUPER fun recording content for that. It's actually gonna turn out to be a 6 part special for us!!! Good to hear from you Katy -De

[@Katy-sh3ru]

@@De.Dre.Universe yessssss 🤗

[@xburt_]

Just found this channel and I'm loving all the reactions. Bo is a genius. Looking forward to more. We Think We Know You is one of my favorites, I hope you will get to that one, I think you will love that one. Thank you for the content!

[@GraceT]

YAY I’m so excited to see the reaction to the special! Not many people react to the whole thing, and I enjoy watching people go through the roller coaster that is the Inside special. It’s truly one of the best things I’ve ever seen on Netflix.

[@thehourcal3670]

Probably one of the best reaction channels out there - really great work with this lads.

[@freebirdjay]

7 Years is the amount of time scientists gave for climate change to be completely irreversible. Ocean at your door is also a reference to it.

[@youtubecommentsblow4635]

Hey guys, I just wanted to say I really enjoyed this convo (recently saw the Inside content and found you through looking around for comments about it half a year late). Think you both got there though, can definitely agree with both your perspectives. The interplay you have is great and I think both interpretations are valid and actually probably accurate. Good stuff, man.

[@quintonis1]

I love this song so much, but it is so real. The reason he sounds happy throughout the song, in my opinion, is to show the blissful ignorance that the higher powers above us may have. He references global warming by saying "That unapparent summer air in early fall" and then follows it by saying "the quiet comprehending of the ending of it all." As if to say, the ones with the money, the power, the influence know what a mess the world has become due to the violence, lack of care for the earth, and sheer ignorance that the world may end soon due to them and all we can do is accept our fate because no one with the capability wants to stand up and do the right thing. Tough pill to swallow, and as much as we all may hate it, he's right. There are people on this earth that hold more money than entire governments and still, what are they doing to help us? Kanye West is closer to being bankrupt than he is to being as wealthy as Jeff Bezos. How did we let it get this way? This song is what I like to call Upsettingly True.

[@carafry4606]

Subbed for more Bo. So psyched to see you do the full special! ❤️

[@brendanc.8019]

Haha, It is a juxtaposition. This is the darkest song he has ever performed. Exactly right. The whole song is about that occasional funny feeling that you get that everything is not alright.

[@dhoo9275]

Excited to see the 4 part full special video. Not sure if this was recorded before he uploaded The Inside Outtakes to his KZbin Channel. It is another hour of mostly new content to the special that is a good supplement to the whole experience. Stay strong gentlemen.

[@dhoo9275]

Adding to my comment, as I finished the video. On the topic of the difficulties with suicide, I would recommend listening to 21 Pilots song Neon Gravestones off of their Trench album. It gets a bit deep for a song.

[@Katy-sh3ru]

As Bo references suicide quite a lot in Inside, I hope you are OK, Dre. X

[@zetzo27]

just found this channel and i love you guys' energy. also the new setup is great! i saw someone recommend bill wurtz' "history of the entire world, i guess" somewhere and i heavy agree, would love to see your reactions to that one. peace out

[@casstippit766]

I’m not sure who’s de and who’s Dre but homie in the white shirt is the only one even bordering on a coherent understanding of the song. It’s about existential dread. The “quiet contemplation of the ending of it all”. We occupy ourselves with mundane and often superficial nonsense while we quietly feel our world (both literally in the sense of climate change, and figuratively in the sense of our society’s priorities) fall apart around us. That “funny feeling” is the existential dread of knowing things aren’t right but being either unable or unwilling to change it.

[@host_arnold6187]

That pretty rude.

[@elle0unit]

I really like what you guys have to say about Inside and have enjoyed these videos. From a viewer POV, I think it might be better to watch the whole clip at once, and then go back to certain segments to discuss them, so there's better flow to the video. Thanks for your work guys.

[@marshallmatters5790]

Glad to see yall boys back at it again!

[@LezusV2]

ya man on the left is right for the feeling i get. It reduces me to tears when i listen to it because it reminds me of my hard times

[@angusferdinandleonardojone8501]

This song is kinda like a way more mellow and introspective version of Welcome to the Internet. I feel this song in my soul though.

[@IvanIsYda_]

For me, the funny feeling is basically existential dread. Like all these things are happening around you and you don’t know how to feel and it feels you with anxiety because you can’t do anything about it.

[@Prometheusforliberty]

One of my favorite clips is him at a Phobie Bridgers concert where she covers this and the audience is singing along

[@leibun]

Yay!! I’m so glad to hear you’re doing the entire special!!! I can’t wait.

[@mirandaxx954]

You guys are really upping the game with the new setup and multiple camera angles!

[@carlyrb12]

I’m glad you guys found something you love so much. After the special, if you need something a little more positive but still with important meanings, AJR has some good stuff.

[@oggyreidmore]

Imagine you're in a car going full speed toward a brick wall. You can calculate a point where if you hit the brake, you will stop without hitting the wall. If you wait to hit the brake until after that point, you WILL hit the wall but there are still positive outcomes. You can also calculate a point where you hit the wall, but can still survive with no injury, a point with just minor injury, a point with major injury but you survive and recover, a point with terrible injury and you survive but are permanently disabled, and a point where you don't survive. The same can be calculated about climate change. We can change our ways and do something about it, but if we don't act by a certain point, we will reach a point where it doesn't matter what we do, our planet is doomed to no longer be habitable by humans. The lyric of "20,000 years of this, 7 more to go" refers to human civilization. We spent thousands of years bending nature to our will, originally with agriculture, then with industrialization. You can't just damage the environment for that long and expect no repercussions. He goes on to say "That unapparent summer air in early fall. The quiet comprehending of the ending of it all." This is about how the globe is warming and knowing it will continue to warm until we can't live on Earth anymore. Even if we stop using fossil fuels now, the carbon dioxide is already in the atmosphere. We can't pull it out in time to save ourselves. It's no longer a matter of if humanity will end, but when. In the car analogy, we have long past the point of knowing we'll hit the wall. We are rapidly approaching the point where there is nothing we can do if we don't change, and we aren't changing. There is a very good chance that our grandchildren will be the last generation of humans that get to live full lifespans and die of old age. After that it's wars over drinking water and mass starvation because it's too hot to grow crops. We're already seeing supply chain issues because of drought and cities destroyed from severe weather and ocean rising. How bad will it be 100 years from now? In the grand scheme of things, that's really not that far off. "You say the whole world's ending? Honey, it already did. You're not gonna slow it, heaven knows you tried. Got it? Good. Now get inside." - All Eyez on Me.

[@cedriclankes3115]

I love when i watch something and realise that i am still stupid and have so much to learn from so many people. The way you think about things and you let it like shine through in these videos is very impressive and intelligent. It´s like with Bo, I am very sure we could have some great, long and deep conversations if we where to ever meet in person. I am sorry for any spelling mistakes,I may have comitted, I am just a non native speaker.

[@OrKkTeKk]

I was so intrigued by your starting commentary and the way you all work together I didn't even notice the song starting until you paused again. The 7 years to go refers to the climate doomsday clock.

[@Fake_Robot]

Thanks so much for this thoughtful discussion!

[@pastelguts6182]

Probably my favorite Bo Burnham song. It just,,, well it gives me 'that funny feeling'. A quiet melancholy acceptance

[@murdocmcdonald6421]

I love the Bo Content guys! I’d love to see y’all react to the chicken song from the B-Sides Bo just dropped

[@gabeordave6170]

There’s a short song called “are you happy?” It is the last song on one of his specials it’s excellent it’s directly after the Kanye rant

[@Katy-sh3ru]

It's so beautiful and sad. And it's shot in the same guesthouse as Inside. I kinda think that it's good to watch Make Happy from Can't Handle This, through Are You Happy and segue into Inside from there

[@mindlander]

It's interesting watching y'all struggle with how deep you want to go emotionally. I can tell you you're feeling and thinking much more than you're saying. That struggle gives you a funny feeling, doesn't it?

[@lucar9873]

I can't wait until you guys watch Art Is Dead. You should watch it in the whole Green Room episode if you can, it's on KZbin. At least watch the version he did on the Green Room. It's pretty interesting seeing the way the older comics reacted to him as a 20 year old who was already so successful.

[@ksefchik]

13:45 I think he's talking about the pandemic -- people like Bill Gates were saying we were overdue for a worldwide pandemic years ago. And then he's saying 'it'll be over soon', which is correct -- it is indeed in its tail end.

[@marycolleen537]

I appreciate de's more optimistic interpretation of the "we were over due/ it'll be over soon" line

[@SecondBreakfastClub]

I agree with a lot of takes and honestly I think the song is vague on purpose so people can relate in different ways, but one element I don't see mentioned quite as much is that these are all things that may trigger his disassociation/derealization. He mentions having a dissociative disorder (probably dissociative depression) a couple times and the whole special feels like a journey through derealization to me (I had to wait a while to watch because I also have dissociative depression and it totally triggered it, but was worth it to feel seen.) These are all things that just don't seem like they should exist. They're incongruent and feel... funny. The world doesn't feel real with them in it/with certain things coexisting and it feeds this certain dread that everything is going to end because it shouldn't be like this and it's unbelievable to look around and see everyone acting like it's nothing/normal.

[@nerdude360]

man i kinda wish you guys wouldve just watched inside from start to finish, i think just taking the specific songs and just reacting to those really takes away from the experience of the art piece as a whole. This whole special is art, it cant just be amounted by one song or taken in segments, the whole thing is the true experience.

[@nicolemarie4149]

i said to a friend recently, i’m not sure anyone who hasn’t had the experience of googling derealization and hating what they find can quite Get how hard that line hits when you’ve had that exact experience. derealization/depersonalization is a state of feeling completely detached from the world and/or yourself, feeling like the things around you aren’t real, or are warped or meaningless, the feeling of being disconnected from your body or watching yourself from outside yourself. it’s a profoundly uncomfortable feeling, and paired with the next part “the quiet comprehending of the ending of it all,” it brought me to my knees with how precisely it encapsulated my deteriorating mental health during quarantine. it felt like i was watching myself in slow motion, making sourdough and bingeing netflix while the world crumbled outside

[@hjoyc]

this was such a beautiful reaction, thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences. sm love

[@HOSTLESS]

I'm in for the journey! looking forward to you guys binging bo burnham

[@smurfrise]

Funny how non white people often conflate folk and country music. Probably similar to when white people don’t necessarily differentiate between rap and R&B. Same culture, different origin stories to these genres, but they get lumped together by perceived audience. I don’t know if I just articulated that thought well, but the more I think about it, the more it’s just that it’s hard to perceive nuance when you’re not in the thing.

[@DeviaLupusKyo]

Just noticed I wasn't subscribed! o_o (Don't worry, it's been corrected...) I guess that means I just kept finding you guys XD A testament to your work! Keep it up De & Dre!

[@jasonlengyel1104]

When the scariest thing you think doesn't beat you, sometimes you look around like "what else am I getting hit with?? I didn't think I could handle that!"

[@JerseyTeal]

So happy to see your faces! I’m so excited for this one!

[@tobi601]

This series has come full circle, the first episode de said he loved it in 20 second and now dre has done the same

[@asdfghjklkjhg]

I think the funny feeling is in reference to the feeling of something not being quite right. 8k resolution meditation app - you don't even look at the screen. Female colonel Sanders. Gift shop at a gun range. Mass shooting at a mall. All of these things were real things that happened during the lockdown, all of them feel off and bizarre. Like an alternative universe type of shit and things that just don't make sense. It gives a funny feeling of doubting your reality but at the same time having to accept these things as real. Bo started off with smaller things like the female Sanders thing, like little funny blips in the matrix, and then got to downright bizarre things that should have everyone panicking (the shooting lyrics) but everyone acts like it's normal.

[@PBKittyCat]

Yeah, the “gift shop at the gun range, a mass shooting at the mall” line hit me hard after it happened in my town. This whole song is a punch to the gut. I can totally relate to Bo’s social phobias, depression, and panic attacks. I hide behind comedy. I think he does that, too.

[@Yanivfrie]

7:48-7:55 I don’t know if someone explained it in the comment section or maybe you found out on your own cuz I still haven’t finished watching the vid, but the 7 years to go refers to the scientific prediction that in 7 years from 2020 (when it was filmed), the global warming of the earth would have reached a “point of no return”. From what I’ve read, those predictions have improved actually as the global pollution and the environmental factored have improved a little bit so there’s still hope

[@msampson3d]

The extra effort you put in on the production side shows. Great job! One comment: the audio pains you may have trying to stay away from headphones+individual mics may not be worth it. The audio bleed wasn't bad here but I know it could be some trouble in the future. Just a thought! On an unrelated note: if you ever read anyone complaining about the amount of pausing you do, kindly ignore it. Pause as often and as long as you want. :)

[@Katy-sh3ru]

Yes, I'm sure you're aware of the bugs and glitches, but I'm enjoying your efforts and here for your development 🤗 You guys are inspiring

[@jasonguest5820]

Something about this song makes me tear up every time. Just such overwhelming hopelessness in the lyrics.

[@lucar9873]

He's parodying the singer-songwriter open mic type, that's what the "I can't really play guitar, or sing" bit is about at the beginning, and I think it's also literally another example of the type of thing that gives him "that funny feeling" (existential dread): the bullshit self deprecating act.

[@comfortableslug6570]

Can’t wait to see the ‘Inside’ special reaction from y’all!!

[@JakeFace0]

8:00 I think it's 20,000 years of human history, 7 more to go.

[@mollypurcell182]

After the special, you guys HAVE to watch the outtakes. He posted them to his KZbin Channel and it has bits and songs that were cut from the original special. It’s SO good!

[@audiarcher2714]

I swore I’d never watch a reaction video because I refuse to let the social media racket entrap me! But then I accidentally watched you guys react to “how the world works” and now I can’t stop watching you guys react to Bo Burnham. Since I’m already clearly in too deep I want to set you up with my own ‘Bo Starter Kit’ “I’m Bo Yo” (funny/cute) “Words, words, words” (clever) “Todays Country Songs” (fire) “The chicken” (Deep) “We think we know you” (video required) (maybe this one before the others) I’ll have more once you’re done with those. And also hurry up so I can watch you react *scratches neck* ………. *twitches*