“Five Years” by Bo Burnham

Bo Burnham is first and foremost a comedian, albeit one who has been able to make a bit of substantial noise on the music scene. And from the time the lyrics commence, that is something a listener would undoubtedly pick up on, i.e. this piece possessing a comedic undertone. 

The Lyrics of “Five Years”

What we’re dealing with here is apparently the ‘five years anniversary’ between the vocalist and the addressee, his sweetheart.

To make a long story short, it would appear that Bo is committed alright. But at the same time he obviously has various issues with his lady, to the point that it can be deemed that he doesn’t appreciate or at least is fed up with her.

For instance, in the first verse, it is revealed that they have some type of beef due to the vocalist’s fe-latio preferences. Meanwhile the second verse is sorta reminiscent of that episode of Friends where Joey gets pissed off because his date ate some of his food. That is to say that Bo gets upset when his lady ‘reaches over and takes one of his dumplings’, to the extent that he’s not letting the matter die until she repays him. 

Then in the third verse, he engages in some spazzing alluding to his partner’s feminist ways. What he puts forth, in a roundabout fashion, is that she should be consistent with her beliefs instead of cleaving to them only when it’s convenient.

In the intro, Burnham also expresses what can be classified as a lack of support for his woman, and in the outro, we see that even other nuances of their association are also ticking him off. So it’s made more than clear throughout that the addressee is someone whom he’s tired of.

Conclusion

But the funny thing about it is that at the end of the day, “Five Years” may be classified as a love song regardless, because after all, the title does point to the fact that they’re “still” together after all this time. Also, as irritated as the vocalist may be, he doesn’t express any desire to terminate this relationship. And with all of that said, it should also be noted that the addressee may be a personification of Burnham’s fandom, as he did in fact go on a five-year hiatus earlier in his comedy career, before recently making a successful comeback.

More about “Five Years’

This track is associated with a Netflix special Bo Burnham came out with in mid-2021 titled Bo Burnham: Inside, which resulted in a hit album called Inside (The Songs). 

On 3 June 2022, some material which didn’t make the original cut of the special/album were issued under the name The Inside Outtakes. It is from that particular project (i.e. the deluxe edition of Inside (The Songs)) that “Five Years” is derived, with this being noted as the outstanding piece on the playlist.

Burnham wrote this song and also produced it. And besides for Republic Records, the other labels involved in its issuance are Ingrooves, Imperial Records and Attic Bedroom, with the latter perhaps being Burnham’s own company.

It has been noted that on this song, Burnham is more or less parodying the style of Drake.