“Satanist” by boygenius
This song – which was written by Boygenius members Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker – opens with the vocalist asking the addressee “will you be a Satanist with me?”
However, it is not an espousement of Satanism per se. Rather, the singer points to various countercultural types – Satanist, anarchists and nihilists – as illustrated above, in an attempt to ascertain just how dedicated the person she’s singing to is to their relationship. And whereas it’s not clear as to what the nature of their relationship is, it can be taken that it is a romantic one.
The vocalist goes on to fantasize about the pair living an outlaw lifestyle, complete with “kill(ing) the bourgeoisie” and ‘spray painting ATMs’.
So there is sort of this sinister, if you will, subtheme permeating throughout, whereas for instance at the beginning of the first verse the girls seem to advocate practice of “mortgag(ing) off your soul to buy your dream”.
But that said, it has been put forth that the first verse may not actually about spiritualism, philosophy or even the relationship at hand per se but rather serves as a roundabout criticism of capitalism.
And on that note, as with the title so to speak, there is also what can be deemed other spiritual or Biblical references found herein.
For instance, King Solomon and one of the books he purportedly wrote, Ecclesiastes, is mentioned in the second verse. It can be said that Ecclesiastes is the most philosophical part of the Bible. And relatedly, Boygenius seems to reference it in relation to nihilism.
But what they’re putting forth specifically, that “if nothing can be known then stupidity is holy”, besides being a confusing statement, reads like a very-loose and some may even say sacrilegious interpretation of the conclusion of Ecclesiastes.
“Will you be a satanist with me?
Mortgage off your soul to buy your dream
Vacation home in Florida
The collateral, the devil’s repossessin’ from me
Tryin’ to score some off-brand ecstasy
Will you be an anarchist with me?
Sleep in cars and kill the bourgeoisie
At least until you find out what a fake I am
Spray paint my initials on an ATM
I burn my cash and smash my old TV”
Meanwhile, the outro doesn’t appear to directly speak to the relationship between the vocalist and addressee. Instead, it apparently centers on the notion of some of life’s choices being such once you fully commit, “it’s so hard to come back”.
Perhaps, within the context of the rest of this piece, what the vocalist is trying to get at is if the addressee were to become “a Satanist with” her, he or she would be ‘dragged under’, or something like that. Indeed, one thing that becomes clear while going through this song is that the artists at hand apparently meant some of its wording to be esoteric, for lack of a better way of putting it. Or put otherwise, you really have to put your thinking cap on in an attempt to make complete sense out of Satanist.
But that said, if this song is actually intended to be a roundabout criticism of capitalism, then the outro can be interpreted along the lines of the lust for riches, if you will, being what can potentially ‘drag you under’, i.e. take over one’s soul.
More Details about “Satanist”
It is also Baker, Dacus and Bridges who produced this track, which is the ninth on the playlist of “The Record”, Boygenius’s debut LP. The said album was made public, through Interscope Records, on 31 March 2023.
