Dissect - S7E10 - Zealots of Stockholm by Childish Gambino

Episode Date: February 16, 2021

We continue our season-long examination of Because The Internet with “Zealots of Stockholm.” After waking up from a drug overdose, Gambino is told that his father died. Lost and alone, he travels to Stockholm, Sweden to collect his remains, and attempts to connect with one of his online followers. Shop limited Season 7 merch: https://bit.ly/36ClxIV Dive deeper into the world of Because The Internet with our episodic visual guides (https://bit.ly/30EKbF1), where you can also read the BTI screenplay in full. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @dissectpodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Spotify, this is Dissect, long-form musical analysis broken into short, digestible episodes. I'm your host, Cole Kushner. Today we continue our serialized analysis of Because the Internet by Childish Gambino. On our last episode, we dissected death by numbers and flight of the navigator.

It was here that the boy entered a surreal state after his drug overdose and envisioned utopian ideals of unity among all things in the universe. When he came back to consciousness in a hospital bed, he learned that his father died. The hum of a jet engine transitions us to the next scene, as the boy heads alone to Sweden to receive his father's remains.

Given our understanding of the boy as a universal figure, his newly orphaned status hangs over the ensuing scenes with a symbolic weight. He's on his own now, just like us, and he's going to have to figure out how to move forward, beginning with the album's next track, the subject of her episode today, Zellets of Stockholm, Free Information. Zelds of Stockholm was produced by Childish Gambino, Ludwig Gorensen, and Sam Spiegel. The song begins and ends with a cold, somber sonic environment, fitting the boy's emotional state after the loss of his father,

and reflective of his new environment in Stockholm, a notoriously cold city where it's dark most of the day in winter. This mood is captured musically by the production's sparse instrumentation and the descending chord progression. Now that we're a few tracks into Because the Internet's second half, We have to point out the fact that the album's overall sound and mood has shifted dramatically from the first half, which is dominated by mostly uptempo tracks like Telegraph Avenue 3005 and sweatpants. Since no exit and the boy's suicide attempt, which as you'll recall happens almost exactly halfway through the album,

there's been a noticeable shift in tone. We had the abstract lo-fi portal of the Death My Numbers interlude, the dreamy hypnotic textures of flight of the navigator, and now the cold, melancholy mood of Zellets of Stockholm. In terms of matching the song to the script, Zellets is one of the more harmonious pairings. The song's multiple beat switches coincide with turning points in the script, beginning with the boy's flight to Sweden

to retrieve the cremated remains of his father, who died in Stockholm. The boy and his father had no other family, And the script says that when you lose that, quote, you basically lose most of your memories, at least the accuracy of your own memories, unquote. As Stockholm, Sweden serves as a setting for the song and scene, we should be on the lookout for the city representing the identity of his father and his chosen resting place, much like the mansion is representative of the boy. Justifiably, the song begins somberly.

Gambino sings, when we were coming down, they said it was too soon, and never had to lie, no, no, no, no. In regards to the script, coming down refers to the flight landing, and too soon would be about his father's passing. In regards to the track list, this is a come-down from the previous flight of the navigator, as Gambino and the boy come back to reality. This introduction's critical function appears to be establishing a somber tone. The descending core progression and the repeated negatives of down and no convey the heaviness of death weighing on the boy's mind in the aftermath of his suicide attempt and his father's passing. Gambino continues, when we are coming down, they left us all alone, we're headed nowhere. It seems he's grappling with the loneliness of death and the isolation he feels in his grief.

He is truly alone, headed nowhere, feeling that our lives are meaningless. It's a feeling that seems to closely resemble something Glover himself wrote in his Instagram notes, quote, I've seen a bunch of people die this year. This is the first time I felt helpless, but I'm not on that, kept looking for something to in with, follow someone's blueprint, but you have to be on your own." This is the same conflict facing the boy, feeling helpless and longing for a blueprint, but needing to be on his own in order to move forward, forging his own blueprint. Gambino continues singing, I know you've been around, I feel you in and out.

This evokes the feeling of transient connection, one that ebbs and flows. He might be trying to feel for the presence of his father. The line also has clear sexual connotation, been around implying promiscuity, I feel you in and out, implying both the carnal act and a back-and-forth relationship. It seems that Gambino and the boy are reeling in the aftermath of loss on many levels, familial, self, and relational. The passing of his parents, his own close call with death, and the many failed relationships we've seen detailed throughout BTI.

Even in this pain, Gambino asks, How are you? Do you sleep? Are you with me? After loss, his questions aimed at those who are gone are attempts at checking in, wondering whether or not he still has those connections. These tender questions feel like sincere hope that we remain connected after life, especially in regards to his father. It appears he hopes that his father can rest in the afterlife while still remaining with the boy in spirit. Gambino laments and then tries to console himself. We used to be unspoken. Now everything is broken. I'm a good son. Even if their relationship didn't appear great, the boy is reeling in the loss of his father.

From their strained conversation in the limo after the boy's time at camp, to his father's absence for the entire script, to the mysterious calls from the collection agency looking for his father, it's clear that their relationship was tense at best. If we look at the movie poster made for BTI, done as a near perfect match to the first Star Wars poster, we see that the boy's father, cast as Rick Ross, holds the same position as the same position as Darth Vader, an ominous imposing father figure, whose identity and influence on his son are central to the development of the story. Gambino acknowledges their unspoken relationship and feels broken in the aftermath of his death, making the line, I'm a good son, incredibly sad, vulnerable,

and reveals the universal desire to be loved by our fathers, no matter how unstable or fraught the relationship might be. Gambino continues consoling himself, but soon the tenderness of this vulnerable passage is obliterated as the beat switches and descends into chaos. This unexpected shift transports us out of the cold hollowness of the track's opening minute. Out of this warping chaos, a single distorted 808 pulses, and we hear a cryptic refrain. Gambino begins wailing, free information, a soundbite that will reverberate in the background through the remainder of the track. This most obviously refers to the free information of the internet, where all human knowledge, history, and thought is compiled, shared, and spread.

This information spreads quickly and freely, and we're now experiencing the unforetold ramifications of this firsthand. For instance, with information flowing so freely, from anyone, anywhere, without limitation, it's hard for us to filter the material we're consuming, and truth and fiction intertwined in the ever-flowing stream of content. We're also giving away all of our own personal information for free with our use of social media applications. and website cookies. Turning again to the screenplay, we find that this shift in the song

aligns with the boy using the free information of the internet to try and escape his loneliness through an online connection. He searches for a follower online who lives in Stockholm. He ends up connecting with someone on Twitter under the handle at HelloPity. Her avatar is an inverted photo of Hello Kitty, and he searches for her on Instagram, which is private.

He uses one of his fake accounts to pretend that he had met her at a club he knew she went to, from a tweet. He does this so she would follow the fake account and that he could see her photos without realizing it was the boy. Her pictures confirm that she is pretty, although he does get hung up on her love for the new Justin Bieber, which in 2013 was when he was first getting into trouble in the tabloids. The script equates this to loving a girl on Moripovich who says her favorite popsicle flavor is Dick, something close to sincere love, but also nowhere near it at the same time. given the comfort he's seeked in the song's introduction, the symbolism of finding an online persona

named Hello Pity should not be lost on us. He's seeking exactly this sort of connection, but the question is, can it be found online? And perhaps more importantly, can it be found online in the way the boy is currently manipulating the free information of the web to seek out a specific kind of self-serving connection, in this case one based on physical attractiveness? He's essentially using the same technique online advertisers do to determine whether or not to spend their advertising money on you. The same technique we use when deciding to swipe right or left on Tinder. This free information is what determines our judgment of one another and how connections are made on the web. But is this the best way to use our new tool? The illusion to Hello Kitty also plays off the

motivic presence of cartoons as a source of comfort in BTI, as well as the feminine fostering the boy has been missing. We also recognize that Kitty is slaying for a woman's vagina, perhaps revealing his intent to hook up with her as a source of comfort. The Justin Bieber reference in this scene is likely a specific nod to Bieber's collaboration with Chance the rapper on the 2013 song Confident. We recall that Chance played Marcus, the boy's most sex-driven friend, and Glover would tease Chance on Twitter that his lack of a verse on the worst guys was due to Chance being busy recording with Justin Bieber. The screenplay then cuts to the boy in a strange office receiving his father's cremated ashes in an urn. The boy is puzzled that no one was required to ask him permission to cremate his father, and he's unceremoniously handed

a brown paper bag that holds his father's belongings. Finally, the script then cuts to the boy in his hotel room, DMing Hello Pity, whose real name is Alyssa, and in Zealot's next verse, we get a description of these events happening in Stockholm. Gambino begins, Orlando. as in the Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, the international Swedish airport. He then says, hotel to the bar, describing his trip from DMing Alyssa in his hotel room to the bar where he'll meet her. He then apparently begins describing her as a young girl with an accent with her back bent, ass out to the whole world.

It's rather aggressive, noting her vulnerabilities, and it's also in line with the boy finding her online and getting access to her rather easily. This also could refer to her relationship we're about to see in the script between the boy and an online cam girl. Gambino then decides to imbibe in the sort of hedonism he became wary of earlier. He wraps, We can vibe out for tonight, stepping outside for a light. These lyrics depict the scenes in the screenplay,

but beyond their literal meaning, stepping outside for a light, indicates the boy and Gambino are going to choose a different path forward. They are stepping outside for guidance, a light, looking to see what others find so fulfilling about the indulgence the boy previously cast down as meaningless. It's a different sort of guidance he seeks now that his parents are gone. He's a little hesitant at the start and cautions,

No Coke, and I just smoke vapor, no papers. Slow poke, and I don't know about photos. Let's go, though. These lines align with the script, as Alyssa, aka Hello Pity, tells the boy to meet her at a bar called Box. She also says he should meet her boyfriend, but not to worry since, quote, it's not like that, which only confuses the boy. He asks, what do you mean? But Alyssa just replies with laughing emojis. As he heads out and walks

the streets of Stockholm, he notices there's a buzz in the air and pretty people are holding hands in the street. The script describes this scene as, quote, there are people saying things, giving opinions, feeling interesting. Everyone has a purpose tonight. It's a great time, unquote. This is the second time we've read these exact lines in the script, the first being a description of the mansion party before the boy's outburst. The people on the street are speaking Swedish, but one phrase sticks out from a couple's conversation, Rosco's Wetsuit. These people have exactly what the boy is looking for, a purpose, and they seem to understand Roscoe's wetsuit, though it still alludes the boy. Maybe actualizing this online connection with Alyssa in real life will help him get closer to that

purpose, that he too will be able to say things, give opinions, feel interesting, and have a great time. Saying that you never date older dudes, why I never want to say no to you to cold. Gambino asks, How old are you? Saying that you never date older dudes. That's why I never want to say no to you. It seems the allure of the girl,

potentially Alyssa, and the trappings of the behavior she offers are too tempting, and Gambino can't say no. So he props himself up, continuing with a chaotic sequence of lines, the coldest dude to hold a groove with no kids. Things get unintelligible for a moment,

then he raps, coldest dude can't hold his goose. Here he tries to boast about himself like we've heard on previous tracks, but this time he trips over himself and becomes unintelligible, as if the attempts to posture and fabricate a version of his identity, make it difficult to ascertain the truth. But even he realizes this and admits he can't hold his goose, as in gray goose vodka, which is probably also why he slurred these lines.

Gambino then voices a conversation between him and Alyssa. She says, I'm a walk out, want to walk too? He responds, what about dude? to which she retorts, fuck him, I just really want to feel something. This matches dialogue in the script. On his walk in Stockholm,

the boy sees a discreet pink glowing sign for box, the bar he's supposed to meet Alyssa at. Of course, the glowing pink box here is an over-the-top yonic image of Alyssa's sexual allure. Alyssa is outside the bar, and they chat for a second until Alyssa says that they should leave.

The boy asks about her boyfriend, and Alyssa points to a guy making out with some other girl on the side of the building, exactly like the aforementioned lyrics. As they walk the streets, the boy tells Alyssa that he's there because his father died. When she asks him how, he says it doesn't really matter, which she then agrees with because knowing all the ways people die doesn't mean you can avoid it. Alyssa then says she doesn't believe in small talk, so she asked the boy about the longest relationship he's ever been in, and he reveals that it's been five years,

and he's still in it. This is puzzling because nowhere in the script have we witnessed this relationship. He goes on to describe a girl who does private web shows, quote, We're not together, but it's a relationship for sure, unquote. He used to watch our videos online, then she started doing private shows just for him. Over time, their interactions turned mostly just a conversation. Alyssa retorts that he's paying her to be his girlfriend,

and the boy says that most people are paying for their friends one way or another, and points out that Alyssa's boyfriend was just making out with some other girl, so she shouldn't be one to talk. She defends it since she trusts that she can't trust him and knows that at least he's honest about his actions. The online woman in question here is almost undoubtedly referring to the characters played by former adult actress Abella Anderson throughout BTI. Most notably, Anderson appears as a mysterious figure in clapping for the wrong reasons.

She begins and ends the film by walking up to Glover and Glover spends most of the time trying to figure out who she is and why she's there. This dynamic culminates when he sees her in the hallway at the end of the night. Who are you? She doesn't give an answer, leaving the question for us, the viewing audience, to figure out. Anderson is also the subject of the lyric video for 2005, wherein she performs a webcam show while chatting with childish Gambino.

Ticket sales for Gambino's Deep Web Tour were unlocked for presale by accessing a website called Abella.xx. It was there that you had to ask Abella for tickets using a chat room forum. This chat room also contained other functions, and the Abela outlawful. would respond differently to lyrics from BTI, as well as questions about different characters in the script. In retrospect, Anderson is also probably the lyrical subject of the World Star lyrics, My Girl Ain't Bad, She More Like Evil, showing off her ass that's a network, but I saw through it like a wet shirt. When taken in totality, Abella Anderson's presence seems to explore the

relationships, connections, and identities we experience now that the online world has become intertwined with reality. As the boy's longest lasting relationship and is only source for meaningful conversation, their bond is real and exists somewhere between physical sex and the disconnected self-pleasure of online webcam interactions. In terms of the sexual spectrum, this sex act exists somewhere in the realm of mutual masturbation, and the lack of physical consummation may not matter in determining if their relationship is real. Relationships are happening more and more online, as the web offers a new playing field for the connections we've always made. The antiquity of physical bonds might be highlighted most by digital sex,

taking the intimacy of procreation and harnessing the pleasure through virtual screens. Of course, casting Anderson was purposeful, just like the other celebrity roles in BTI. Glover explained a bit of his reasoning saying, quote, She's just chilled, a really cool person. The reason we liked her so much is that we all felt like we knew her in the back of our heads, because she's really good at making dudes feel like they have a girlfriend, unquote.

This connection isn't exclusive to Glover or those who may know Anderson personally. There's a bond between her and her audience, a connection centered on the primacy of sex that engages with deep-seated impulses and emotions. These connections, mediated by a digital screen, are still impactful, still real. These bonds also shaped the way we see Anderson and BTI. similar to Donald Glover manipulating his own public persona in the BTI era, casting Anderson explores subjective identity. In clapping, Glover is constantly trying to figure out who she is.

It's no secret that to any porn-watching members of his audience, they would likely be screaming internally, that's Abela Anderson. The surreal fusion of reality and fiction and clapping in BTI make it so that we're not sure if it's Glover, Gambino, or the boy who is unaware of Anderson's identity, or if she's playing someone else. was also a layer of social context in the taboo of the adult entertainment industry. For any who don't want to admit the consumption of online porn, they would have to feign ignorance to Anderson's identity,

lest they immediately reveal a part of their own identity that they may not feel comfortable with. But the fact is the majority of the internet is consuming porn. It's this massive, near-universal connection that people don't often talk about openly due to an aura of taboo. In an intensely personal manner, Anderson's role in the world of BTI completely changes is based on context and the experience of the audience member, highlighting the subjectivity and relativity of identity. In relation to the exploration of how we consume content in the digital

age and the ramifications of turning people into material, there's perhaps no more consumable and contentious of a field than the porn industry. It's the spread of incredibly intimate moments typically consume via the web and pursuit of carnal pleasure, with a powerful influence upon our perception and expectations of sex, without regards for the subjects or the ramableness of their occupations on their lives. It calls for more humane discussion and consumption, something inherently promoted in Glover's casting, as Anderson becomes a central figure to the artistic world. Behind her physical allure and stimulation as a person, the boy was able to see through that allure like a wet shirt and find meaningful connection with her. As zealots of Stockholm continues,

we hear a vague conversation voiced by Kilo-Kish, followed by Gambino shouting emphatically. We'll unpack this moment, as well as the rest of Zellets, right after the break. Welcome back to dissect. Before the break, we unpacked the beginning of Gambino and the boys outing with Alyssa in Stockholm. Zellets of Stockholm continues with a cryptic conversation voiced by Kilo Kich. Kish says, it took me like five minutes to figure out, whose voices those were on the phone, but I figured it out. Similar to the boy and Alyssa trying to get to know each other online and in real life,

This passage seems to touch on trying to figure out identity through connections on the phone. Gambino then lets out a shout, and then Kish reinteres, this time singing. Kish offers a short refrain with vocal alteration offering multiple versions of what she's saying. Most prominently, she sings, Is it Real Because You're Online? Given the overlap between the song's timing and the boy discussing his online relationship, it's a nod to that connection in the script. Beyond that, it's one of the central questions asked on BTI. Our online selves are different than our in-real-life selves.

The way we posture, the context of our situations, and the perceptions of others vary widely between the two. The internet has illuminated the infinite factors that play into who we are. As the physical and digital worlds fuse and become nearly indistinguishable, we may need to change the way we think of real. As we perceive the subjectivity of reality, real becomes more about honesty than anything else. We're fighting for what I'm fighting for right now and not just, I'm not doing this in music. This is not about rap. I'm an artist.

This is about life. I'm trying to be real because the internet isn't real. There's so much shit that happens online and people perceive it and it's packaged as real. But nothing's real anymore. My man, my man. Like that's the reason. People are like, this Donald looks awkward

or there's a mistake here. I'm like, yeah, because it's real. I'm constantly trying to be real. Most real is people trying to just do things better. That's most of real. Like me, I just, I'm trying to do better. Today, to hold on to something real, we have to hold on to everything, the mistakes, the growth, the failures, the changes. The internet on its own is not real.

It's only part of the truth. What we perceive is only part of the truth. To try to be real, we have to try better to experience and be open to every perception, every viewpoint, every understanding of reality. Beyond this specific moment in the track, this idea is reflected in the world's structure of BTI. The different mediums across the world expose us to the connections between them and ask us to experience more, to perceive more, to look for all the different ideas and content, the good and the bad, and to have that experience of totality of a whole world. Our physical world is real, and while we are given this place, we've also constructed so much

of it too, and the reality of it is in the connections and experiences where our fabrication and inventions meet nature, where our fantasies meet actuality. This is also reflected in the production of Keish's vocals. The lyrics seem intentionally sung in a way that can be interpreted a variety of ways, which is in line with Glover's consistent technique of illuminating multiple perceptions or realities in a single breath. We heard the same technique with Married and or Buried in Telegraph Avenue, and Glover constantly used brackets and text passages during this period, offering multiple ideas or meanings, such as learn to slash the code.

Here in zealots, the lyrics, Is it Real because You're Online? Can also be heard as, Is it Real because You're All a Lie? Is it Real because you're all alone? Or is it real, is it real life? In an interview during the BTI era, a journalist voiced his frustration with not being able to determine exactly what the lyrics throughout the album were. Here's how Gambino responded.

No, I don't believe in that. I mean, rap genius will probably do it, rapgenius.com, and they're good, and they're good, and like the people, but I will not write down any of them because, like, what you hear is what you hear. It's nice to have a little bit of play. The truth lies in the subjectivity of every moment. Every word is perceived differently by every listener. To experience that reality and to understand how to connect with others, we need to open ourselves up to perceiving the connections they make, the worlds that they experience. Here we get a sample taken from a YouTube creator who goes by the name Miss Aaron. The sample is exactly the sort of material at the center of Keish's question.

Is it real because you're online? Miss Aaron's YouTube channel is full of videos with her talking directly to the camera, discussing intimate details. The video Gambino samples explicitly recounts sexual stories, and her apparent authenticity is part of the charm. A motherfucking babe. A motherfucker fucking babe. nigger you can't do shit for me to be motherfucking honest all you can do for me is fucking nut

and go and i mean that shit in that order i mean and then walk the fuck up on out of here miss aaron has the skill and charisma of the greatest most applauded stand-up comedians yet her content exists in a different context sound bites and amateur authentic feeling youtube videos that often get ripped and posted to various sites this specific video found traction on world star hip hop.com. It's a similar examination of the nuances to our internet content machine. How do we value our entertainment? How do we treat the people who become internet fodder? In this way, it seems the situations of Abella Anderson and Ms. Aaron convey a similar message. We need to be mindful of our consumption of people and remember the human beings on the other side

of the screens. Heathen. It's a struggle just to keep breathing. Existential asthmatic. Puff, puff, Pass Attic, craftmatic, making moves, but they're sleeping on me. We can kick it like his feet for homey. Nevertheless, I got that fresh like it was crest. Crying because I'm stressed. TMJ or TMI. What's your lie that you're living? Gambino returns somberly, rapping, heathen.

It's a struggle just to keep breathing. Existential, asthmatic, puff-puff, pass addict. First, Gambino pronounces heathen like heaving, tying into both the ensuing lines and the previous Miss Aaron sample, which detailed being out of shape but still active. Heathen also focuses on the lyrical thread of religious or spiritual thinking. Zellets is a term for devout believers. The opening, Your Good Sun Line contains religious undertones,

and there are many forthcoming lyrics grappling with faith. After the crass hedonism of Gambino's first verse, it's clear he may feel like a heathen, someone who does not prescribe to a traditional religion. This is especially potent in the light of the loss of his father, who he might start to think about as a symbolic universal father figure, like a god. It's a struggle just to keep breathing refers to the continuous tension the boy has experienced and notably acknowledges the suicide attempt from the previous act. He comes out of this

struggle as an existential asthmatic, someone constantly concerned with the meaning of life, and who struggles to find justification to go on living, to keep breathing, which of course Gambino cleverly likens to asthma. This is an ongoing struggle, hence the line, puff-puff-puff-pass addict. The existential endeavor is something that we rely on and also references the boy in Gambino's indulgence in drugs, something we use to temporarily abate the pressures of the existential dilemma. Gambino then wraps Craftmatic, making moves but they sleeping on me, we can kick it like it's FIFA homie. Here we see the drug metaphor from the previous line extend with Craftmatic, which likely references OJ de Juice Man's song No Hook.

This song was used as the first musical cue in the first episode of Glover's show Atlanta. Glover also included it in a Spotify playlist he created in 2013 titled The Temple, which highlighted songs that were played in the mansion when they created BTI. In No Hook, OJ DeJ Juice Man details drug dealing and begins the song, Back at it, Craftmatic, All I know is Mathematics, on the stove cooking chicken, right wrist, just did gymnastics. In this context, Craftmatic is a portmanteau for craft and automatic, a boast about the skill and preparing drugs.

This foreshadows the boy's upcoming decision to become a drug dealer. Craftmatic is also a nod to the mattress brand of the same name, known for their adjustable or moving beds, hence the following line, making moves but they sleeping on me. This appears to voice Gambino's disapproval of being slept on, of his work not yet reaching a wide enough audience or receiving enough accolades. He then says, we can kick it like it's FIFA homie. The we here might be his group of friends or potential audiences, or it might even be a royal we, referring to his multiple identities interwoven in the track. Kick it is paired with a soccer punchline like its FIFA, the governing body that oversees international football or

soccer. The kicket refers to hanging out, kicking a rap or a flow, or even dropping the addiction to weed he mentioned in the previous lines. Also, given that this line falls in the middle of clear references to other iconic hip-hop songs, we have to consider the line being a possible allusion to a tribe called Quest classic, Can I Kick It? Gambino continues, nevertheless I got that fresh like it was Crest, grind because I'm stressed. This line alludes to another hip-hop classic, The Loonies I Got Five on it. Just as I Got Five on it centers around drug use, Gambino's I got that fresh like it was Crest, likely refers to drugs, namely his fresh bag of weed, hence the reference to Crest toothpaste. But given that toothpaste is typically white,

we wonder if he's gone back on his previous claim, No Coke, and I Just Smoke Vapor. Also, logos on soccer jerseys are called Crests, tying back into the FIFA reference. Gambino then claims he grinds because he's stressed, a double entendantra for grinding weed to handle pressure, as well as his intense work ethic. We remember that before the release of BTI, Glover felt panic that his work in comedy and on community wasn't enough, wasn't providing him purpose, so much so that he rejected those lucrative paths to pursue creating even more work of his own. Gambino continues, TMJ or TMI. It's a lie that you're living. First, TMJ refers to a jaw disorder which causes people to grind their teeth while they're asleep, a fitting nod after discussing

teeth and grinding in the previous line. With this in mind, got that fresh like it was crest and grind because I'm stressed, both make sense as metaphors for using drugs to deal with pressure. TMI is an acronym for too much information, as in the worry that Gambino is giving away too much vulnerable information in his art. We've heard Gambino throughout BTI discuss sensitive topics such as addiction, sexual impotence, fear, and insecurity. It's also a reference to the free information of the internet, and how that freedom may have led to too much information for us to healthfully consume, as well as the fact that we might all be sharing too much information about ourselves online. We also have to wonder about the extended references to teeth here. Crest's toothpaste,

grinding teeth, and TMJ. We're reminded of the boy's Twitter handle, at the gold molar, which is a reference to the scene in clapping for the wrong reasons, where Gambino grossly pulls a long string out of his nose, eventually revealing a bloody golden molar. We might associate a gold molar or teeth as status symbols that cover up bad dental health. Since the gold molar is also tied to the boy's trolling online persona, the link to his fabricated identity is clear. A gold tooth is an attempt to cover up something unsavory with a display of wealth and prosperity,

just as Gambino and the boy have done throughout the album and the script. Fittingly, Gambino's next line is, it's a lie that you're living, revealing self-doubt, and within the context of her free information identities online, points out the disparity between internet life and real life. I never understood the hate on a nigger preference when every marriage is the same-sex marriage same-sex everyday monotonous lost god never prayed forgotten us lost love never say just like our

parents too much power ain't enough power brain splattered like a falling off a watchtower and anybody can walk into any game continues rapping i never understood the hate on an inward preference when every marriage is a same-sex marriage same-sex every day monotonous While the delivery hinges on comedic, it conveys truth. Same sex or gay marriage would be no different than heterosexual marriage, which typically means two people agreeing to have sex with each other exclusively, that is, to have the same sex every day for the rest of their lives. This was one of the issues Gambino had with marriage as we covered on 2005.

A single exclusive connection, while seemingly lovely, fails to see the vast variety of available connections out there. The line also continues to thinking about traditional religious, and societies impose limitations on our freedom, as gay relations have been persecuted throughout history and across cultures, forcing people to live a lie, which ties into the previous line, it's a lie that you're living. As Gambino highlights, those limits were pointless. Love is love. Gambino's worries continue as he wraps, Lost God, never pray, forgotten us, lost love, never say just like our parents. In relation to

the previous line, Lost God seems to refer to the prejudice, by LGBTQ communities, especially in the face of zealous religious groups attempting to enforce any singular notion of faith. These lines also convey the immense loss Gambino feels, especially with this song grappling with the death of his father, who we already noted might be a larger metaphor for society's loss of God. This seems similar to philosopher Frederick Nietzsche's infamous claim that God is dead, and his comments on the general loss of purpose and structure that society would endure in the aftermath of this death. The line, lost love, never say, just like our parents, refers to the times when parents, together in their same sex or monotonous

marriages, lose love for each other over the years. To Gambino, it seems that they don't say this or admit it in order to keep the family intact. For the boy, he may feel this pain deeply, since his family was torn apart by the death of his mother, and he was unable to express a close connection with his father. All this talk about loss also reminds us of Glover's Instagram notes when he said, quote, I got really lost last year, but I can't be lonely though, because we're all here." Gambino touched on this when reflecting on posting these notes. I had kids come up to me be like,

I read those and it made me move to New York or like I read those. And like I came out to my parents. Like I read those. And I'm like, that's cool to me. Like if it gives somebody else like the feeling of like, oh, like we're all kind of lost here and it's okay, like then I'm cool with that. It's okay to be lost like this. We may not be doing what our parents thought or what traditional religion taught.

But that's okay. We don't have to do what they did. That's the natural state of things. With constant change, we must constantly adjust. And just as we don't know what our future holds, neither did our ancestors. We have to make peace with this, that even if we don't uphold tradition, we are good children, a good son as Gambino sung earlier. We just have to do our best to move forward. like our parents. Too much power ain't enough power. Brain splattered like I falling off a watchtower. And anybody could walk into any dany's and wait till I'm walking in it with a gun to day 3D printed and finish it.

Kinnison said if you go miss heaven, why do it by two inches on money and new bitches? Gambino wraps Too Much Power Ain't Enough Power. In context of this track, this seems to refer to the widespread free information of the internet. If knowledge is power, then we have tons of it at this point, but it's still not enough, exemplifying human nature's tendency to never be satisfied, especially when it comes to the pursuit of power. Generally speaking, though, power is a concept that's preoccupied Glover for years. He has truth is a power tattooed on his bicep, and back in 2011, he told the village voice, quote, power is what allows you to do whatever you want, I'm in it for the power, unquote.

We might also remember the last song on Camp, That Power, which led directly into the narrative of BTI. It was here that Gambino conveyed the idea of complete honesty as a power. He covered the same topic on his sway freestyle as well. I wasn't in my feelings. You know, because like, they people say money's not everything, but money, you need money to do what you want to do. Like money is power. Honesty is power, truth is power.

You know what I'm saying? Word, word. Like that's what I'm saying. Gambino continues delets, brain splattered like I've fallen off a watchtower. This most obviously alludes to the boy's previous suicide attempt, underlying the persistence of his struggles, his existential asthmatic struggle just to keep breathing. It also seems to reference the Jehovah's Witness Monthly Religious magazine, The Watchtower, one of their primary tools for circulating free information.

Given Gambino's continued worries over disappointing his parents, this nod to Glover's childhood faith ties in his real-life parents and his worries that his life of celebrity and art, which fails to adhere to Jehovah's Witness faith, has removed him from their lifestyle, perhaps for his life. good. Gambino then continues with the Rhymed End's passage, and anybody can walk into any Denny's and wait till I'm walking in it with a gun that they 3D printed and finish it. The revolving staccato of the delivery exacerbates the stress of this hypothetical future, which, since 2013, has become

reality. Homicide with a 3D printed gun happened in 2020. As technology and information spread, more and more power is put into more and more people's hands. If you wanted, You could find free information on how to 3D print a deadly weapon on the internet, and navigating this new reality is something that we all have to figure out together. As Gambino just noted, death can be right around the corner for any of us, and his failure to live up to the religious and traditional societal structures leads to the culminating question of the verse. Kinnison said,

If you're going to miss heaven, why do it by two inches, old money and new bitches? This is a reference to a quote from stand-up comedian Sam Kinnison, a boisterous and primal performer whose history of being a Pentecostal preacher before turning to hedonism in the entertainment industry reflects the somatic content of the track. He told the Rolling Stone, quote, My view of life is, if you're going to miss heaven, why miss it by two inches? Miss it. In other words, if entry into heaven is a binary past fail,

why not just indulge in temptation to the fullest? If we remove the religious connotation, the question cuts to the heart of the existential dilemma. If life is inherently meaningless, why not just seek out primal pleasure and fun? And if as a race we're going to fail at reaching some utopian state, if we're all sinners destined to die, why not just imbibe in the pleasures we can while we're still here? It's the existential, why try at all, voiced by the zealots of Stockholm, those who rejoice in the newfound opportunities for more and more degeneracy and depravity, spinning a dangerous web without concern for who gets trapped in it. The outdoor appears to be.

be one of irony. Gambino sings, Getting Next Level in a Hotel, Ain't shit that we don't need, and word oh well. This passage stands in stark contrast to the script, where the boy and Alyssa sit in a bit of awkward silence, staring at the urn holding his father's ashes in his hotel room. Alyssa asked if they were close, or if the boy wants to talk about it, and he responds no to both. When the boy gets up to make a drink, Alyssa takes the urn and walks out, aligning with the sounds of passing cars we hear at the end of Zellets of Stockholm. Conclusions. Everybody's lost.

Everyone is lost. That's a fact. We don't have. Nobody has a father. Nobody has, like, don't know where we came from. I would say just as long as you're getting the most out of the human experience, don't worry about it so much. Like, that's just part of it.

is being loved. With his father now dead and his mother already gone, the boy is truly alone in the world, which is exacerbated by him being in a foreign country halfway around the world. With the boy being a universal symbol for a generation coming of age in the internet, we suspect the loss of his father to stand in

for a more universal loss of God or father figure, an idea amplified by zealots of Stockholm's abundance of religious overtones in the song's lyrics and title. Gambino made it a point to intertwine God in family, most distinctly with the lines, lost God, never pray, forgotten us, lost love, never say just like our parents. We're reminded of the philosophical juggernaut Friedrich Nietzsche's infamous proclamation, God is dead, God remains dead, and we have killed him. It was an observation made in the aftermath of the Enlightenment, when science and philosophy provided physical and

theoretical laws that offered a view of the universe that did not require divine providence. We no longer needed God as a singular source for societal structures, morality, and order. We now had alternative explanations, causing a seismic dilemma in how humans go about their lives. Without God, how do humans find purpose and meaning? Without the divine father figure, who's to hold us accountable for acting immoral? If we aren't the center of the universe, if the world wasn't created for us, for just spinning aimlessly around the sun, what's even the point of all this anyway. Thus we get the existential dilemma, something the boy has been grappling with throughout because the internet. The death of his mother and now father makes him truly lost,

forced to forage for purpose and meaning without guidance, which is, as Glover noted in the interview we just heard, symbolic of the universal journey of all humans born into this world. The boy's dilemma, our dilemma, is exacerbated in the age of the internet, something that we recall Glover compared to being a new Big Bang. In the absence of God, the internet fills the void of a new, all-knowing, all-seeing symbol to worship,

which we already do on our devices for hours upon hours a day. As Gambino said, quote, the internet, our new earth, moves forward only. Because the internet was made to be the soundtrack for this new coding,

the reworking of our humanity, trying to find each other and ourselves again after the Big Bang, unquote. On zealots of Stockholm, Gambino explores the overzealous Stockholm Syndrome addicts we've become with the internet and its free information capabilities. The internet, as a new world, offers us new pathways and encourages new behaviors, but we need to make sure we're using it for good, that we're taking what's old, keeping the good stuff,

and moving forward. This is what the boy has to do with the influence of his father. Rick Ross's presence is a symbolic token of the hyperheonistic, constructed personalities that are becoming more and more prevalent in the age of the net. We can create personas for ourselves, and while this offers grand new possibilities, we have to remember that these aren't real, or at least they don't tell the whole truth. The boys need to move on represents a societal need to move on and be careful about how we engage with the worlds and identities we make up. Again, to quote Glover, we have reached a moment where there is no real because we don't care anymore.

We can curate what's real every day on our timeline or feed. The boundary of what's real and what we want to be real is as volatile as the worth of a Bitcoin or a human heartbeat. This is an important moment, but be aware and beware that we're all making it up as we go, together. This is strikingly similar to Nietzsche's vision of the future in the aftermath of the death of God. He described the road ahead being one of danger and excitement, as humans were free to shape their perception of the world and prescribe meaning to their life, collectively and individually. With the old system of meaning gone, a new one could be created, but this comes with certain risks, ones that could bring out the worst in human nature. As a result, the 20th century was plagued with man-made ideologies and systems that sought to provide us with purpose, such as Nazism,

communism, nationalism, and others. Strict adherence to these ideologies resulted in millions upon millions of deaths as humans attempted to shape their new post-enlightenment world. Likewise, as Glover pointed out, in the new age of the internet, we are collectively shaping our future with our digital tools. With these tools being so new, it's hard to foresee or predict the magnitude of their power and influence and what the consequences might be. But it seems that today we're starting to get a sense of their impact, both in their ability to connect us and to divide us. While we are all technically closer to each other than ever, increasing tensions, political polarization and conflicting ideologies on how to move forward, find us on the brink of civil

war in the beginning of the 21st century. It appears Glover's 2013 analogy about our use of the internet, being akin to giving a handgun to an infant and saying, don't shoot yourself, is proving to be increasingly prophetic. Maybe it's time now, before it's too late, that we step back and examine the way we're using our new tools. Maybe there's a better way to shape our lives in the age of the internet. We'll follow the boy as he attempts to shape his new world in the aftermath of his father's death on the album's next track, Earn. A song will dissect note by note, line by line, next time on Dysect.

Today's episode of Dysect was written by Camden Ostrander and me. Remember, you can dive deeper into the world of BTI with our episodic visual guides on our website, Dysectpodcast.com. While you're there, be sure to check out our limited season 7 merchandise. and be sure to follow us on social media at Dissect Podcast. Audio editing by Eric Bass and me. Screenplay score by So Wiley. Song Recreations by Andrew Atwood.

Theme music by Bureaucratic. All right, thanks everyone. Talk to you next week.