Dissect - S7E4 - The Worst Guys / Shadows by Childish Gambino

Episode Date: January 21, 2021

We continue our season-long examination of Because The Internet with “The Worst Guys” and “Shadows.” Since witnessing the murder outside a nightclub, Gambino begins questioning everything in his life, including his friends and his past girlfriends. He’s coming to realize his life so far has been one long meaningless party. Dive deeper into the world of BTI with our visual guides, where you can also read the BTI screenplay in full. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Spotify studios, 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 the narrative's second scene in Act 1, World Star. In the screenplay, the boy witnesses a real-life World Star moment through his phone when he records a fatal shooting outside of a nightclub. This is the story's inciting incident, triggering the boy's excellent. existential crisis and his exploration of self and purpose that will follow throughout the remainder of the narrative. Indeed, here at the start of Act 2, the boy will begin to examine the sleepwalking

existence he's been living. This process is slow, and fittingly, Act 2 begins with the instrumental track Dialup. This interlude is an ode to the sounds and tones of Dialup Internet. For those of you too young to experience Dialup, it was a means of accessing the Internet popular in the 1990s that required you to connect through your phone line. Along with the tones of slowly getting connected to the internet, the sounds of windshield wipers going back and forth repeat over and over, suggesting that the boy is trying to clear his vision. In the screenplay, Dial-up is preceded with a small scene, and it specifically notes that this scene should be soundtracked by Nostalgia by Pusha Tea. The boy and his crew walk into their mansion in slow motion. They bring in with them

alcohol and samores fixings, getting everything ready for the big party that night. Marcus gets clean and grabs condoms, AJ grabs drugs, and fam meditates and floats above his bed. After this brief scene, we're instructed to play dial-up, which scores the boy laying in bed staring at his ceiling. The script then reads, quote, Spiders slowly drop from single strands of web from all posts on his bed. It looks pretty, all of them dropping simultaneously swaying together. They whisper, where are you? Who is this?

Don't slide. It's almost a song, unquote. This scene introduces a central metaphor for because the internet, spiders. We'll be able to dive more deeply into this metaphor when we discuss the song No Exit. But in this scene, they serreely asked the existential questions the boy has been confronting. Their final statement, don't slide. is an ominous warning for the upcoming party, as slide means to come through to an event. Slide also means to fall or fade away, and when taken in tandem with the questions,

Who are you and who is this? It appears the spiders are encouraging the boy not to run from these questions. As a whole, the song dial-up and the script here offer a moment of pause, almost as if the boy is buffering after the shock of feeling World Star hit him in real life. He is slowly realizing his needs, which becomes all the more clear, as Dialup transitions directly into the album's next track, The Worst Guys. The Worst Guys is produced by Donald Glover and Ludwig Gorrensen. The song's production is built from the sounds first introduced in Dialup, which Glover produced himself. Ludwig then took those sounds and made a beat from them, along with the rhythmic windshield wipers.

The track oscillates back and forth between two chords, E-flat major, and F minor. The two chords going back and forth mirror the effect of the windshield wipers doing the same thing. Later, an 808 drum kit is added. But before the drums enter, we hear both Gambino and Chance the rapper performing the song's hook. Remember, the screenplay notes that the boy's friend Marcus is supposed to be played by Chance the Rapper. Marcus is the boy's most sex-crazed friend. He's the one that grabs condoms before the party, flirts with Sasha at the beach first, and is hyper-competitive in clapping for the wrong reasons.

Chance's presence or character on this hook thus depicts a man who views sex as competition as a means of stunting. The incomplete phrase, all she needed was some, is repeated 16 times. Fittingly, on page 69 of childish Gambino.com at the time of the album's release, this hook was presented as a multiple-choice question. All she needed was some A, a picture of the devil, B, your keys, C, some dick, or D, something to understand. While there's a bit of humor in some of the options, it appears that in the boy and Marcus's eyes, C is the intended answer, that the girl needs some dick.

The hook then is an immature bit of braggadocio, with the idea that all a woman needs is sex, or at least in the mind of these adolescent boys. The hook's sexual innuendo sets the tone for a bevy of arrogant phallic imagery, as Gambino details the self-indulgent exploits of him and his crew. I had a clip of his game on the court side. Watch a nigger shoot like a four-five. Day mad at me too, I got more fire. Why these bitches see you, go home rod.

Tea and tamara in my bed, I'm a smart guy. I ain't fucking with you niggas like a part-tide. Hit someone. Gambino begins his verse bragging. At a Clippers game on the court side, watch an N-word shoot like a four-five. They mad at me too, I got more fire. Sitting front row at an L.A. Clippers basketball game,

Gambino likens the shooting of players to the shooting of a 45-caliber pistol. 45 also alludes to Michael Jordan, and the number he briefly wore when returning to basketball after a short retirement. The phallic imagery of balls and guns emphasizes the masculine swagger of these first lines. Gambino continues jabbing,

Why These bitches see you, go home, Roger. This is followed by a girl saying, Go Home Roger, in the style of twin sisters, Tia and Tamara, from the 90s sitcom Sister Sister. Roger refers to the character Roger Evans, who insistently pursued the twins throughout the show, so much so that Go Home Roger was a recurring catchphrase used both by the twins and their parents.

Twins. I'm living my father's fantasy. Roger. Gambino continues the reference rapping, Tia and Tamara in my bed, I'm a smart guy. Smart Guy was another 90s sitcom.

Interestingly, the show is centered around the character T.J. Henderson, who is played by Tage Maui, the real-life younger brother of Tia and Tamara. Taj actually appeared in a few episodes of Sister Sister, and Tia and Tamara appeared on an episode of Smart Guy. And it's this specific episode of Smart Guy that Gambino seems to be referencing here. In this episode, T.J's brother Marcus tries to hit on the girls played by Tia and Tamara,

but they both end up leaving with T.J. By positioning himself as the smart guy, Gambino likens himself to T.J. Using Tia and Tamara to imply he's about to have a threesome. This is relevant because Gambino will rap about a failed threesome later in this track, and the boy will be involved in a failed threesome in the screenplay. We also recognize that Marcus is both T.J.'s older brother on Smart Guy, and the name of the boy's horniest friend that's played by Chance the rapper, who of course appears on the current track.

Finally, we recognize that the relationship between Sister, sister and Smart Guy, the real-life brother and sisters that star in them, and the interplay between the two shows through crossover guest appearances, actually mirrors Donald Glover's own surreal conception of the world of Because the Internet. Glover also plays with the crossover between reality to fictional characters that appear in the narrative and the surreal space in between the various media forums and narratives that compose the world. Case in point, the interplay between Chance the rapper, his character Marcus, his appearance on this track, and the narrative similarity of Marcus from the Smart Guy episode Glover references on this song.

Indeed, it appears Glover wasn't lying when he donned himself a smart guy. Gambino then continues his claims of sexual dominance, rapping, I ain't fucking with you N-words like apartheid. Hits on my list check my archive. First, he uses the South African segregation policy apartheid to humorously claim that he isn't fucking with people, that he's serious about his claim that his sex game is on another level. He then tells us to check his archive of hits,

with hits referring to both his musical output and the people he's had sex with or hit it with. After propping himself with this string of masculine and sexual boasts, Gambino feels pretty good about himself. Gambino wraps, I'm something so immaculate, instead of asking what's happening, rather blast a Jackson 5 in the back of an Acura. Here we get a reference to yet another sitcom, this time the 70s show What's Happening, which was one of the first sitcoms about a working-class black family. Gambino says he doesn't question what's going on or what's happening, more proof that to this point he hasn't questioned his life or society. Instead, he's content with blasting music by the Jackson 5 and acting blacker than a Bernie Mac two-tracking. Charlie Murphy's and ACON. Here Gambino uses the darkness of these black artists' skin to express

how stereotypically black he's acting. He's saying, in fact, he's blacker than black. This idea of acting black calls back to Gambino's question posed in Crawl. What's the rationale? They want to smoke N-words like they black and mild, so we act and out. Being black in America poses a set of threats and dangers, so Gambino's indulgence is both bold celebration and defiance. Gambino then asks, the girls that you brought man, where are they from? Given that this song soundtracks a party at the boy's house, this line makes sense, as the boy doesn't know everyone who comes. But it also illustrates Gambino's or the boys' attention being affixated on sex with women. He then wraps, We Were Playing PlayStation. This is actually

a reference to the prelude film to BTI, clapping for the wrong reasons. There we see Gambino or the boy ask his brother Steve and Swank about a mysterious girl that he assumes they brought to the house. Steve and Swank are distracted by playing NBA 2K on PlayStation, and they don't know who she is. Gambino continues to wonder until he sees her that night and asks her directly, but she doesn't reply. This ties into the next lines of the song. As Gambino raps, Why you stand in there, say some. Girl say some. No, this ain't a vacation. This is my house. All she needed was some. Just like clapping for the wrong reasons, Gambino asks the girl a question, but doesn't receive an answer.

The implication of the line, This ain't a vacation, this is my house, is that the girl can't just be here for nothing, for free, that she has to do some work. Given the song's sexual overtones, we assume he means sex,

giving us more evidence that he thinks all she needed was some dick. Bought a new bad, wanna take shots, A.K. Nigel, when I ball, I'm a bar,

King James, nigga. Uncle Ben in my hand, make change, nigger. And I'm out of this world. Gambino begins the second verse, bought a new bath, AK.

Want to take shots, AK. This latter line continues the basketball and gun references that also began the first verse. Taking shots paired with AK, most obviously references in AK-47, which Gambino is theoretically ready to shoot at his haters. But the line is also a reference to former NBA player Andre Karolenko, whose initials are AK and who wore the number 47. Karolinko was known for his defensive ability, specifically blocking shots. Thus, Gambino blocks all the shots or insults from his critics.

And an extra layer is added when we realized that both AK-47s and Andra Karolinko are from Russia. Gambino then confirms this basketball reference in the next line. When I ball, I'm a ball King James. He compares himself to LeBron James, whose nickname is King James, but also to King James I, who ruled England in the early 1600s. This King James was particularly known for his extravagant spending on luxury, which then contextualizes Gambino's $8,000 bathtub he boasted about at the top of the verse. Gambino then uses this royal thread to pivot to the line,

Uncle Ben in my hand, make change. Uncle Ben most obviously refers to Benjamin Franklin, who appears on the $100 bill, and make change is then a directive to split that bill. into smaller amounts. But Uncle Ben is also a reference to the character Uncle Ben, who raises Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man. In 2010, there was an online movement using the hashtag Donald for Spider-Man that called to cast Donald Glover as the next Spider-Man, so it seems likely this Uncle Ben line is in part reference to that. But a more interesting reading of this line

comes when we realize that when Uncle Ben dies, he's in Peter Parker's arms, and he tells Peter, with great power comes great responsibility. Parker then makes a change by leaving his normal life to assume the role of a superhero. In this sense, Uncle Ben and my hand make change, is Gambino saying that he's realizing the need for change to leave this meaningless cycle of competition and sex for something that's more worthwhile. And so in this context, we can view the death of Uncle Ben as being akin to the death the boy witnessed in World Star. This made Gambino, or the boy, recognized the need for change. Hence, we get the following line,

I'm out of this world like Tang. Gambino is trying to leave this lifestyle. He references Tang, a powdered orange-flavored drink most notably used by astronauts since it could be mixed in space. Gambino's frustration with those around him is emphasized as he has to explain this line

rapping, That's a space bar, man, I hate y'all. The Tang line was a space bar in that it was a lyric about outer space. but also that it was a decision to gain space. The immaturity and the meaninglessness of his previous exploits has tired him. This is all the more evident as the verse continues. Man, I hate y'all.

You only come around with Raj. I had a menage. And murder devise. But afterwards, it was awkward as fuck, because I'm nervous as fuck. You cannot get it up. I'm water to the face. I couldn't finish. Got the Uber from a place on my port, smoking vapor.

Hit with a Sunday paper. Listening to the neighbors. Gambino wraps, you only come around when you want to play pool or my hot tub, ice cream paint job in the garage. The boy implies his crew is using him for his nice things, like the billiards table, the infinity pool, the hot tub, or the lavish cars in his garage. This was hinted at in one of the first scenes in the screenplay, when Fam aggressively insisted they took one of the boy's sports cars to the beach. However, this line could also refer to the women Gambino has been sleeping with, since Play Pool could be an innuendo for using him sexually. In this sense, ice cream paint job in the garage, it's a lurid description of Gambino ejaculating, an ice cream paint job in the woman's garage. This woman seems to have just been using him for sex, something that will actually come up more clearly in the scene that this song's soundtracks in the screenplay.

Gambino then refers back to the threesome of the first verse, rapping, I had a menage and murdered the Vaj. Gambino's claim that he murdered the Vaj is an assumption of hypermasculine's sexual dominance, In an abrupt turn of events, Gambino juxtaposes this boast with a deeply vulnerable admission rapping, but afterwards it was awkward as fuck, because I'm nervous as fuck, and I could not get it up. Gambino reveals here he was unable to get an erection that he couldn't do what he once bragged about. This too reflects the scene and the screenplay we're about to detail, and also captures the destabilizing effect of Gambino's new perspective on his past lifestyle as meaningless. Gambino reels in the aftermath of this newness, rapping,

I-I-I-I-Nin-A-Minute Cold Water to the face, I-I-I-I couldn't finish, got the Uber from her place. Gambino's cadence here mimics rapper Push-A-T on Kanye West Runaway, where he attempted to emulate the character of a douche-back. Recall that Push-A-T was specifically referenced in the screenplay just before the cue for the worst guys. Much like Push-a-Tee's character on Runaway, Gambino used to be of the 24-7-365 Pussy Stay on My Mind mentality, but recent revelations have forced the boy to recognize that he's in fact the kind of douchebag and

asshole toasted on Runaway's chorus. Gambino then takes a minute, refreshes his perspective with cold water to the face and leaves. He follows this by detailing himself in a pensive state, on my porch smoking vapor, hit with the Sunday paper, listening to the neighbors. After realizing he couldn't partake in the cyclical, meaningless self-gratification of pure hedonism, Gambino takes some time to think. Smoking weed in the early hours of a Sunday morning, perhaps after staying up all night, he reflects on his failed threesome.

He's alone now, but keeping an ear out for those around him, wondering if there's something else out there that would be more fulfilling. After Gambino finishes the end of the second verse, he repeats the hook with chance once again. This time there's a soft, respondent croon in the background, almost as if this is one final toast or send-off for the douchebags for his past debauchery. All she needed was him.

All she needed was some. All she needed was some. At this point in the song, we've heard the incomplete phrase, All she needed was some, over 60 times. The over-repetition of this phrase, of all the self-indulgence, sexual bravado, and stunting that it symbolized, has rendered it meaning repeating a word or phrase over and over again, we start to feel the abstract and subjective nature of using spoken sound to communicate. Words can mean anything, everything, or nothing. Take for instance, the word tree. The actual sound our mouth makes, tree means nothing. However, we've decided as a culture

that when we hear the sound tree, we will think about a trunked wood plant with branches and leaves. but it's a little more complex than that, since tree might mean different things to different people. For instance, someone on the West Coast might think of a palm tree, and someone on the East Coast might think of an oak tree. So even within our agreed-upon relationship between the sound tree and a trunked wood plant with branches and leaves, they're still gray area. Technically, it's still subjective. We still bring to the word our own perspective, intuition, feelings, and a myriad of other influences. understanding this, we unlock an important theoretical concept that's essential to because the internet, this idea of subjectivity and one's own agency and freedom to ascribe personal meaning

in their life. The repetition of the phrase, all she needed was them, combined with the inherent vagueness of the phrase itself, renders it completely ambiguous, a kind of blank canvas. Recall that Gambino deliberately posed the phrase as a multiple choice question on his website. As audience, we have an equal role with the speaker in determining what the meaning is, and we get a sense that all the choices are both correct or incorrect, that perhaps all of the above and or none of the above might actually be the best answer. Still, when given the chance to determine what the phrase meant, the worst guys, Chance in Gambino, decided that it was indulgence, sex, and stunting.

All she needed was some dick. The meaning they ascribed to it reflected their own juvenile and hyper-masculine worldview. But we have the power to choose differently and perceive our own meaning. And this is exactly the process that the boy is coming to understand about life itself. His daily routine of party, sleep, serve, party sleep, serve, has repeated so much that the emptiness and triviality beneath it has come to the fore. He's experiencing a crisis of meaning. It's now up to the boy to break the cycle and search for people and pursuits he finds meaningful.

As The Worst Guys continues, we hear a climactic guitar solo performed by Gambino's ever-present producer Ludwig Gordinson. At the end of such a hyper-masculine, overly sexual, self-pleasureing expose, this guitar solo presents a pinnacle of phallic imagery. Gorinson himself described Glover's instructions on the solo, telling Genius.com, quote, Donald was like, just take it over the top, times a hundred, unquote. The phallic symbolism of such an explosive solo. as masturbatory in nature, itself a reflection of the boy's outburst at the end of the world star scene, when he shouts, quote, none of it matters because we're doing it for ourselves, we're just jerking off for each other,

no one in the future is going to give a shit, unquote. The boy and his friend's behavior have made them the worst guys, and this futile existence now horrifies the boy. Additional evidence of interpreting this guitar solo as masturbatory comes when we consider Glover's performance of this song live, as he would often in pantomime jerking himself off during this solo section. And this fallat climax is actually accentuated further midway through the solo. It's here that we get what's called a modulation. A modulation is when a piece of music moves from one key signature to another. Most music you listen to every day begins and ends in one key. So to find a modulation, especially in a hip-hop song,

well, it's not all that common. The type of modulation we hear in the worst guys is specifically called a half-step modulation. Half-step modulations are usually used to make an already climactic moment in a song even more climactic. It's a way of turning the volume to 11 when you're already at 10. As a quick example, let's listen to an especially effective use of a half-step modulation. It comes in Michael Jackson's Man in the Mirror. The song is in G major, but near the end of the song, it modulates one half-step higher to a G-sharp major. Well, it's cool about this modulation, is that it occurs exactly when Jackson sings the word change. Modulation.

Notice how the moment of modulation took the song to another level. Again, it's like turning the volume from 10 to 11, making a climactic moment even more climactic. The same thing occurs in the worst guys. We're already in the midst of a climactic guitar solo, and midway through we get a half-step modulation, taking it to even greater heights. Modulation. If we continue the crude but seemingly accurate, depiction of masturbation, it would appear this modulation indicates the moment of orgasm.

And what happens after orgasm? The Come Down. And sometimes, clarity. Fittingly, the worst guys does the same, as the song windsh windshens down and concludes with the sound of windshield wipers, indicating the boy's perspective becoming clearer. The worst guys soundtracks a few scenes in the screenplay, beginning with the party at the boy's mansion. There are people there the boy doesn't know, like a couple making out on the bar who he tells to get off, and two guys who run out the mansion having stolen some of his stuff. Marcus comes to the boy asking about a girl he just had sex with in the shower, not listening to the boy telling him to stop inviting random people to the house. After the boy calls Marcus the Florida of his friends,

he heads upstairs to his father's old room. Sasha, the girl who the crew met at the beach scene during crawl, opens the door and pulls him in. There's another girl in the room and the two are now on the bed. The boy gets the sense that they are probably doing drugs. Sasha then tells the boy to show them his dick, which leads to an awkward exchange. The boy asks why, and then Sasha jokes that she thinks it's probably gross. Her friend then says she's never seen a black dick before and asks if it's purple like a grape dick.

The boy doesn't react and Sasha starts poking him saying, don't be weird. She starts kissing and touching him, but then stops with him. when he doesn't get erect. She asks what's wrong, but receives no clear answer from the boy. He tries to get himself hard, but can't, and tells the girls to hold on. He goes to the bathroom and locks the door. The hedonism of Gambino's opening verse and hooks of the worst guys serve as perfect soundtrack for the debauchery at the party. The boy doesn't feel connected to any of the partygoers and gets mad at Marcus for inviting people he doesn't know. The boy is slowly realizing that he doesn't want any of this, that it doesn't give him any purpose.

When he has the chance to engage in a threesome, he can't even get erect, because he doesn't see the point. When he asked Sasha why, the question has existential implications. The bedroom scene mirrors the failed monage Gambino rapped about in the second verse. We also recall that in the beach scene, it appeared that Sasha and the boy had connected, planting the seeds of a possible romance, but it turns out all she needed was some dick. Before, this surely would have pleased the boy as it aligned with this self-indulgent worldview, but now it just leaves him disappointed and flaccid. This kind of sexual vulnerability is in tune with Glover's discussion of sexuality at this time. On clapping for the wrong reasons, he told a story to fam about kissing a boy when they

are kids. As he explained to Vice, quote, I just said fuck it, let me tell this story of how I one-time kissed a boy. Am I gay? I don't know, maybe. But the maybe is what's really connecting us, unquote. And so it seems Glover is using vulnerability and honesty as a means of connection with this audience. For Gambino and the boy to recognize this moment of sexual impotence and being honest about it is a chance for them to evolve and move forward. When I rap about like peeing the bed, like that's embarrassing. But it's real and it's part of me and that's what's out there. Okay. That's it. When I

tell a joke about a girl calling my like that shit is like real. Yeah. Like it's like it's real and it's embarrassing and like but like we have to do that. Like we have to do that. That's the only way we're going to move forward.

So like I... This scene is a moment of realization where the boy knows that he can't maintain the hedonistic patterns that have put him where he is. Knowing now he can't continue to enjoy self-indulgence that he's coasted on for so long, the boy enters his bathroom and begins to reflect on his past. And it's here that the script instructs us to play the next track,

scene two of act two, shadows. That's right after the break. Welcome back to dissect. Before the break, we examined the song with the worst guys, and the boy's slow realization of the need for change. He had just entered the bathroom to escape to failed threesome, and this is when we're instructed to play the song, Shadows. Shadows is produced by Thundercat, Childish Gambino, and Ludwig Gorensen.

The track is centered around a bass line performed by renowned bassist Thundercat. Originally, Thundercat intended to give this bass line to flee to use in the band the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Beneath the bass line, we get a subtle but rapidly moving drum loop, sampled from the song Space Funk by Mansell. Later, Thundercat recorded vocal harmonies, recreated here by our very own Andrew Atwood, who, by the way does all the great song recreations you hear on the pod. But before we hear any of the main production, Shadows first begins with a sample of the opening moments of Mansell's space funk, the same song the drums are sampled from. This intro features a drum kit put in reverse, signaling a backward shift in time. This scores the scene of the boy in the bathroom

escaping the failed threesome. He sits on the floor with his head in his hands, and inexplicably, his ex-girlfriend Vanessa steps out of the linen closet and tells him she wants to go out. The boy resists, and then they play fight before Vanessa asks why he's so moody. She addresses him directly by name, but it's edited out. Finally, she drags him up and opens the linen closet. Again, inexplicably, the Coachella Music Festival is taking place inside the closet. Vanessa excitedly starts to detail what they're going to do, but stops when she sees the boy brooding. He asks,

You don't think this is a waste of our time? Vanessa gets mad and says no, that she doesn't think the two of them together is a waste of time. The boy then hurts her, saying, You don't really like me. I just look good when he scroll past me with the rest of your I'm almost Vashti bullshit. He then explains,

I'm just trying to be honest. Upset, Vanessa says he's being mean, and she won't waste the boy's time anymore. Suddenly, she shoots up into the sky like a rocket or a shooting star. and they never see each other again. The hook of shadows recites, she said, love me better, kiss me back, listen more.

Recall that these lines come directly after a song where the boy thought that all she needed was some sex. The juxtaposition reveals that Gambino or the boy wasn't listening. Referring to Vanessa, he now realizes that what she needed was a deeper connection. One where he loved her better, expressed his feelings and listened to her. Shame, shame on my brown ass. The birds in the trees as we run through. And if I'm dead to the world, what you're going to do?

What you're going to do? I can't remember. Shots by rewind. Please girl be mine. Email to not. Talk to me, baby. Boy, I go crazy. Might do it maybe.

We were so J-Z. Beyonce. Gambino begins his verse, face down in the brown grass, shame, shame on my brown ass. This is his current state as he reflects on his past love. With his face down and feeling shame, it's obvious that he's feeling low, and the brown grass imagery reflects decay and death of what was once bright. He paints a seemingly glowing picture of the past, wrapping birds in the trees as we run through,

and if I'm dead to the world, what we go and do? We then hear a girl respond, I can't remember. This is Gambino saying that the girl won't remember him when he's gone, a hurtful jab. His girl didn't take this lightly, as Gambino then wraps, shots fired, rewind, please girl, be mine. Email denied, talk to me, baby. Before I go crazy, might do it maybe. His jab is described as shots fired, so he tries to rewind and undo the insult, but she won't talk to him anymore. Gambino then issues a manipulative plea, as Go Crazy Might Do It Maybe,

hence said he's considering suicide as a consequence of her not talking to him. The quick deterioration of their relationship seems especially hurtful, as Gambino laments, We were so Jay-Z, Beyonce, My Aunt Say, Keep the Sex Game, Picante. In 2013, the reference to Jay-Z and Beyonce was most likely a reference to their hit song, Crazy in Love, tying into the previous, line before I go crazy. Given the deterioration of their relationship, it seems he failed to heed the advice to keep their sex life spicy and fresh like Baconte salsa. My aunt say, keep the sex game, Pancet, the Aunt May and Mary Jane that I was sitting on to make me try and forget that there was something wrong.

Love is brushing roulette. I had to sake the on. Pop pills at the Coachella. Hold my head in the weeds, man, I can't tell her. The fear that I feel, man, and might kill her. Gambino wraps the Aunt May and Mary Jane that I was hitting on to try and make me forget that there was something wrong. Continuing the Spider-Man illusion from the worst guys, Gambino refers to both Aunt May, Uncle Ben's wife and caretaker of Peter Parker.

and Mary Jane, Peter Parker's girlfriend. These two female figures represent both maternal and romantic energy, Aunt May being a guiding figure for Spider-Man, and Mary Jane being his love interest. In the narrative, this is the boy's deceased mother and his exes like Vanessa. He was hitting on or lightly using these women to distract themselves from the pain he feels. Notably, Mary Jane is also a reference to marijuana, which we've seen the boy used throughout the script.

It's revealed or realized here that his drug use is similar to his emotional interaction with women, both being used as an escape. Gambino then realizes love is Russian roulette, I had the safety on. Be it maternal or romantic, love requires vulnerability and connection, which can leave one or both parties hurt if something goes wrong, just like Russian roulette. But Gambino now realizes that he had the safety on, had detached himself from true intimacy because he feared actually feeling, something and being vulnerable. Gambino then remembers more of his behaviors with his ex,

rapping, We pop pills at the Coachella, hold my head in the weeds, man, I can't tell her. The fear that I feel, man, it might kill her. Here, the pop pills at the Coachella aligns directly with the script, where the boy and Vanessa find Coachella inside the linen closet. Gambino then admits that he couldn't express himself with her. He holds his head in the weeds to hide his thoughts from her, and he smokes weed to hide his thoughts from himself. Considering that both the song and the script here is a flashback, this also suggests that Gambino's existential dilemma has been in the back of his mind for quite some time, but that he was unable to express it to those who might have cared for him.

Now lonely, his introspection reveals only regret. The fear that I feel, man, they might kill her. It's the prep school might killer with the drums and the grooves are a fill filler. I don't care where he's safe. I'm going to get my platinum bat like I'm a half-te-te- A half-ton gorilla, you can hang with a homie on the low. What's so weak like a week? Like a week ago.

We ain't speaking. Okay. We ain't speaking enough. Understanding that his ex must have moved on. Gambino pups himself up a bit, rapping, It's the prep school mic killer, with the drums and the groove so it feel dilla.

I don't care what he say. I'm going to get my platinum back like I'm a half-ton gorilla. In a bit of hyper-masculine-agrously aggressive posturing, Gambino says he's a mic-killer, or great rapper, who makes music with a likable groove akin to iconic producer Jay Dilla. He then refers to his ex's new man, saying he doesn't care because he'll get his platinum or girl back. This cleverly alludes to silverback gorillas and likens himself to a powerful, aggressive

animal capable of savagery, tying back in to being a Mike killer. Continuing to posture, he says, You can hang with homie on the low, but your boy so weak like a week ago. Here he attempts to issue a directive, assuming he could, can control who his old girl hangs out with and takes a jab at the guy she's now seeing. After this brief outburst, Gambino quickly deteriorates. He says sadly, but we ain't speaking though, we ain't speaking though. Having just tried to assume command by telling the girl what to do and how much of a joke her new man is, Gambino soberly recognizes that he actually isn't speaking

to her. These are just his thoughts. They aren't real. They don't hold any weight. Much like the dream sequence of the script at this point, Gambino has imagined being able to regain connections he lost, but in reality, he's alone. After rapping the only verse of the song, Gambino begins to sing in a higher register. We can speak enough. Tuesday afternoon. I ain't got shit to do before I loved you. Tuesday after no. I ain't got shit to do, but father loved you. Kiss me back. Love me better, kiss me back. Thinking back to the beginning, Gambino sings, Tuesday afternoon,

I ain't got shit to do, but fall in love with you. She said, she said, she said. This evokes the carefree joy of the love that was present in the relationship. The echoing and repeated, she said, suggests this passage is from the perspective of the girl, which makes sense given the shift in tone and delivery. He then repeats the intro's line singing, Love me better, kiss me back, listen more. These are the last moments of Gambino

allowing himself to channel and experience his memory of love. Just like his relationships, it deteriorates quickly. Here we have three vocal tracks. Thundercat croons in the background. Gambino, pan to the side, sings what seems to be, You Got Me Slipping Apart Now. And Gambino states, the attitude. As we transition to this second half of the song, Gambino's words start to become

lost in the fray. More than the words he sings, he's expressing a feeling, or at least attempting to. As this passage continues, a drumbeat enters, and Gambino continues his plaintive half-sung pleas. In the forefront, Gambino sings, We were never friends, and I hope you understand, but I miss them. This is a plea. Gambino, giving voice to the boy's thoughts, laments his past failures. We Were Never Friends is a reference to all the connections he thought he had made, whether it be his exes, his crew, or even his mother. This calls back to the lyric, Love is Russian roulette, I had the safety on. Gambino numbed and guarded himself against intimacy. His perspective has now changed, and he wishes he had been able to connect. His introspection is full

of regret, and his crisis finds no ready answer. This more abstract, surreal musical section seems to align directly with what the boy is experiencing in the screenplay. After Vanessa shoots off like a rocket, the boy is abandoned and alone in the bathroom. Inexplicably, a group of glowing blue coyotes or wolves suddenly circle him. Likely a residual subconscious after effect of his reflections about Coachella, the coyotes are depicted as stereotypical hipsters, and they chat about obscure music and live performances. The coyotes do this while eating the boy alive, and the boy lets them. It appears this part of the scene aligns directly with Shadow's next explosive section,

a section producer Ludwig Gorensen described as All Hell Breaking Loose. A heavily distorted guitar enters. Meanwhile, Thundercat's backing harmonies are now played on a synthesizer, converting the organic to the electronic. It's during this breaking point that Gambino's voice, shifts to a higher register, accentuated by muffled distortion. Gambino please, I hope you understand, that I get you. He cries out for connection here, hoping he can reach those he's lost and let them know

that he now gets it, that he now understands. Amidst the chaos of instrumentation and emotion, there's hope here for real reconciliation. Meanwhile, in the screenplay, the wolves are ripping Gambino to shreds, and he doesn't fight back. Glover here emphasizes the interplay between the music and script and the surreal effect it creates. We understand that Vanessa's entire appearance is a hallucination, as are the wolves and the boy's death. Yet these scenes still lend insight into the boy's journey and crisis of identity. With Vanessa and Coachella, the boy seems to have a problem with the way that social media is affecting their actions. He criticizes Vanessa for using him as an aesthetic prop in her online version of self.

The coyotes or wolves are natural dwellers of the Coachella Desert Valley, and their glowing blue aura is reminiscent of blue light, that which comes from computer and cell phone screens. Their association with the Coachella Music Festival evokes the overwhelming presence of social media influencers at the concert. Coachella brings together artists and fans in celebration of art, yet it has become one of the most largest social media events of the year. This is likely why Glover depicts the coyotes as hipsters. At this point, Gambino or the boy are being torn apart by the realization of the phoniness of it all, of Vanessa, of the festival, of their patterns of hedonistic behavior. To the boy, this is a waste of time, and he's allowed it to tear him apart. Following this scene, the script then cuts to the boy pacing in his shower.

He realizes the shower is cold, and it's five in the morning. On his mirror, Sasha from the failed threesome has written, You're fucked in lipstick, and the boy. boy agrees with her. Fittingly, this end scene aligns with the end of shadows. Having expunged his high emotion, the song comes to a halt, static crackles in the aftermath, and Gambino comes down. The boy's cold shower shocks him back into reality. The realization of misconnection is a reawakening for him. Similar to the windshield wipers signifying his vision being cleared, the cold water of the shower suggests cleansing and reinvigoration. He understands now that,

that his new perspective means he has to go back. He has to revisit the connections he once had. In the script, he goes into the living room and finds the disheveled aftermath of the party. He wakes up his crew and tells them that they're leaving for Oakland. Conclusions. Act 2 of Because the Internet finds the boy realizing his mortality and the meaninglessness of his life, signaling a shift in perspective and an examination of himself and his surroundings. In the worst guys, he recognizes that he and his friends are constantly engaged in meaningless patterns of self-gratifying pleasure chasing. As the boy said at the end of World Star, quote, none of it matters because we're doing it for ourselves. We're just jerking off for each other.

No one in the future is going to give a shit, unquote. The boy realizes he can't keep going along with the repetitive, meaningless stunting he's been caught up in. He's no longer capable of the debauchery he once was, and this realization leaves him in a bit of a daze. Shadows then sees the boy reflect on his past and realize that he never let himself be vulnerable or get close enough to someone who cared for him. The shadows at play are both the figures of his past and his own subconscious feelings. Realizing that his life has been a cycle of meaningless acts, he cries out in hopes of reaching those who are gone, but he can't. The connections he seeks requires him to act, to learn, and to grow. This concept of growth is central to because the internet. Glover explained in his

Instagram notes prior to the release of the album, quote, I wanted to make something that says, no matter how bad you fuck up or mistakes you've made during the year, your life, your eternity. You're always allowed to be better. You're always allowed to grow up if you want, unquote. Here at the start of Act 2, the boy is realizing that he wants to grow up, to evolve from being the worst guy. Realizing a need for change, the boy is going to go back to seek out a relationship he once had. He gets his crew together, they get in the car, and they head to Oakland. Of course, this is because the internet's next track, Telegraph Avenue. A song will examine note by note, line by line.

Next time on Dysect. Today's episode of Dysect was written by Camden Oostrander and me. Remember, you can go deeper into the world of Because the Internet through the supplementary guides on our website, Dysect. Dissectpodcast.com. While you're there, be sure to check out our limited season seven merchandise. Also, be sure to follow us on social media at Dissect Podcast. Today's episode was edited by Eric Bass and me, song recreations by Andrew Atwood, theme music by Bureaucratic. Okay, thanks everyone. Talk to you next week.