On this week's "Music Notes," I've chosen my favorite song by boygenius, "Satanist." As the title suggests, this song centers around rebellion, which is evident in the many vocal tactics the band utilizes throughout.
When you hear the opening strums of the guitar, it instantly feels like you are in the fantasy Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus have created. In my mind, I picture the trio smashing TV screens and car windows, spray painting their initials on grimy alley walls and running away into the darkness of the night with their signature smirks. That's what a song visually is supposed to do for its listeners, which boygenius captures perfectly.
Each singer gets a verse to imagine what life could be like if they challenged and escaped societal norms, with Baker starting the song with the question: "Will you be a satanist with me?"
Coming from a queer perspective, she questions the ideals of religion, possibly alluding to how certain religions are known to denounce LGBTQ+ rights. Converting to Satanism could symbolize the rejection of religious oppression, as well as poking fun at the stereotype that queerness is the equivalent of worshiping the devil.
Baker continues, saying, "Mortgage off your soul to buy your dream / Vacation home in Florida / The collateral, the devil's repossession' from me / Tryin' to score some off-brand ecstasy." These lines touch more on the idea of "selling your soul to the devil," hinting at society's emphasis on capitalism, with the aim to achieve upper-class financial status.
Bridgers jumps in on the next guitar strum, bearing a new question: "Will you be an anarchist with me?" She then says, "Sleep in cars and kill the bourgeoisie / At least until you find out what a fake I am / Spray paint my initials on an ATM / I burn my cash and smash my old TV." Adding onto Baker's dislike of the upper class, Bridgers uses her lines to rebel against this class group.
She also questions why society values materialism to such an extent, hence why she yearns to destroy the people and things that represent such greed. This visual simultaneously adds another layer of rebellion to the production itself, with Baker's guitar playing growing faster and more aggressive.
There's then a pause in singing from the group, with the trio all screaming and shouting in the distance, guitars roaring and drums blaring for a good 30 seconds. For boygenius, this moment is another symbol of uniting through rebellion and freedom, with the overall loudness of the song helping them release some of their pent-up anger and frustration with the world.
The angelic, more level-headed vocals of Dacus finally come in toward the end of the track. The final question asked, "Will you be a nihilist with me?" Tying in philosophy into her chunk of lyrics, she says, "If nothin' matters, man, that's a relief / Solomon had a point when he wrote Ecclesiastes / If nothing can be known, then stupidity is holy / If the void becomes a bore, we'll treat ourselves to some self-belief."
Dacus uses her lyrics to suggest that resorting to nihilism could provide comfort, especially as this song does consider mortality and aging. She feels liberated by knowing that nothing matters and that death doesn't mean anything good or bad. Instead of embracing a lack of apathy with death, she embraces the thought that it means nothing by using self-delusion to comfort herself, which many do when thinking about their mortality.
As the rapidness of the song fades into the outro of "Satanist," you can hear the band's murmuring come to an end. The instrumentation changes entirely as the rhythm from the chorus grows slower as if the sound has been warped. The band comes together in these final moments, contemplating their impact on the world and the lives they have lived thus far.
They sing, "You wonder if you can even be seen / From so far away / A slow pull, a seismic drift / Leanin' over the edge of the continent / It's so hard to come back / You hang on until it drags / You under, you under / You under, you under."
This moment in the song represents the band's struggle with finding meaning in their existence. Now major celebrities, it also may be a dig at fame, with the band admitting that it can overtake all its accomplishments and their personal goals.
"Satanist" explores rebellion, freedom and escapism, not knowing what's in store but also finding a thrill in rejecting societal norms.
