Only Bo could make a beautifully written and composed song like this, and make it a long “Why did the chicken cross the road?” joke. And yet that doesn’t even detract from the emotion and meaning behind it. What a talent.
I think the artistic/deep side is underrated by most casual fans is what they’re referring to. So many people go into Bo Burnham reactions expecting to laugh, and even laughing at deep and emotionally charged lines.
Yes! More Bo Burnham! He is such an amazing artist that doesnt seem to get the recognition he deserves because he makes comedy songs. I also feel its important to point out that although his songs are always jokes, there is an underlying message in most of them. This song is not about a chicken. Its about the struggle of people who feel stuck in a rut or unable to change their own lives. The chicken crossing the road is a metaphor for overcoming ones struggles to create a better life for themselves, if you listen to more of Bo's songs i hope you see that there is always that element of seriousness to his songs that goes unnoticed by most first time listeners. Maybe watch the entire "inside" special to see what i mean. Loved the video :)
He has literally won multiple Emmy’s, a Grammy and awards from the writers and directors guilds of America. Seems like a fair amount recognition if you ask me 😂
It's honestly almost annoying how moving this stupid ass song is hahaha like it's truly just a cross the road joke but only Bo can turn that into a poignant and moving song. Bo is a national treasure!
The dentist references the saying "rare as hen's teeth", the chicken dreams of being special and mundane, as well as the grass being greener on the other side. It feels related to the whole inside/internal struggles and outside/external pressures. Stay inside, avoid challenges, avoid having to change or try. I think this song was left out of the special because the theme is slightly off kilter, but I still like the gentle whimsy of it.
The next Bo Burnham song you should do is definitely Five Years. It's one of my favorites from the Inside Outtakes. My actual favorites are less than a minute long and don't really warrant a whole ass video, but Five Years would be dope.
Just watched the outtakes yesterday, and this pure nugget of gold was in the end. I just cant not listen to this thinking chicken as a metaphor for all of humanity and the road as obstacles we all go through.
How I interpret this is as a metaphor for someone leaving their old, boring, mundane life and finally leaving to explore the world. The ending is unclear and up to interpretation, no one knows what happened to the chicken or if they succeeded in their goal. Would it be better for the chicken to stay in the coop, where safety is almost guaranteed, but you're stuck to the same boring routine, or would it be better to go out and explore to see things despite the roads that may stand in your way? My view on this is that there is no solid answer, some people are happy in the coop and don't need the freedom the outside would provide, while others may be going insane in the coop they're confined to and need to find a way to at least breakup the daily routine.
chicken is a metaphor for someone too coward to take that next step, like how mcfly is called a chicken in back to the future0, but in this instance its about someone who became a wife and mother too fast and never got the chance to discover herself but realized she needs to find the love within herself and left her "coope"
You might not believe how far I made it into life before I realized that the classic "Why did the chicken cross the road?" wasn't just an anti-joke like I thought as a kid, but that "the other side" was a double-entendre. It's kind of embarrassing. 😅
Yeah it’s interesting that way, “why did the chicken cross the road?” is like the most famous and iconic joke setup ever. But because you probably first hear it when you’re younger, the double entendre goes over your head. So instead it becomes the most iconic and recognizable anti-joke.
Always happy to see more Bo! I think it’s important to remember that he wrote this song while in lockdown during quarantine. The feeling of being trapped is real for a lot of people even without a pandemic keeping them inside. I think the “we ought to believe that she got to, the other side” drives home a really important point. You want this chicken to succeed. You want to believe that it all worked out and her leap of faith was worth it. But “the otherside” also means death. Someone willing to take the risk, and potentially die for a better life should be celebrated whether or not they’re successful. For a lot of people in a lot of different circumstances, just trying is brave, and worthy of hope. But, art is subjective…that’s just what I got out of it. Cheers!
Could be totally wrong, but I think I've seen people talk online about him doing a version of this one in the club way before COVID. I don't think he actually wrote it during lockdown. I think when he started working on Inside he took some of the songs he had in his back pocket already like this one and 5 Years and decided to do something with them. Not that some of those deeper meanings can't still be in there. Just that the song wasn't inspired by lockdown per se.
@@MeganTheLibrarian3 that could very well be true! I know he workshopped 5 years for a while before Covid. I bet you’re right…it doesn’t really fit into the same vibe as the rest of inside (including the outtakes) so it makes sense that he would have written it at a different point in time.
Glad you're finally coming around to the request I mentioned about a week ago. Know you got lot on your plate. Look forward for the other songs from the Outtakes on Inside.
the "left, right, left, right, left, right" is describing the chicken walking across the road. left, right, left right as in one foot in front of the other. left step, right step, left step, right step, etc.
When I first heard The Chicken it was for some reason very emotional. I must've listened to it for over a week straight. One funny track from the bonus tracks was Microwave Popcorn 🤣 cracked me up
this was clearly a metaphor for potentially a person trapped in their life as a mother and wife who wanted to be more and how impossible it feels to leave the trappings of everything they've built over the years with the road being a catchall for the big philosophical fear of the unknown path to get to a better life.
It was like you heard "Chicken Little" reference but didnt... Bo is amazing... wrote 1st comedy special at age 19... Chicken did make it to "other side"... ie other side of life.... death
I see the chicken as a metaphor for women who were raised (maybe by very conservative parents) to believe that their life should only revolve around having kids and supporting their families but at some point question that believe and consequentially in some way or the other "get to the other side". To cheer you up, here a topological version of the chicken joke: Why did the chicken cross the Moebius strip? To get to same side!
The chicken is my mom, who would have been happier if she didn't get me. And got cooped in a life with a stressful husband and a child who saw it all, as smiles became frowns
I know I’m really late I’m posting. The road in this represents a journey one takes to try to reach their dream. The chicken is a double for a person who was a “chicken” their whole life and did the simple and easy thing, which left their life unfulfilled and not truly happy. Back to the road, half way through the journey, something happened. They froze, maybe didn’t make it to their dream, gave up again, or died trying to reach their goal. We liked to think they made it to the other side is a double as well. Made it to their dreams, or made it to heaven. Bo is a genius. Most of his music has doubles in it. Deeper meanings.
The amount of people that don't get "the chicken crossed the road to get to the other side" is a suicide joke is amazing to me. The other side is slang for heaven
It's not a suicide joke if she tried to cross the road and was "frozen in place by a pair of headlights" like if a person crossed the road and didnt see a car coming and froze in place, they got caught of guard and didnt react fast enough to get out of the way hence being frozen by the headlights
Yo not to add insult to injury but you’ve probably eaten chicken eggs or meat, right? This chicken joke is about slavery and choosing out of it. And, being willing to run and possibly face death so as not to escape.
"Quand les poules auront des dents..." its a french idiom, english speakers say "when pigs can fly." Its an impossible dream, but dentist wasn't a cheap rhyme. It has meaning.
I think the Chicken has the obvious Chicken crossing the road joke, but you can also read it as a metaphor for a woman who feels confined and trapped in her life just trying to be free to become who she wants to be.
Honestly? I got it from the first time. "Why did the chicken cross the road?" To get away from her husband - from the first verse. The chicken is a woman with an abusive husband
I don't think this song is a metaphor or a lesson. I think this song is an answer to the question, the classic joke poses. Why did the chicken cross the road? The seriousness of the storytelling, and the existential crisis are comedic elements. The road being obstacles in our life? I've never heard Bo ever do such an obvious and surface metaphor. The joke is just, hey, who is this chicken, and why did they actually cross the road? Nor has anyone actually ever asked whether the chicken made it to the other side.
I totally agree! Although many of Bo's songs have some sort of deeper meaning, I think think the inspiration for this one was probably, "I should write a song answering the question of why the chicken crossed the road...now how can I do it in a very dramatic and emotionally moving way?" 🤔 Don't get me wrong, this song is beautiful and one of my favorites of his now! But I think the fact that he takes a standard joke and makes it serious is itself the joke. Like any good art, we can bring our own interpretations and take our own meanings from it, but those meanings aren't necessarily intended by the artist.
@@MeganTheLibrarian3 Right. Some people are just still in the lower iterations of the matrix and need to relate to the chickens existential crisis. That's fine. Bo helps that red pill go down a little easier. But beyond that, Bo needs to get more credit for his love and use of absurdism, and nods to the artform.
My interpretation of the chicken is she is the average person who wants more from life. She sees other lives and the grass is always greener on the other side. But she never risked the road or was stopped when she did risk crossing the road.
This song is so good. I actually think this song is one of the 3% of his songs(the rest are his really early stuff) that actually doesn't have a deeper meaning. It's basically a flex. Like I can turn this silly idea into a hit song with punchlines.
It's Anthropomorphism. Instead of personifying an animal, he is anthropomorphizing a human woman as a chicken. It's a metaphor for a woman who only lives to birth and raise her husbands children. She's basically a stay at home mother with a toxic husband. She wants to escape to chase her dreams but she must cross that very difficult (gigantic) road to cross. She either gets to the other side or she dies trying. People take this song as a joke song, but it isn't. It's based on that classic joke, but it isn't a joke itself.
....It really took you 4 minutes to consider the song having a meaning aside a literal chicken actually pondering what life could be like without the things that keep her anchored to the farm?
This is a parable. The trapped suburbian housewife dreams of what could be. The road is basically life and how hard it is to break free and how easy it is to fail.
I have always been disappointed by all of your Bo reviews. You" re batting 1000. Keep hoping but you always disappoint me and get on my nerves. Boomer here and think Bo smarter than you like when he was 15 yr old
![The Chicken || Bo Burnham Animatic [INSIDE]](/img/1.gif)
Why did the chicken cross the road?
...to emotionally destroy you
Only Bo could make a beautifully written and composed song like this, and make it a long “Why did the chicken cross the road?” joke. And yet that doesn’t even detract from the emotion and meaning behind it. What a talent.
I think Bo Burnham is extremely underrated as an artist. He’s literally a genius.
What do you mean by underrated? He literally gets millions of views on every single video he posts.
@@pontus3018 and still not enough.
@@pontus3018It ain’t enough LOL
I think the artistic/deep side is underrated by most casual fans is what they’re referring to. So many people go into Bo Burnham reactions expecting to laugh, and even laughing at deep and emotionally charged lines.
Yes! More Bo Burnham! He is such an amazing artist that doesnt seem to get the recognition he deserves because he makes comedy songs. I also feel its important to point out that although his songs are always jokes, there is an underlying message in most of them. This song is not about a chicken. Its about the struggle of people who feel stuck in a rut or unable to change their own lives. The chicken crossing the road is a metaphor for overcoming ones struggles to create a better life for themselves, if you listen to more of Bo's songs i hope you see that there is always that element of seriousness to his songs that goes unnoticed by most first time listeners. Maybe watch the entire "inside" special to see what i mean. Loved the video :)
Had never heard the song before, but it did seem metaphoric.
@@Dana-fy8bg listen to the song on its own and read the lyrics along with it. It becomes pretty clear that its metaphoric rather than literal.
What do you mean? He got all the recognition he wanted and more of it. That's why he quit. Did you even watch all his specials? o.O
He has literally won multiple Emmy’s, a Grammy and awards from the writers and directors guilds of America. Seems like a fair amount recognition if you ask me 😂
It's honestly almost annoying how moving this stupid ass song is hahaha like it's truly just a cross the road joke but only Bo can turn that into a poignant and moving song. Bo is a national treasure!
Agreed
Adult man here. I literally cry every time.
The dentist references the saying "rare as hen's teeth", the chicken dreams of being special and mundane, as well as the grass being greener on the other side. It feels related to the whole inside/internal struggles and outside/external pressures. Stay inside, avoid challenges, avoid having to change or try.
I think this song was left out of the special because the theme is slightly off kilter, but I still like the gentle whimsy of it.
The next Bo Burnham song you should do is definitely Five Years. It's one of my favorites from the Inside Outtakes. My actual favorites are less than a minute long and don't really warrant a whole ass video, but Five Years would be dope.
And 1985
Spidaaaaaaaaar!!!!!!
This.
Just watched the outtakes yesterday, and this pure nugget of gold was in the end. I just cant not listen to this thinking chicken as a metaphor for all of humanity and the road as obstacles we all go through.
How I interpret this is as a metaphor for someone leaving their old, boring, mundane life and finally leaving to explore the world. The ending is unclear and up to interpretation, no one knows what happened to the chicken or if they succeeded in their goal. Would it be better for the chicken to stay in the coop, where safety is almost guaranteed, but you're stuck to the same boring routine, or would it be better to go out and explore to see things despite the roads that may stand in your way? My view on this is that there is no solid answer, some people are happy in the coop and don't need the freedom the outside would provide, while others may be going insane in the coop they're confined to and need to find a way to at least breakup the daily routine.
That whole comedy special was great a weird blend of art comedy and with beautiful lighting
chicken is a metaphor for someone too coward to take that next step, like how mcfly is called a chicken in back to the future0, but in this instance its about someone who became a wife and mother too fast and never got the chance to discover herself but realized she needs to find the love within herself and left her "coope"
You might not believe how far I made it into life before I realized that the classic "Why did the chicken cross the road?" wasn't just an anti-joke like I thought as a kid, but that "the other side" was a double-entendre. It's kind of embarrassing. 😅
Yo, you’re not alone, I just realized that after reading your comment.
Yeah it’s interesting that way, “why did the chicken cross the road?” is like the most famous and iconic joke setup ever. But because you probably first hear it when you’re younger, the double entendre goes over your head. So instead it becomes the most iconic and recognizable anti-joke.
….. I was today-years old….
Bruhhhhhhh 🤯🤯🤯
I personally don't think the chicken is a chicken. Seems like a metaphor for a lifestyle some people get stuck in.
Always happy to see more Bo!
I think it’s important to remember that he wrote this song while in lockdown during quarantine.
The feeling of being trapped is real for a lot of people even without a pandemic keeping them inside. I think the “we ought to believe that she got to, the other side” drives home a really important point.
You want this chicken to succeed. You want to believe that it all worked out and her leap of faith was worth it. But “the otherside” also means death.
Someone willing to take the risk, and potentially die for a better life should be celebrated whether or not they’re successful. For a lot of people in a lot of different circumstances, just trying is brave, and worthy of hope.
But, art is subjective…that’s just what I got out of it.
Cheers!
Could be totally wrong, but I think I've seen people talk online about him doing a version of this one in the club way before COVID. I don't think he actually wrote it during lockdown. I think when he started working on Inside he took some of the songs he had in his back pocket already like this one and 5 Years and decided to do something with them. Not that some of those deeper meanings can't still be in there. Just that the song wasn't inspired by lockdown per se.
@@MeganTheLibrarian3 that could very well be true! I know he workshopped 5 years for a while before Covid. I bet you’re right…it doesn’t really fit into the same vibe as the rest of inside (including the outtakes) so it makes sense that he would have written it at a different point in time.
Glad you're finally coming around to the request I mentioned about a week ago. Know you got lot on your plate. Look forward for the other songs from the Outtakes on Inside.
the "left, right, left, right, left, right" is describing the chicken walking across the road. left, right, left right as in one foot in front of the other. left step, right step, left step, right step, etc.
When I first heard The Chicken it was for some reason very emotional. I must've listened to it for over a week straight. One funny track from the bonus tracks was Microwave Popcorn 🤣 cracked me up
this was clearly a metaphor for potentially a person trapped in their life as a mother and wife who wanted to be more and how impossible it feels to leave the trappings of everything they've built over the years with the road being a catchall for the big philosophical fear of the unknown path to get to a better life.
You should really just watch the entirety of Inside, it's really good and songs like All Eyes on Me hit harder once you know the context
Glad you went ahead and jumped into this one immediately guys!
It was like you heard "Chicken Little" reference but didnt... Bo is amazing... wrote 1st comedy special at age 19...
Chicken did make it to "other side"... ie other side of life.... death
The Road is the final leap you take. That stab in the dark. Facing fear knowing you are afraid and unsure of what is ahead
I see the chicken as a metaphor for women who were raised (maybe by very conservative parents) to believe that their life should only revolve around having kids and supporting their families but at some point question that believe and consequentially in some way or the other "get to the other side".
To cheer you up, here a topological version of the chicken joke: Why did the chicken cross the Moebius strip? To get to same side!
I think the issue with this song is people assuming it's a joke... and that it's about a chicken.
It doesn’t have to be a literal chicken.
Fuck yes, do 5 years please
Also bo burnham
It’s a drake spoof
The chicken is my mom, who would have been happier if she didn't get me. And got cooped in a life with a stressful husband and a child who saw it all, as smiles became frowns
He's my favorite artist, you are my favorite reactor. Excellent sir.
I've never caught a video this early! Love your reactions! Keep up the amazing content!
He didn't just throw in the chicken joke, it's the basis of the beautiful song which does have double meaning
I know I’m really late I’m posting. The road in this represents a journey one takes to try to reach their dream. The chicken is a double for a person who was a “chicken” their whole life and did the simple and easy thing, which left their life unfulfilled and not truly happy. Back to the road, half way through the journey, something happened. They froze, maybe didn’t make it to their dream, gave up again, or died trying to reach their goal. We liked to think they made it to the other side is a double as well. Made it to their dreams, or made it to heaven. Bo is a genius. Most of his music has doubles in it. Deeper meanings.
It's a metaphor about not letting fear consume you but rather have it motivate you to seek better.
Would the dentist part refer to something being 'as rare as hens teeth?'
One of my all time fav BoBurn songs, glad you listened.
The amount of people that don't get "the chicken crossed the road to get to the other side" is a suicide joke is amazing to me. The other side is slang for heaven
It's not a suicide joke if she tried to cross the road and was "frozen in place by a pair of headlights" like if a person crossed the road and didnt see a car coming and froze in place, they got caught of guard and didnt react fast enough to get out of the way hence being frozen by the headlights
Yo not to add insult to injury but you’ve probably eaten chicken eggs or meat, right? This chicken joke is about slavery and choosing out of it. And, being willing to run and possibly face death so as not to escape.
@@HighTyGC they're talking about the original joke, not the song.
In no way is the original joke a suicide joke. Wherever did you get that from?
Add me to the list. Never in 45 years did I think the other side was heaven. And nobody else did either. Only you psycho.
"Quand les poules auront des dents..." its a french idiom, english speakers say "when pigs can fly." Its an impossible dream, but dentist wasn't a cheap rhyme. It has meaning.
just watching for the first time...how does he not get the metaphor?!?!
the amount of times I thought "yeah, thats the joke..." ....
I think the Chicken has the obvious Chicken crossing the road joke, but you can also read it as a metaphor for a woman who feels confined and trapped in her life just trying to be free to become who she wants to be.
perfect framing at the beginning of the song, so much talent coming out of our host’s right arm
Honestly? I got it from the first time. "Why did the chicken cross the road?" To get away from her husband - from the first verse.
The chicken is a woman with an abusive husband
Thank you for making the screaming roster connection cause I somehow completely missed that meaning somehow
I don't think this song is a metaphor or a lesson. I think this song is an answer to the question, the classic joke poses. Why did the chicken cross the road? The seriousness of the storytelling, and the existential crisis are comedic elements. The road being obstacles in our life? I've never heard Bo ever do such an obvious and surface metaphor. The joke is just, hey, who is this chicken, and why did they actually cross the road? Nor has anyone actually ever asked whether the chicken made it to the other side.
I totally agree! Although many of Bo's songs have some sort of deeper meaning, I think think the inspiration for this one was probably, "I should write a song answering the question of why the chicken crossed the road...now how can I do it in a very dramatic and emotionally moving way?" 🤔
Don't get me wrong, this song is beautiful and one of my favorites of his now! But I think the fact that he takes a standard joke and makes it serious is itself the joke. Like any good art, we can bring our own interpretations and take our own meanings from it, but those meanings aren't necessarily intended by the artist.
@@MeganTheLibrarian3 Right. Some people are just still in the lower iterations of the matrix and need to relate to the chickens existential crisis. That's fine. Bo helps that red pill go down a little easier. But beyond that, Bo needs to get more credit for his love and use of absurdism, and nods to the artform.
@@twistedbard Schizo music posting cringe
My interpretation of the chicken is she is the average person who wants more from life. She sees other lives and the grass is always greener on the other side. But she never risked the road or was stopped when she did risk crossing the road.
review 5 years. it's very good.
A rooster “crows” that’s the word for the sound it makes.
The Bo Burnham rabbit hole is well worth diving into. Definitely check out his song "Welcome to the internet"
This song is so good. I actually think this song is one of the 3% of his songs(the rest are his really early stuff) that actually doesn't have a deeper meaning. It's basically a flex. Like I can turn this silly idea into a hit song with punchlines.
you should check his other song "five years"
The chicken cross the road joke was originally about suicide.
the placement of the mine windwod look like it part of you arm lol
Wooo! The outtakes are great!
I expected this to end so much darker
You have to check out ‘5 years’ next!
and thats why the chicken crossed the road
Just FYI, "deer" is already plural, so "deer are grazing". No worries. Keep up the good work. :)
We finally know why the chicken crossed the road
What i find amusing is that if she did in fact die, she still made it to the other side potentially haha.
It's Anthropomorphism. Instead of personifying an animal, he is anthropomorphizing a human woman as a chicken. It's a metaphor for a woman who only lives to birth and raise her husbands children. She's basically a stay at home mother with a toxic husband. She wants to escape to chase her dreams but she must cross that very difficult (gigantic) road to cross. She either gets to the other side or she dies trying.
People take this song as a joke song, but it isn't. It's based on that classic joke, but it isn't a joke itself.
Yes, it's basically "why did the chicken cross the road? - explained" humanized a lot but still, sad though
....It really took you 4 minutes to consider the song having a meaning aside a literal chicken actually pondering what life could be like without the things that keep her anchored to the farm?
This is a parable. The trapped suburbian housewife dreams of what could be. The road is basically life and how hard it is to break free and how easy it is to fail.
Day 24 of asking MfLBOYD to react to "Randy buys a bookshelf on Gumtree"
Please react to 'Straight White Male' - Bo Burnham
The first time I heard this it DESTROYED me
Roosters "crow" in the morning :)
"But [I] react" could be added in your bio.
Love this
Roosters koo, is the yelling... it's annoying but I was told that it's them feeling good.
LEFT BRAIN, RIGHT BRAIN BY BO PLEASE!!
It took it as a metaphor, not actually talking about a chicken 😢
Cockadoodle doo!!!
Microwave popcorn is awesome too x
this will 100% get lost in the comment sauce but pls consider reacting to Michael Jackson's "Off The Wall"
if you want to react the his most creative concept for a song then you should watch his Left Brain, Right Brain song
Please react to joji glimpse of us and its video
This is an easy mistake we can make once you think you know what to expect from BB lol
And roosters crow :)
It's about dreams
Roosters crow bro lol
Chickens do have teeth
Please do some Burton Cummings! Break it to them gently.
I was excited - at first - before I realized this tune is not The Chicken we all know and love. Listen to Jaco Pastorious
Jaco Pastorius “The Chicken” live.
Do “unpaid intern reaction” by Bo Burnham!
Why did the chicken cross the road? That's why she did it!
If you have time could you listen to "MVP" by big L
This was not a very deeply thought reaction video, honestly. Does not do the chicken justice 😂
It's an artistic chicken. Deal with it.
You're really good at dissecting Bo's songs ❤️
oh
Twenty one pilots chlorine please
Roosters crow
🐔 🐓🐥
Try a real story like The Cowardif The County
Coward of the County
r/woosh...
Why did the chicken cross the road? That’s the song, that’s the joke.
I have always been disappointed by all of your Bo reviews. You" re batting 1000. Keep hoping but you always disappoint me and get on my nerves. Boomer here and think Bo smarter than you like when he was 15 yr old
Woosh
Roosters crow and they crow all the time. This is a very odd song. I'm sure it's about humanity but odd.