Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker – AKA boygenius – just explained the meaning behind single, ‘Not Strong Enough’, from their debut album, ‘The Record‘.
Boygenius jumped on the Genius YouTube channel to sing a gorgeous acapella version of ‘Not Strong Enough’ and talk through its meaning, line by line. Watch the video at the top of this article.
“As it was shaping up, I think that the song was looking like it was going to only be about having a little bit of mental illness. Just being like, ‘I’m frustrated that my brain works how it does’,” explained Lucy Dacus. “I was like, ‘OK, yeah, what’s gonna be more expected of us than us writing about hating our own brains?’, she continues. “Phoebe has expressed it as self-hatred plus having a God complex – like, sometimes, you feel like you’re the best thing ever – and both of these states can be happening at the same time.”
The trio continues explaining that the track is about shirking responsibility in relationships by blaming it on being too fucked up to commit. “We talk about this all the time,” explains Phoebe Bridgers, “The type of guy – non-binary term – who’s like ‘You don’t want any part of this.’ I think we’re all guilty at some point in our lives of being like, ‘I couldn’t possibly be accountable to another human being’. Well, the whole point is that it’s a little bit hard!”
Julien Baker continues to translate the lyrics, adding: “I’m capable of being the man who’s strong enough to be your man, but the responsibility of it is not something I’m interested in,” before Lucy Dacus chimes in with an absolute zinger: “This song is like fuckboygenius”.
This week, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker joined boygenius bandmate, Phoebe Bridgers at her Nashville support slot on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour to sing ‘Not Strong Enough’ along with two Bridgers’ solo songs, ‘Graceland Too’ and ‘I Know The End’. Bridgers’ appearance at the third Nashville date was unfortunately cancelled due to bad weather, which resulted in Swift herself taking to the stage four hours late.
Boygenius The Tour continues next month. The band will play the following dates:
JUN 2, 2023
Thrive Park at Snapdragon Stadium
San Diego, CA
w/ Clairo, Dijon, and Bartees Strange
JUN 3, 2023
Brookside at the Rosebowl
Los Angeles, CA
w/ Clairo, Dijon, and Bartees Strange
JUN 4, 2023
Frost Amphitheater at Stanford
Stanford, CA
Sold Out w/ Clairo, Dijon, and Bartees Strange
JUN 6, 2023
Arizona Financial Theatre
Phoenix, AZ
Sold Out w/ Bartees Strange
JUN 8, 2023
White Oak Music Hall
Houston, TX
Sold Out w/ Bartees Strange
JUN 9, 2023
Texas Trust CU Theater Grounds
Dallas, TX
w/ Clairo, Dijon, and Bartees Strange
JUN 10, 2023
Festival Grounds at City Park
New Orleans, LA
w/ Clairo, Dijon, and Bartees Strange
JUN 11, 2023
Central Park
Atlanta, GA
w/ Clairo, Dijon, and Bartees Strange
JUN 13, 2023
ExploreAsheville.com Arena
Asheville, NC
Sold Out w/ Bartees Strange
JUN 14, 2023
Live Oak Bank Pavilion
Wilmington, NC
w/ Bartees Strange
JUN 16, 2023
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Columbia, MD
w/ Clairo, Dijon, and Bartees Strange
JUN 17, 2023
Forest Hills Stadium
New York, NY
Sold Out w/ Clairo, Dijon, and Bartees Strange
JUN 18, 2023
The Stage at Suffolk Downs
Boston, MA
Sold Out w/ Clairo, Dijon, and Bartees Strange
JUN 20, 2023
Stage AE
Pittsburgh, PA
w/ Claud
JUN 21, 2023
Budweiser Stage
Toronto, ON
Sold Out w/ Broken Social Scene, Claud
JUN 23, 2023
KEMBA Live! Festival Site
Columbus, OH
w/ Clairo, Dijon, and Bartees Strange
JUN 24, 2023
Riis Park
Chicago, IL
Sold Out w/ Clairo, Dijon, and Bartees Strange
JUN 25, 2023
The Great Lawn in Centennial Park
Nashville, TN
w/ Clairo, Dijon, and Bartees Strange
JUL 28, 2023
PNE Amphitheatre
Vancouver, BC
Sold Out w/ Carly Rae Jepsen, Illuminati Hotties
JUL 29, 2023
The Gorge Amphitheatre
George, WA
w/ Carly Rae Jepsen, Illuminati Hotties
JUL 30, 2023
Hayden Homes Amphitheater
Bend, OR
w/ Carly Rae Jepsen, Illuminati Hotties
AUG 1, 2023
KettleHouse Amphitheater
Bonner, MT
Sold Out w/ Illuminati Hotties
AUG 2, 2023
Idaho Botanical Garden: Outlaw Field
Boise, ID
w/ Illuminati Hotties
AUG 3, 2023
Library Square
Salt Lake City, UT
w/ Illuminati Hotties
AUG 5, 2023
Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Morrison, CO
Sold Out w/ Illuminati Hotties
AUG 11, 2023
Øya Festival
Oslo, NO
AUG 12, 2023
Way Out West
Gothenburg, SE
AUG 13, 2023
KB Hallen
Copenhagen, DK
w/ MUNA
AUG 15, 2023
Verti Music Hall
Berlin, DE
w/ MUNA
AUG 16, 2023
Palladium
Cologne, DE
w/ MUNA
AUG 18, 2023
Pukkelpop Festival
Hasselt, BE
AUG 19, 2023
Lowlands Festival
Biddinghuizen, NL
AUG 20, 2023
Gunnersbury Park
London, UK
Sold Out w/ MUNA and Ethel Cain
AUG 22, 2023
The Piece Hall
Halifax, UK
Sold Out w/ Ethel Cain
AUG 23, 2023
The Piece Hall
Halifax, UK
w/ Ethel Cain
AUG 24, 2023
Banquet Records Outstore at PRYZM Kingston
Kingston Upon Thames, UK
6:30PM
AUG 24, 2023
Banquet Records Outstore at PRYZM Kingston
Kingston Upon Thames, UK
8:30PM
AUG 25, 2023
Rock en Seine
Saint-Cloud, FR
AUG 27, 2023
Connect Festival
Edinburgh, UK
AUG 28, 2023
Royal Hospital Kilmainham
Dublin, IE
w/ MUNA
OCT 1, 2023
All Things Go Festival
Columbia, MD
