boygenius Break Down "Not Strong Enough" — a Song About Being "Too Tired to Piss, Too Full of Piss to Sleep" — for Genius

"This song is like, fuckboygenius"

BY Megan LaPierrePublished May 3, 2023

Our Spring issue with cover stars boygenius, the only supergroup that matters, has been sitting pretty on stands for nearly a month now. The boys' (Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus) debut album the record has been out in the world for about as long, and of course, people are still trying to dissect every last lyric — what's a "winter bitch," anyway? What exactly does "fuck around and find out" entail? Does Emily have forgiveness in her heart?

The folks at Genius — purveyors of verified song lyrics and knowledge — sat down with the trio to get to the bottom of what album highlight "Not Strong Enough" is about, and it's surprisingly not lifting weights!

"This song's really vibes-based," Dacus concludes near the end of the video, which features different sections of the song performed a cappella followed by explanations of the lyrics. "It's cohesive, but we've been saying so many disparate things... but also, it's just kind of fun to listen to. Like, it's kinda just a vibe."

Before that, though, the group explained that the track is something of a meditation on mental health, with specific lines referring to executive function issues — "Too tired to piss, too full of piss to sleep," as Bridgers eloquently states — or hating yourself for hating yourself.

"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, that's the whole point — that it's a little bit hard," Bridgers explained.

Baker added, "I am capable of being the man that's strong enough to be your man, but the responsibility of it is not something I can handle."

"This song is like, fuckboygenius," Dacus quipped.

Check out the video below to finally find out what your new "always an angel, never a god" tramp stamp means.

 

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