"Not Strong Enough" is a song by the American group Boygenius. It was released through Interscope Records on March 1, 2023, as the fourth single from the band's debut studio album, The Record (2023). The three members of BoygeniusJulien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacusattracted increasing recognition for their solo work in the period after their extended play, Boygenius (2018). Amidst speculation about whether they would record again as a trio, they wrote much of the material for The Record, including "Not Strong Enough", in secret. It is an indie rock and folk rock song with elements of pop, country, and several other genres. The lyrics primarily concern mental illness and its effects on relationships, with a focus on a narrator experiencing contradictory mental states of self-loathing and self-importance. The song features contributions from several session musicians. The band produced it with Catherine Marks.
"Not Strong Enough" appeared on several Billboard rock charts in the United States. These include Adult Alternative Airplay, where it spent seven weeks at number one and was ranked by Billboard as the most successful song of 2023. The song also charted in Ireland and on a secondary chart in Japan. It is certified gold in New Zealand and silver in the United Kingdom. It garnered widespread critical acclaim; many reviewers lauded the lyrics and the interplay between the band members. Multiple publications deemed it one of the best songs on The Record and of 2023. Music critics analyzed its themes of gender roles and feminism. At the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, the song received nominations for Record of the Year, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Performance, winning the latter two.
The music video for "Not Strong Enough" chronicles the band spending a day together in various locations around Los Angeles County. The video received praise for its candid depiction of the three musicians' friendship, and for having an uplifting aura that contrasted with the relatively dark subject matter of the lyrics. The band regularly performed the song while touring behind The Record; audiences and reviewers generally considered it to be a highlight of each concert.
Background and release
Boygenius is a band consisting of three American singer-songwriters: Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus. The trio formed in 2018 and released the extended play (EP) Boygenius in October of that year. Each musician then worked on their solo projects, releasing their respective studio albums: Punisher (2020) by Bridgers; Little Oblivions (2021) by Baker; and Home Video (2021) by Dacus. Roughly a week after Punisher June 2020 release, Bridgers began writing new material to keep herself busy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The song "Emily I'm Sorry" originated during this period; Bridgers sent a demo of it to Dacus and Baker, believing that it felt more fitting for a full band than a solo recording. They started sharing demos and ideas for songs in a Google Drive folder and a group chat, convening in California twice in 2021 to write together in person. On November 19, the band performed together for the first time in three years as part of a charity concert for Bread and Roses Presents.
The band recorded the album at Shangri-La in Malibu, California, for much of January 2022 with contributions from several session musicians, including bass guitar work from Jay Som and percussion from Carla Azar of the American alternative rock band Autolux. Additional recording was completed at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California. The band self-produced the album, also enlisting Catherine Marks on the strength of her work producing albums for Manchester Orchestra. Across most of the album, Mike Mogis handled mixing duties, while Pat Sullivan helmed the mastering process.
The band was secretive about the writing and recording processes while they were ongoing; when individual members were asked in interviews whether they would reunite, they generally gave oblique and evasive responses. Rumors about a debut album from Boygenius began spreading in late 2022 to 2023, following a photoshoot in November 2022 and the announcement of their inclusion on the Coachella 2023 lineup. On January 18, 2023, the band's debut album The Record and its tracklist were announced, with a release date of March 31. Three singles were released at this time: "$20", "Emily I'm Sorry", and "True Blue". According to Bridgers, the album's first half consists of songs which were near completion by the time they were shared with the group, while the second half was informed by the bond shared between the group. The collaboratively written "Not Strong Enough" appears as the sixth track out of 12. On March 1, the song was released as the album's fourth single, along with an accompanying music video. It was serviced to adult album alternative radio stations in the United States on March 13, followed by addition to alternative radio stations in the country 15 days later.
Writing and composition Music
"Not Strong Enough" primarily falls within the genres of indie rock and folk rock. Writing for Stereogum, Tom Breihan called it a "twinkling headrush rocker". For Exclaim! and Clash, the song evoked the Laurel Canyon music scene of the early 1970s. Eric Mason of Slant Magazine and Lindsay Zoladz of The New York Times detected influences from pop music in the recording; Mason believed that the song exhibited "sly pop acumen" and Zoladz felt that it subverted tropes of the genre. Cat Zhang of Pitchfork and Jeremy Winograd of Slant Magazine described it as country pop, and Ben Beaumont-Thomas of The Guardian categorized it as pop rock. Chris Willman of Variety classified it as jangle pop, with Andrew Sacher of BrooklynVegan also finding similarities to the genre. Jon Pareles of The New York Times perceived it to contain influences from new wave, which he attributed to the "pumping, echoing" production. Alex Flood of NME described the final minute of the song as "punky". During interviews with Variety and The New York Times, the band said that the song was partially written for radio play and that they wanted the song to be catchy and enjoyable; Dacus believed that the results were unconventional for what was ultimately a successful radio single, and Bridgers felt that the band's artistic integrity had remained intact. Willman, Carl Wilson of Slate, and Rachel Syme of The New Yorker perceived the song to have commercial appeal, while Syme and Sacher compared it to early singles by Sheryl Crow.
"Not Strong Enough" is built on basic rock instrumentation of guitars, bass, and percussion, while also incorporating synthesizers. The song integrates acoustic and electric guitars, both of which are strummed. Allaire Nuss of Entertainment Weekly and Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times assessed the guitar riffs as possessing luminescent qualities. They sounded like chimes to Mark Savage of BBC Music. Angie Martoccio of Rolling Stone compared the song's guitarwork to the American musician Frank Black, having previously reported in a January 2023 cover story that Bridgers had partially drawn influence from Black during the songwriting process. Pareles posited that the song's bass lines provide counter-melodies against the guitars. Several critics commented that the percussion was high in energy and integral to the song; Rolling Stone and British GQ characterized the drumming as "chaotic" and "pounding", respectively, and PopMatters John Amen felt that the percussion had a "bouncy" aspect. The bass drum utilizes a four on the floor pattern according to Dacus. In an interview with Zan Rowe of the Australian radio station Double J, Marks recalled that, with mixing assistance from Sarah Tudzin, she used takes from two drummersAzar and Barbara Gruskato splice together the song's percussion. The synthesizers were compared to music of the 1980s by Kyle Petersen of No Depression and the American rock band the War on Drugs by John Vettese of WXPN. Nuss contrasted the cleanliness and warmth of the synthesizers and guitars with what she described as great turmoil at the heart of the song, comparing the effect to porcelain being "hurtled at a wall".
The song was the final to be completed for The Record. According to sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Hal Leonard Music Publishing, "Not Strong Enough" is set in common time at a tempo of 126 beats per minute and composed in the key of D♭ major. It opens with a repeatedly strummed suspended G♭ chord before following a chord progression of D♭–A♭sus4–E♭m7–B♭m in the verses, switching to a frequently modulating basic progression of G♭sus2–D♭–A♭–B♭m7 for the chorus. The vocals of Bridgers, Baker, and Dacus collectively span a range from the low note of F3 to the high note of D♭5. All three members take lead vocal duties at varying points in the song: Bridgers leads the first verse and chorus; Baker leads the second verse and chorus; and Dacus leads the bridge and final chorus. Bridgers and Baker sing their respective verses alone, with the rest of the group adding vocal harmonies during each chorus. A short instrumental interlude follows the second chorus, after which Dacus quietly sings solo with minimal musical accompaniment. Bridgers and Baker gradually join Dacus as the music builds intensity. The song reaches its climax near the end of the bridge, carried by "thundering instrumentation" according to NPR Music, as Baker's and Bridgers's voices raise drastically. The instruments abruptly but briefly quiet underneath the vocals, leading into the final chorus.
Lyrics
The lyrics of "Not Strong Enough" touch on issues like mental illness and resultant relationship dysfunction. The band explained the meanings of the song in a video interview with GeniusBridgers elucidated that the song was about using self-pity to escape the responsibility that comes with accountability, while Baker described the lyrics as expressing self-consciousness of one's abilities to do their part in a relationship but lacking the commitment to do so. Dacus responded to Bridgers and Baker by humorously labeling the song as "fuckboy-genius". Alex Hopper of American Songwriter surmised that the song was about an unhealthy relationship in which self-loathing and insincere apologies are used as leverage. Other critics determined aspects of gender roles while Gay Times Zoya Raza-Sheikh interpreted the lyrics to contain facets of feminism.
Bridgers's verse describes lacking the executive function capabilities to change clocks so that they display the correct time. Rick Quinn of PopMatters theorized this incapacitation to be the result of a panic attack. According to Rob Hakimian of Beats Per Minute, the verse's opening lines establish the overall mood of the song's lyrics, which Hakimian characterized as "dissociative". The philosopher Mihaela Frunzǎ described the depiction of a "black hole open[ing] in the kitchen" as emblematic of the protagonist's disorderly state of mind. Vulture and Flood Magazine summarized the verse as portraying the effects of depression on the perception of one's surroundings.
Baker's verse is about the prospect of a drag race ending in a lethal automobile accident. It namechecks the song "Boys Don't Cry" (1979) by the English rock band the Cure, which Alex Harris of Neon Music perceived to reference how people are expected by society to keep their emotions hidden. Quinn remarked that "Boys Don't Cry" shares its name with a 1999 film about Brandon Teena, a trans man who was slain in a hate crime; he suggested that Baker's verse contains a double entendre alluding to drag performers and anti-LGBT bigotry.