The and a tutorial on how to play the main riff.
"I saw a flyer for a lost dog and the dog didn't have any legs" or "a giraffe with a short neck".
Standard pop progressions that make the song feel "safe" and familiar, which heightens the impact of the dark lyrics. Key Lyrics & Imagery The song relies on rapid-fire, increasingly absurd tragedy: Bo Burnham Sad
The song shifts when Bo describes watching an old man get hit by a train because he didn't warn him; he admits he just thought, "Oooh, this is gonna be sad," and then enjoyed the spectacle. The "Inside" Connection
Bo mentions a "homeless man named Rich" to poke fun at the irony of poverty and how society ignores it. The and a tutorial on how to play the main riff
The core joke of "Sad" is the subversion of empathy. Bo presents a series of tragic images—from "a depressed onion cutting itself" to "a homeless man named Rich"—and uses them as punchlines. By the end, he reveals himself as a "genius" not for feeling empathy, but for successfully turning suffering into a catchy song for profit. Key: C Major (the "simplest" and most common key in pop).
"Sad" is one of Bo Burnham’s most iconic tracks from his 2013 special, what. The song is a masterclass in musical comedy, using upbeat, poppy instrumentation to mask dark, absurdist humor that satirizes how we consume tragedy as entertainment. Key Lyrics & Imagery The song relies on
Available on the Just For Laughs YouTube channel.