Not Strong Enough

"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''. Written by all three members of Boygenius—Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus—"Not Strong Enough" is an indie rock and folk rock song that incorporates elements of numerous genres. Its lyrics primarily concern mental illness and the effects it can have on relationships, with a focus on a narrator experiencing contradictory mental states of self-loathing and self-importance. Music critics also analyzed aspects of gender roles and feminism in the lyrics.

Commercially, the song appeared on several 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, and is certified silver in the United Kingdom. The song was acclaimed by music critics, many of whom lauded the lyrics. Multiple publications deemed it one of the best songs on ''The Record'' and of 2023. 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 song's music video chronicles the band spending a day together in various locations around Los Angeles County; it 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 an extended play (EP), ''Boygenius'', in October of that year. Each musician then worked on their solo projects, releasing their respective albums—''Punisher'' by Bridgers, ''Little Oblivions'' by Baker, and ''Home Video'' by Dacus—over the course of 2020 and 2021. 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", which was later released as a single and as the third track on ''The Record'', originated during this period; Bridgers sent a demo of the song to Dacus and Baker, believing that it felt more fitting for a full band than a solo recording. The three decided to start 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 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.

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 2023 Coachella 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", "True Blue", and the aforementioned "Emily I'm Sorry". According to Bridgers, the album's first half consists of songs which were near completion by the time she, Baker, and Dacus shared them with each other; the second half is informed by the album's creative process itself, as well as the bond shared by the three band members. 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—while Tyler Golsen of '' Far Out'' found elements of country music; Cat Zhang of ''Pitchfork'' and Jeremy Winograd of ''Slant Magazine'' explicitly 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

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