{"id":11789,"date":"2021-04-07T09:00:14","date_gmt":"2021-04-07T14:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/?p=11789"},"modified":"2021-04-07T09:07:51","modified_gmt":"2021-04-07T14:07:51","slug":"overanalyzing-your-new-boyfriend-by-wilbur-soot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/2021\/04\/07\/overanalyzing-your-new-boyfriend-by-wilbur-soot\/","title":{"rendered":"Overanalyzing “Your New Boyfriend” By Wilbur Soot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On December 11th, 2021, popular English content creator and songwriter Wilbur Soot released his sixth single, a fun, upbeat tune titled \u201cYour New Boyfriend.\u201d It is the third in a series that follows the protagonist, Lonely Boy\u2019s, infatuation with an e-girl, the prototypical version of which is a young woman who spends an atypical amount of time online–whether it be gaming, posting, cosplaying–and whose style is inspired from both European alternative and Asian street fashions. On the surface, this song appears to be an amusing, lighthearted track, perfect to belt out the lyrics to on a road trip with friends and head bang to the beat on the way to an afternoon class. Behind the comedic lyrics and unforgettable melodies, there lies the disturbing yet common story of an outcast finding solace in his obsession and parasocial relationship with a Twitch streamer. Littered with metaphors and allusions, Wilbur Soot charmed this intense cautionary into the minds of over two million unsuspecting listeners.<\/span><\/p>\n

Soot repeatedly references the age of Lonely Boy to characterize him as fixated and fanatic. In the first stanza, the narrator recalls, \u201cWhen I was a kid on VoIP \/ I thought when I get older \/ I\u2019d marry her, I told her \/ Now I\u2019m 26 and I work in an office.\u201d He alludes to VoIP, aka Voice over Internet Protocol, which is an older program used to make telephone calls from a computer. In the chorus, Lonely Boy says, \u201cOh, she\u2019s living the dream \/ From back when we were 17.\u201d These excerpts of the music tell the listener that his potent obsession has been brewing inside for nearly a decade and ultimately raises the stakes for the streamer\u2019s safety. He sings about the beautiful love he believes is shared between them, but in reality, he is a stalker desperate to fulfill his fantasy of having the perfect relationship with this woman. This is known as a parasocial relationship, where one person extends emotional energy while the other is completely unaware of his or her existence. Lonely Boy vents, \u201cYou hit it off instantly \/ I know \u2018cause you won\u2019t stop telling me.\u201d This relationship is entirely one-sided, so she\u2019s not intentionally communicating anything to him; because the setting of this story is their shared online space, the listener can assume that she is posting on social media about her boyfriend. Lonely Boy feels that she is telling him personally about her new relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lonely Boy is convinced that he is the only person who could make her happy, and that despite all of his flaws, he would be the ideal partner and provider. He says, \u201cI\u2019ve got the key and he\u2019s just a doormat \/ \u2018Cause even though he\u2019s got social skills \/ That doesn\u2019t mean I can\u2019t pay the bills.\u201d The writer uses the metaphor of the current boyfriend being a doormat to further Lonely Boy\u2019s perception that her relationship is a place for her to wipe her feet while traveling down the path of genuine connection, a path that leads to a door for which he exclusively holds the key.\u00a0 Despite his irritation with the situation, the tone of the song stays joyful, showing that he does not hold her accountable for the perceived mistakes she makes. Soot further unravels the delusions of the protagonist by introducing the fact that he feels attraction to the woman\u2019s partner. Towards the end of the song, Lonely Boy admits, \u201cI think about him a lot as well (I think about him) \/ Maybe if he wasn\u2019t fine as hell (he\u2019s really fine as hell.)\u201d He is so infatuated with this person that he favors all the things she does, including people, despite being neither romantically nor sexually attracted to men.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From the cheerful tone to the playful, strategically-placed adlibs, this song is ultimately disarming. Being a twitch streamer himself, Wilbur Soot understands that this is a serious issue that plagues female streamers. He utilizes figurative language to weave this chilling story into a bright, colorful basket that his fans would find easier to digest. Presented with the archetype of the lonely man, the popular woman, and her seemingly perfect partner, the listeners are given circumstances that they would typically find themselves chuckling at. Not everyone who streams the track takes the time to unpack the complex story behind it, but Soot has planted a subconscious seed of familiarity that will sound off alarm bells for those witnessing or operating in a similar situation.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On December 11th, 2021, popular English content creator and songwriter Wilbur Soot released his sixth single, a fun, upbeat tune titled \u201cYour New Boyfriend.\u201d It is the third in a series that follows the protagonist, Lonely Boy\u2019s, infatuation with an e-girl, the prototypical version of which is a young woman who spends an atypical amount … Continue reading “Overanalyzing “Your New Boyfriend” By Wilbur Soot”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11789"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11789"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11933,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11789\/revisions\/11933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}