Like a Boss

While initially seeming like a simple, fun song, I quickly discovered that there is more than meets the eye -- or should I say ear to "Like A Boss"? There are a number of slight nuances throughout the song that give the listener a much deeper view into the inner turmoil plaguing singer in this song, Andy Samberg.

To the unwary listener, Andy Samberg seems to be a boss. The key here is that he is in fact NOT a boss, but rather simply like one. Is he really like a boss, though? Sure enough, initially he seems to be doing some slightly boss-like things. He is taking care of his business, just as a boss would. Assuming he's a boss, then, Deborah would be his secretary. After he tries to hit on her and is rejected, though, he loses out on a chance to be promoted... suddenly the listener realizes that he is not really a boss. His "sending faxes" become more clear -- if he were a boss, his secretary Deborah would be doing meaningless tasks like that! It comes to light, then, that Deborah is more likely a coworker. His attempt at being "like a boss" and hitting on Deborah clues the listener into his hamartia -- he thinks he is like a boss when he really is not.

I reiterate, Andy Samberg begins by doing some very "bossesque" things. Really, though, are these actions performed by someone who is a boss? The listener realizes that these tasks are, in actuality, for people under a boss. Perhaps these are tasks that an unknowing worker would -think- a boss does. Even assuming that Andy is acting as he thinks a boss should act (regardless of whether or not his ideas of a boss' work are correct or false), he quickly tumbles into a series of actions unbecoming of any boss. This series of actions occurs after his fall, which occurs only due to his previously mentioned tragic flaw. This fall clearly mirrors the fall of mankind, the fall of Adam. Adam, in his own way, thought he was acting "like a boss" when he did the one thing that the "Boss" said not to do -- eat from the tree of knowledge. Andy Samberg acts very unlike a boss, and suffers the downward spiral of consequences.

Perhaps the most telling detail of the song is the continued refrain of "like a boss." Does Andy really think he is still like a boss? Blinded by his own ambition and pride (hubris, even), Andy never realizes that he is as "unbossly" as one can be. Indeed we discover Andy Samberg's true weakness throughout this song. He is so stubborn that he never escapes that cave to see real knowledge -- he is forever staring at the shadows on the wall. He is forever thinking that he is "like a boss."