Everything is Kinda Meh Lyrics – Beetlejuice

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

1. Act II concept opener from the show’s development period, performed by a dead boy band called Boy Inferno.
2. Replaced in the final Broadway version by "What I Know Now" for Miss Argentina.
3. Official audio appears on the 2020 compilation "Beetlejuice: The Demos The Demos The Demos."
4. No commercial single or radio push - it functions as worldbuilding and tonal setup.
5. On stage chronology - it would have greeted Lydia in the Netherworld before the scene reshaped in later drafts.

Creation History

The piece was written by Eddie Perfect during the show’s D.C. to Broadway evolution. In Washington D.C. previews, the number introduced the Netherworld with a satirical boy-band welcome. Following audience split and story focus shifts, the creative team opted for Miss Argentina’s showcase to carry the Act II handoff. According to Playbill, Perfect has described how the Boy Inferno cue gave way to "What I Know Now" after revisiting the film’s processing-scene hook and refocusing the tone.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

Lydia lands in the Netherworld and is greeted by Boy Inferno - a once-charting outfit who died in a fiery plane crash. They pitch the afterlife as radically average: no highs, no lows, buses on time, coffee terrible, The Gap for everyone. It is a cheery orientation that quietly drains the room of stakes. In the show’s final form, Miss Argentina delivers that orientation with sharper character logic.

Song Meaning

The track is a gag turned thesis - a bubblegum portrait of eternal sameness. The joke is how boredom becomes the punch. The music leans into boy-band tropes and call-and-response banter while the lyric catalogs an afterlife so even-keeled it becomes a warning. As stated in Playbill’s feature on the score, the earlier Act II approach felt dated compared with the Miss Argentina pivot, which injected danger, drive, and a more specific worldview.

Annotations

The album notes and fan-facing summaries line up with what you hear - a guided tour built for exposition. Boy Inferno’s backstory as a group lost to flames is a mordant wink to their name. The writing lets throwaway details do heavy lifting: minimum wage forever, weather small talk, no bears, no one’s name remembered. According to BroadwayWorld’s demo rollout, the track sits late in the compilation, nestled beside cuts that sketch alternate routes the musical almost took.

Genre and feel

A bright, hooky boy-band pastiche with tight harmony stacks and ad-libs, played straight enough to sell the bit. That sugar rush makes the lyric’s "average forever" idea land. As stated in a 2020 review round-up, the demos show Perfect testing pop sub-genres to find the neatest vessel for each scene’s job.

Emotional arc

Start - novelty welcome. Middle - banter turns into a rulebook. End - the thesis sets in: eternity as middle management. The comedy is dry, the groove unbothered, which is the point.

Touchpoints

Development drafts for Act II, Boy Inferno as a narrative device, and the later switch to Miss Argentina’s number. The contrast between this track and "What I Know Now" charts the show’s sharpening of tone - from ambient satire to character-driven counsel.

Key Facts

• Artist: Eddie Perfect
• Featured: Boy Inferno concept voices in narrative context
• Composer: Eddie Perfect
• Producer: Ghostlight Records release team for the demo album
• Release Date: October 30, 2020
• Genre: Pop pastiche, Broadway-adjacent
• Instruments: Rhythm section, stacked vocals, programmed elements
• Label: Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records
• Mood: breezy, sardonic
• Length: approximately 4:01
• Track #: 21 on "Beetlejuice: The Demos The Demos The Demos"
• Language: English
• Album: Beetlejuice: The Demos The Demos The Demos
• Music style: boy-band harmony with comic patter
• Poetic meter: mixed lyric meter with pop backbeat phrasing

Canonical Entities & Relations

• Eddie Perfect - wrote and performs the demo; composer-lyricist of the musical’s score.
• Boy Inferno - fictional boy band who deliver the orientation within the song’s narrative.
• Miss Argentina - character who inherits the Act II opener function in the final show via "What I Know Now."
• Ghostlight Records - released the demo compilation.
• Sh-K-Boom Records - imprint associated with the 2020 release.
• Beetlejuice - Broadway musical produced by Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures.

Questions and Answers

Where would this number land in the show?

At the top of Act II as Lydia arrives in the Netherworld, functioning as an orientation sequence.

Who replaced Boy Inferno in the final version?

Miss Argentina, with "What I Know Now," which threads character voice with a sharper message.

Is there an official recording?

Yes - the studio demo is on "Beetlejuice: The Demos The Demos The Demos" from October 30, 2020.

Did the track chart or get a single release?

No - it is a demo release cut from the stagebook, not a marketplace single.

Why was it swapped out?

According to Playbill’s interview feature, the Boy Inferno idea felt dated and the team pivoted to a Miss Argentina showcase with clearer thematic bite.

Who are Boy Inferno?

A tongue-in-cheek boy band who died in a plane crash, used in development as comic tour guides to the afterlife.

What does the lyric argue about the afterlife?

That eternity is flat - safe, tidy, and numbing. The bright pop wrapper sells the bleak joke.

Is the piece performed live now?

Not in the standard production. It survives in the demo release and occasional archival performance clips.

Awards and Chart Positions

This track has no chart history or single release. The parent musical earned significant recognition in 2019 - nominations across the Tony Awards and wins at the Outer Critics Circle for scenic design. According to Playbill’s awards rollups and contemporaneous coverage, the show gathered eight Tony nominations including Best Musical and Best Original Score.

Additional Info

On the 2020 demo set, this cut sits near "What I Know Now" and other alternates, which lets you hear the fork in the road. The swap sharpened character POV without losing the netherworld tour. As stated by Playbill, Perfect clocked that the Miss Argentina line in the film did a cleaner job of handing the audience into Act II, so the team built around that. Also worth a listen - the commentary uploads where Perfect introduces the demos in sequence.

Sources: Playbill; BroadwayWorld; Apple Music; Spotify; Ghostlight Records YouTube.