Phoebe Bridgers is an American singer-songwriter whose music is often described as being indie-rock in style but simultaneously a performative experience in its own respective way. Bridgers’ music can be considered a melancholic approach to everyday mundane experiences, almost teetering on a gothic approach to life itself. She uses her dissonant voice, production creativity, and incredible storytelling ability to bring her message to life.
Her song titled “I Know The End”, off her 2020 album Punisher, is nothing short of a musical masterpiece as the combination of the instruments, vocals, production, and lyricism come together to form a true experience that demonstrates the weight of the world on our shoulders. Originating from a painful breakup, the song took a natural course toward a post-breakup depression that turned into an everyday depression. Bridgers toured during this painful moment in her life, and the depression became an everyday friend of hers. The song turns existential as it becomes all-consuming, leaving our minds spiraling and wailing in a sort of acceptance of the state of the human race and our inescapable race to the end: death. It’s a mournful composition that exposes the true terror and pain behind our purpose as a form of existential crisis. It's incredibly real, raw, and true to the extent and delivery that pain can be. Bridgers screams towards the end of the song, building it into a loud crescendo of instruments battling towards the end, all compiling and toppling, fighting against her painful wails that make the hairs on your arms stand up. Then, suddenly, we reach the end as the music trails off, and we're left with Bridger's unsettling heavy breathing, putting the pain experienced as the last and final message to be understood.
From her 2017 album Stranger in the Alps, "Funeral" tackles the pain of experiencing loss, grief, and existential crises. The song illustrates the fear behind death, especially a young death. Bridgers sang for a young person's funeral and guided us through the emotional turmoil she can't seem to separate herself from. The song tackles ideas of mental health as well and she communicates how alone, unseen, and unheard she feels. "And I have this dream where I'm screaming underwater/ While my friends are waving from the shore," are lyrics that truly represent what it's like to be "drowning in silence." She's stuck in a limbo of sadness, fear, and uncertainty, not knowing how to save herself from it all as everyone around her is able to heal and grow. Bridgers touches on coping mechanisms, both healthy and unhealthy as she is able to confide in a friend just as much as she confides in alcohol as she drinks herself into unconsciousness. It's real, raw, and even uninviting due to how honest she is being. It's an ugly truth: it's her truth.
Bridgers doesn't shy away from honesty as everything she releases is not only a lyrical masterpiece but an authentic representation of some form of her human-lived experience. Jam-packed with grit, sorrow, and angst that truly leaves you breathless by the end of every song, her music does not disappoint.
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