It’s rare for an album to make me stop and feel everything the artist is trying to say, but Lost Weekend does exactly that. Every song comes with its own clear story and heartfelt emotions. Phoebe Bridgers makes these stories feel personal, even though they aren’t my own. In 2017, Bridgers made her musical debut by releasing Stranger in the Alps, one of the most heartbreaking albums I’ve ever heard, due to its themes of self-pity, abandonment, and loneliness. Following this album was Punisher, released in 2020. Six years later, Bridgers has returned with Lost Weekend, a 16-track album that explores love, grief, and the complicated emotions that come with relationships.
When fans analyzed why Bridgers took this long to release an album, most thought it was because she wanted to focus on her collaboration with two other amazing artists, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, in their supergroup Boygenius. Turns out, they were right! Boygenius, after not releasing music since their debut EP in 2018, released a sensational album in 2023, the record. After a year of touring with this band, fans expected her to work on releasing new music within her solo career. Only two short years later, Bridgers announced this extraordinary album, Lost Weekend.
While every track on Lost Weekend tells its own story, two of my favorites, “The Governor’s Waltz” and “Bobby,” stand out to me because they explore two completely different sides of love in romantic relationships.
“The Governor’s Waltz”
“The Governor’s Waltz” is one of my absolute favorite songs on the album. This song is telling the story of Bridgers being in a relationship that was killing her, in a way. In my interpretation of this song, she’s writing about her relationship with Paul Mescal. She writes, “…let’s see how long we can go without touching / Why don’t you sing me to sleep? / I know you’d never actually think about jumping / But do it for me.” These lyrics present a feeling of hopelessness within her relationship, and a sense of being stuck. Even though she isn’t happy, she couldn’t bring herself to end the relationship. She wishes he would end it for her, but she knows he loves her too much to leave.Â
This feeling gets reinforced by the lyrics, “I’m next to you, you’re next to nothing / You promised that you’d never leave / But maybe you’ll do it for me.” She knows she doesn’t treat him well, but he still wants to stay.Â
By the final chorus of the song, she seems to finally be free. She addresses his new girlfriend, who I interpret as Gracie Abrams, and says, “…she can pretend to be me / Since she took my place in my bed on that stage / I have not lost any sleep / Being myself wasn’t easy / Do it for me.” She doesn’t miss that relationship, but there’s still some part of her that can’t stand back and watch another girl go through the same thing.Â
“Bobby”
“Bobby” is one of the more upbeat songs on this album. This song is about Bridgers’ current relationship with Bo Burnham. It’s all about the infatuation that comes with being in a new relationship. She writes, “Now you’re walking around with my heart on your sleeve / I am right here, bleeding.” These lyrics show how much control Bobby has over her emotions and how vulnerable she is to him.
Even though this relationship is new and exciting, it feels like they’ve been together forever. She writes, “So you followed me home, like you did it before / … / And if you didn’t like either one of my friends / I’d kill them, I’d kill them.” While these lyrics sound morbid, I see them as an extreme exaggeration of the intensity that comes with infatuation.Â
She concludes with, “Bobby / This could be the end of wanting / I exist only if you’re watching.” Unlike “The Governor’s Waltz,” where she feels trapped in a relationship, “Bobby” shows her feeling completely overtaken by love. The repeated line, “This could be the end” takes on a positive meaning. Instead of the ending being something sad, Bridgers is showing that the time she has spent searching for “the one” has finally ended.Â
Worth The Wait
After six years of waiting, Lost Weekend was so incredibly worth it. Bridgers shows just how different and complicated love can be, depending on the person you’re sharing it with. One relationship can leave you feeling trapped and hopeless, while another can make you feel completely overtaken by love. Through Lost Weekend, Bridgers beautifully captures both sides of that experience. If you’re looking for new music to make you truly feel something, there’s no album I could recommend more!