Phoebe Bridgers just announced another tour in 2022. I had the pleasure of seeing her on tour in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the fall of 2021 (she came to Raleigh as well), and I hope to catch her again on this new tour. Hearing her sing some of my favorite songs live from only a few feet away from her was an experience I will never forget. In light of her new tour, here are my top 5 Phoebe Bridgers songs:
5. Garden Song
This song will always hold a special place in my heart. A couple of years ago, Taylor Swift curated a playlist for Apple Music called “Playlist by ME!” in which she put Garden Song on. I had heard Phoebe Bridgers before this playlist but never took the time to listen to all of her music and get to know anything about her, only listening as background noise if it came on some other playlist or in a friend’s car. When I heard this song on the playlist that Taylor Swift made and realized that the song was by Phoebe Bridgers, I knew I just had to listen to a few more of her songs, which I did, but never really got into until a friend recommended her album Punisher. Bridgers says to Apple Music that the song is about dreams and manifesting, whether it be good thoughts becoming real or bad thoughts that you wish to ignore coming true.
4. Demi Moore
This song was one of my first favorites on Bridgers’ debut album, “Stranger in the Alps.” Essentially, the song is about getting high and sending nude photos to people. The title came from a misunderstanding when someone mistook her for saying “stoned Demi Moore” when in actuality, Bridgers said, “I don’t want to be stoned anymore,” which is the actual lyric in the song. She kept the title Demi Moore as a joke, and she claimed she got lazy when coming up with a different title.
3. Moon Song
This song is just so heartbreaking. It’s so sad sometimes that you feel like all you can do is hold your breath or cry. Or maybe even both sometimes. When listening to the song, it becomes apparent it is about a relationship in which she would do anything for her partner, even go as far as giving them the moon. To Apple Music, Bridgers admitted that the song was specific to a particular relationship she was in. When she reaches the line “you are sick, and you’re married, and you might be dying, but you’re holding me like water in your hands,” all I can do is scream those lyrics with everything in me. It almost feels like I experienced the same feelings as her when I shout it because of how specific some of her songs about this relationship are. I was unsure how I felt about the performance that has been linked below the first time I watched it. The violin in the beginning threw me off a bit as that is not in the song’s original recording, but as the song progressed, I ended up loving the performance, especially in the astronaut costume she is wearing.
2. Georgia
I have had Georgia on repeat as I write this, listening to it for the first time since seeing it live in September. The song’s very end when she sings, “if I fix you, will you hate me,” has to be my favorite part of the song, possibly my favorite part of any song ever. My favorite memory tied to this song has to be when I was driving in the rain (something I am absolutely terrible at) and crying (something that I for sure should not have been doing if I was trying to avoid an accident) all while listening to the second half of this song, of course followed by the crowd chanting “Georgia! Georgia! Georgia!” at her show, peer pressuring her to sing it. Below is my favorite video of Phoebe performing Georgia (it is many other people’s favorite performance of this song).
1. Chinese Satellite
The first time I listened to Punisher, I knew this song would be my favorite, which still holds true as I would consider this to be one of my favorite songs of all time. The buildup in this song got me hooked; the music is just so beautiful and had been like nothing I had listened to until that point. When she begins singing, “I want to believe, instead I look at the sky and I feel nothing,” is the exact moment I knew that this would be my favorite song for the rest of my life. The song is about her lack of faith but how she desires to believe in something, hence the line “I want to believe.” In an interview with Apple Music, Bridgers introduced the song by saying, “I have no faith—and that’s what it’s about.” This song has permanently cemented itself in my most streamed songs, taking its place at number 1 for the past two years.