Did Phoebe Bridgers really predict the future in ‘I Know the End’?
We all find comfort in burying our heads in the sand, allowing the world to seemingly pass by idly while we carry on with our lives in peaceful obliviousness. Forget wars, autocracies, and impending climate collapse, because in our own little microcosm, things are just fine – and to an extent, Phoebe Bridgers sees nothing wrong with that. But in her song ‘I Know the End’, there is also a euphoric embracing of oblivion, which might just prove to be the eye of the future.
Although Bridgers would have likely never imagined that she would be releasing her magnum opus tune – and album in the form of Punisher – at the height of a pandemic, there was something hugely emotionally prescient in the way it eerily resonated both within that timeframe and the years that followed, creating a dichotomy that simultaneously encompassed the notions of impending doom and complete joyous spontaneity.
Examining the video for the song gives the most sentient impression of this, as various stark images present Bridgers as a musician who is very much in tune with her surroundings, but who can also make her songs transport to different times. She begins by lying in a bathtub, then progressing to washing her hands in what transpires to be a black, tar-like substance. From these early images alone, the idea of teetering on the edge of something unknowably dangerous is quickly established – and it’s only going to get more manic from here.
Yet as the song progresses, a turning point is eventually reached in realising that doom is not the total inevitability in the state of the world. Bridgers picks up and takes a bite out of an apple – possibly a poisoned one? – which could be a metaphor for knowingly indulging in your own downfall but embracing it anyway. From that point forward, the tone markedly lifts, not least in the lyric, “Driving out into the sun,” which displays an intentional oblivion despite conspiracies of “government drones, or an alien spaceship.”
In this sense, Bridgers has finally found a space of utopia despite the chaos ensuing around her. In the opening of ‘I Know the End’, she reflects that she will “close my eyes, fantasise, three clicks and I’m home,” referencing, of course, the magical land of Oz. But indeed, that land is not just a fragment of the imagination; it can be created here if we want it to, and this is what the song represents in its own maddening, climactic way.
As Bridgers culminates the video by kissing an older woman on the lips, there is a rush of exhilaration, not to mention the symbolism that is left in its wake. The troubles of the past have been passed down to the present, and the idea begins to emerge that despite the tumult and disorder of the landscape surrounding us, sometimes the best thing to do is just live in spite of it. Yes, the world is terrifying, but why not embrace every day before our time is up?
It seems that although ‘I Know the End’ was perceived as terrifyingly resonant when it was released in 2020, there is something within its ethereal power that will transcend any kind of time, space or situation. We may have thought we were nearing the end half a decade ago, but alas, we are still here, so it’s better to take a leaf out of Bridgers’ book and just keep moving on the ride while we can.
