The 10 saddest songs by Phoebe Bridgers
After beginning her musical career as a member of Sloppy Jane in the early 2010s, Phoebe Bridgers started to work on solo music before releasing her debut studio album, Stranger in the Alps, in 2017. The record was received incredibly well, cementing Bridgers as one to watch for the future.
However, she took that title and smashed it to pieces. Following her stint in the trio Boygenius alongside Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, and the release of her second solo album, Punisher, it’s safe to say that Bridgers is one of indie rock’s biggest names and much more than just a hot prospect. Over the past few years, she has built a dedicated fanbase, praised for her relatable melancholic lyrics, intricate storytelling abilities and authenticity.
Bridgers has also collaborated with various high-profile artists so far, from Fiona Apple to The 1975, and has secured multiple nominations from prestigious awards ceremonies such as the Grammys. Online, the singer has become a poster artist for sad songs, known for her ability to write heart-shattering lyrics. In a recent episode of the Apple TV+ show Shrinking, starring Jason Segal and Harrison Ford, the former can be seen biking whilst Bridgers’ song ‘I Know The End’ plays, resulting in him saying, “Fuck you, Phoebe Bridgers” through tears before crashing into an open car door.
So, from the mellow ‘Motion Sickness’ to the nostalgic ‘Scott Street’ and the contemplative ‘Funeral’, here are ten of Bridgers’ saddest songs.
The 10 saddest songs by Phoebe Bridgers:
10. ‘Motion Sickness’
Appearing on her debut album, Stranger in the Alps, ‘Motion Sickness’ was Bridgers’ breakthrough hit and remains one of her most popular songs. As gravelly-sounding guitar opens up the track, Bridgers sings painful lines such as “I hate you for what you did/ And I miss you like a little kid” and “I can hardly feel anything at all”.
The song is all the more heartbreaking when you realise that Bridgers is singing about Ryan Adams, the musician that abused his position of power in the early stages of Bridgers’ musical career. She once referred to the song as about “being in love with someone who is super mean to you… like conflicted feelings”.
9. ‘Waiting Room’
Written when Bridgers was just 16, ‘Waiting Room’ does not appear on any of Bridgers’ studio albums, but it has become a fan favourite due to its depiction of desperately pining for someone. The folk-inspired track sees Bridgers declare, “If you were a waiting room, I would never see a doctor/ I would sit there with my first aid kit and bleed.”
The youthfulness of Bridgers’ voice reflects the innocence of her statements. She knows that the lengths she would go to for her desired person are not healthy, but that doesn’t stop her from fantasising about an impossible relationship.
8. ‘Garden Song’
As the lead single of Punisher, ‘Garden Song’ chronicles the “reoccurring nightmares [Bridgers has] on tour”. She also refers to real-life events, such as her childhood home catching fire – her parent’s relationship literally going up in flames a year before they divorced. Inspired by folk-rock, the track minimises instrumentation; instead, Bridgers’ voice dominates her dreams and fears.
In ‘Garden Song’, Bridgers proves that she can explore childhood nostalgia and growing up exceptionally well. The song uses clever metaphors to discuss growth. She sings: “Everything’s growing in our garden/ You don’t have to know that it’s haunted.”
7. ‘Moon Song’
Bridgers once described ‘Moon Song’ from Punisher as being about “the wanting-to-be-stepped-on feeling”. Over four minutes, Bridgers details a soul-crushing love in which she would attempt to do anything for them, even the impossible – such as giving them the moon. She details a tragic relationship where one doesn’t care how they get treated because, at least, they’re with you.
The mellow instrumentation allows Bridgers’ lyrics to pack an even greater punch as she sings: “You couldn’t have/ Stuck your tongue down the throat of somebody/ Who loves you more/ So I will wait for the next time you want me/ Like a dog with a bird at your door.”
6. ‘Killer’
On the piano ballad ‘Killer’, the eponymous track from her debut EP, Bridgers reckons with a fear of abandonment whilst contemplating her mortality. She sings a poignant verse: “But when I’m sick and tired/ And when my mind is barely there/ When a machine keeps me alive/ And I’m losin’ all my hair/ I hope you kiss my rotten head/ And pull the plug/ Know that I’ve burned every playlist/ And I’ve given all my love.”
Bridgers told Jezebel: “My song ‘Killer’ is entirely about toxic energy and toxic feelings, and I don’t think I’ve gotten bad [reception] from it, ever. People who come up to me and understand that [song], it isn’t like, ‘my toxic energy is affirmed!’ It’s like, ‘oh my god, I hate feeling controlling.'”
5. ‘Savior Complex’
‘Savior Complex’ is one of Bridgers’ most cinematic-sounding songs, employing tender strings, clarinet and plucky guitar to accompany her musings on possessing a saviour complex – seeking out those in need so that she can ignore her own problems.
The track feels warm yet incredibly melancholic, with Bridgers referring to it as a thematic sequel to ‘Moon Song’, writing (via Genius): “It’s like when you get what you asked for and then you’re dating someone who hates themselves.” She added: “Sonically, it’s one of the only songs I’ve ever written in a dream.”
4. ‘Smoke Signals’
On ‘Smoke Signals’, Bridgers reminisces on a past relationship, realising that she missed many moments when her significant other, later revealed to be her bandmate Marshall Vore, needed her. Delicately minimal instrumentation backs Bridgers’ memories as she sings: “The future’s unwritten, the past is a corridor/I’m at the exit, looking back through the hall.”
The song references late musicians such as Lemmy and David Bowie, and the rocketship noise that sounds as she sings, “It’s been on my mind since Bowie died”, is a sample from his 1977 song ‘Moss Garden’, taken from Heroes.
3. ‘Scott Street’
Even the most cold-hearted of people will surely struggle to listen to ‘Scott Street’ from Stranger in the Alps without feeling a painful pang of nostalgia for childhood lost. Although the song details the end of a relationship and subsequently running into a former flame, Bridgers incorporates themes of ageing into the narrative. She sings: “I asked you, ‘How is your sister?’/’I heard she got her degree’/ And I said, ‘That makes me feel old’.”
As the song reaches its final third, melancholic strings dominate the soundscape as Bridgers adds various evocative nostalgia-inducing sounds over the top, such as a subtle clown honk and bells.
2. ‘I Know The End’
The hypnotic ‘I Know The End’, Punisher’s closing track, begins with a mellow section wherein Bridgers laments the end of the world. However, as gentle strings sound, the track picks up its pace and explodes into a crashing of instruments and guttural, primal screams – making for a perfect end to an intensely emotional album.
Discussing the song with Genius, Bridgers explained: “The song is obviously a lot about the apocalypse, and I just thought of different subsets of people that would be affected by it. And the kids that hang out every day, surfing, when they finally go…I feel like you really know that shit’s going down.”
1. ‘Funeral’
‘Funeral’ is one of Bridgers’ most lyrically devastating cuts, and anyone feeling rather existential should probably listen with caution. The musician opens with the line, “I’m singin’ at a funeral tomorrow/ For a kid a year older than me”, before talking frankly about the inevitability of death, with Bridgers meditating on the fact that it doesn’t wait for anyone.
The song also delivers listeners with one of Bridgers’ most depressingly relatable lines, “Jesus Christ, I’m so blue all the time/ And that’s just how I feel/ Always have and I always will.” The singer told The Line of Best Fit. “I do think about dying a lot. I feel like a lot of my friends, especially artists, are consumed with this idea of the inevitability of death.”
