The mystic meaning behind Phoebe Bridgers’ ‘Lost Boys’
In the music video for ‘Lost Boys’, the lead single from her highly anticipated upcoming third album Lost Weekend, Phoebe Bridgers appears as an elven creature, twirling a sword in mid-air as she wears a floor-length blue medieval gown, her hair adorned with silver jewellery that acts as a headband and pointed elf ears.
In scenes reminiscent of a Renaissance fair, she is surrounded by people suited in armour. She then rides on the back of a motorcycle, and sings, “On a motorbike, doing 90 in a 55 to another life”, or stands in the centre as people joust bloodied, or wistfully smokes a cigarette.
“Lost boys never grow up, never go home,” she sings in the chorus, “Lost boys never spend their lunch money”, and later, she declares, “Lost boys, find me”, holding her sword in the air and waving a blue flag. As the story continues, we see that Bridgers is something of a reigning queen among lost souls, Peter Pan-like, all of whom congregate in the forest to initiate a new member, played by actor Skyler Gisondo (a beam of light projects from Bridgers to him, and into the sky, at the count of a “one, two, three, scream”, before everyone dances under a disco ball).
The concept itself is slightly bizarre, leaning into the mystical as a live-action depiction of a video game, with its lyrics referring to adolescence, escapism and reflecting on the past. She returns to the pre-chorus of “This machine is killing me / I pretended it was make believe”, anchoring the song in a fantasy world. In short, ‘Lost Boys’ is exactly what you’d expect from Bridgers: sonically, it is reminiscent of her classic songs, while leaving room for the entirety of Lost Weekend to be somewhat open-ended, a fantasy of its own.
Six years since her last solo album, 2020’s Punisher, Bridgers’ return has been awaited with bated breath, her stature as one of indie folk’s saviours largely unwavering. She reminds us of where she has been in the inclusion of her boygenius bandmates Julian Baker and Lucy Dacus on vocals, alongside composer Caroline Shaw.
A large cast of musicians follow: Alex G plays on the drums and features in voice memo, while Bright Eyes’ Nate Walcott plays the trumpet, Blake Mills plays synths, Chris Thile plays mandolin, Christian Lee Hutson plays acoustic guitar, and Jack Antonoff is everywhere, from the electric guitar and synths to the drums and vocoder.
Bridgers manages to sometimes ground ‘Lost Boys’ in reality, where in one verse, she recalls a tantrum thrown by someone that resulted in a broken rib; the person confesses to Bridgers that they wish they were dead, which she does not believe. “I still wonder how you’re sleeping,” she hums, and with a cool remove, “And I don’t feel bad, but I’m sorry”. Such echoes the frank lyricism that Bridgers often wields, albeit with pop hooks that lend ‘Lost Boys’ a lighter tone.
Bridgers then furthers the mystical in honing the world of ‘Lost Boys’ as an immersive experience. On her website, for instance, is the ‘Lost Boys’ video game and an accompanying ringtone. Fans become the singer, riding on the back of a knight’s motorcycle as they collect coins and dodge trolls on the road. With this, she balances the mystical in modernity: in the video, she pulls up to a gas station and makes a purchase in its store, but it also shows knights jousting in a car lot, and on Instagram, she revealed a tarot pull of The Star, Strength and The Devil, upside down.
If ‘Lost Boys’ is an ode to a potential reprieve found in reverting to our youth (the bridge, for example, hears her sing, “In a twin bed / Where all will be forgiven in an instant / Hands in each other’s hair / We are born again”), then the song poses the mystical as a possible answer to existential crises. Surely, the track is only an exciting taste of what the world of Lost Weekend will have to offer.
