Like many artists, Phoebe Bridgers’ lyrics aren’t always direct, so sometimes it takes a bit of thought to figure out what she means. Sometimes, though, the meaning can seem more poetic than literal or informed by inside information, which leaves fans wondering what exactly it is she’s talking about. Last night, Bridgers decided to indulge her followers by hosting an impromptu Q&A on Twitter to explain her lyrics. At one point, she took a jab at Ryan Adams.
A fan on Twitter asked Bridgers if they “could get together and u could tell me what ur lyrics mean,” to which Bridgers replied, “comment a lyric and I’ll tell you exactly what it means.”
One person asked about the “Motion Sickness” lyric, “You gave me fifteen hundred / To see your hypnotherapist / I only went one time, you let it slide,” asking, “I would just like to know who I can see who will give me $1,500 to see their hypnotherapist but I only have to go one time please and thank you.” Bridgers answered, “Ryan Adams. Do not recommend.” Bridgers has spoken out about Adams before and previously disclosed the song was written about him.
Bridgers answered a lot of other fan questions as well, so check out the tweets below or here.
comment a lyric and I’ll tell you exactly what it means https://t.co/PMMzsiRlZP
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
like I don’t want you to keep me alive if I’m brain dead in the hospital
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
we took MDMA
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
even though you have no personality other than your drug addiction you are hot and cool
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
I’m going to be a new person when I get this attractive person to like me
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
it’s a joke Conor’s old tour manager used to make when they were in Europe, they’d get off the bus and wherever they were he’d say “I hate this part of Texas”
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
I broke into Huntington Gardens in Pasadena with @lukasscottfrank and his cute friends and they smoked weed and I was like I want to be cool
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
it used to be you are anonymous I am a firewall… like the hackers
@marshallvore stopped me thank god
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
YES !
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
no idea that shit is a lie
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
I wanted to tour until I started touring
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
literally anorexia lol
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
someone said that to me while I was getting a colonic
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
probably Sam Hunt or Jason Aldean but can’t remember
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
I was in Japan so I ate like a hundred of those little rice triangle things
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
plagiarizing Elliott Smith is the copycat killer part (like when people copy serial killers for the media attention) and chemical cut because I bleach my hair and it’s so fried I never have to cut it
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
like in dreams when you can’t speak for some reason
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
being pushed into the deep end of a pool, but instead someone made you love them and you weren’t prepared
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
just because you love John Lennon you can’t defend his character (domestic violence)
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
it’s about a relationship I had when I was 16 and I straight up thought I was going to marry everyone I ever kissed
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
Elliott used to live in one of the Snow White cottages in LA, so I’m imaging he actually lived with her. He is just as much of a fictional character to me because he died before I heard his music.
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
shit in a sandbox
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
I did MDMA with someone who ate a bunch of saltines after because their stomach hurt
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
the moral dilemma in writing sad songs is like do you really want to put that shit into the world if you believe in manifesting and stuff
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
Yeah I had a crush on someone who lives next to a nazi and used to joke about just killing him and burying him in the garden. Originally it had this whole thing about making out on top of the unmarked grave but it was Very Stupid
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
secrets, and nudes
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
I wonder if he believed the lyrics of the songs he sung, but also I wonder if he believed stealing songs from black people was bad karma
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
Exactly. We were in Chicago. This was before the screaming. pic.twitter.com/PK771FuSs3
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
it was 300 dollars for one hour, I was a half hour late, so technically 300 for a half hour, and I was trying not to laugh and fell asleep
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
picking someone up from the airport and the horny drive home before you have sex
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
yes !
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
Conor wrote that whole thing on mushrooms when @chrisleehutson and I were talking about how all our musical heroes are broke
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
yes, and the military metric, and like clicking on your phone
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
actually 25mph
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
I’m such an Elliott Smith fan that whenever I meet “industry” people they tell me their Elliott stories, and they’re usually from seeing him at the Silverlake Lounge
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
I tried to be a person who jogged once
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
Ryan Adams. Do not recommend.
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020
Driving around looking for actual stars in the sky, and also the buses you can ride in Hollywood that take you to celebrities houses
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) November 11, 2020