With her debut album Stranger In The Alps and her 2020 sophomore effort Punisher, Phoebe Bridgers cemented her brand of cathartic songwriting. While her songs have become popular for their relatability, there were moments when the people around her were genuinely concerned about her music’s lyrical content — especially her mom.
The singer recently sat down with W Magazine to chat about the absurdity of hearing her music play during yoga class and growing up as a theater nerd. But she also touched on her vulnerable songwriting, saying her debut album was “so depressing” that her mom nearly intervened. “I play stuff for my mom and my friends,” she said. “After my first record, my mom thought she was going to have to intervene, because every song was so depressing. In fact, I probably needed that, but hey…”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Bridgers mentioned the dangers of building a musical identity around sad music:
“The whole narrative around catharsis is complex. Sometimes it can put you in a box, where you feel like you can’t write anything but heartfelt songs that offer an emotional release. The other day, Lucy Dacus posted this thing about how capitalism commodifies women’s pain. That being said, I started out by copying music that I loved—people like Elliott Smith and Merle Haggard, to name just two. When you write music, if it’s true, it’s useful. But if it starts to feel like you’re playing a character, I think it can get dangerous. Especially if that character is very, very sad.”
Punisher is out now via Dead Oceans. Get it here.