I’ve seen some friends shout out the handle @_fake_nudes_ on instagram, but I never paid much attention to it. I thought it was a meme account or some idiosyncratic fetish. But alas, it was none other than Phoebe Bridgers. I listened to “Garden Song” last week before doing any research on the angelic and chilling voice behind it. At first listen, I was locked in. Somewhere between the melody, gentle guitar, and lyricism, I found myself reminiscing on summers as a young child with family and friends. But, also my future, my desires and the narrative I’ve been telling myself while the film roles.
The song was inspired by her hometown as well as from a recurring nightmare she had on tour. It begs the question as stated by Jack Busch: “When we look at our own personal and spiritual growth, do we care how it was cultivated? That the present is built on destruction? Like the childhood home that went down in flames except for the notches in the doorway, perhaps it’s only the growth that matters. Perhaps we don’t have to examine too closely how we got there.” It is this vast dichotomy of growth and suffering in her lyricism which somehow inevitably intertwine that Bridgers’ eloquently calls our attention to.
Or maybe this interpretation is invalid and it has nothing to do with the evolution of the human spirit and overcoming perils, but is rather a jumble of words — scattered memories and nightmares of Bridgers. Or maybe the point is that the individual must create their own meaning from the muddle, and navigate the garden of uncertainty that is constantly in flux. The sensitive finger-picking played guitar which never reaches catharsis might just be for that reason, for the listener to reflect on their own story of self-realization and deceit inviting us to ask ourselves: is this the life you wanted?
Fun fact: The accompanying voice in the chorus is actually Bridgers’ tour manager. “He’s six foot seven. He’s a Dutch man named Jeroen. I realized he had the voice of an angel when he was singing Mitski with me in the van and he was two octaves below me,” she tells Zane Lowe in an interview.
Watch the Music Video for Phoebe Bridgers’ “Garden Song,” Below: