Phoebe Bridgers is a burgeoning rock icon.
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The 28-year-old California-born rocker, who is known both as a solo performer and as part of the trio, boygenius, has earned four Grammy nominations to date, including Best New Artist.
Bridgers released her solo debut LP, Stranger in the Alps, in 2017 and the acclaimed Punisher in 2020. Boygenius released a self-titled EP several years ago and the group releases its debut full-length this week.
But what does the talented musician have to say outside of her music about life and love, her craft, and the world at large? What are her thoughts on these subjects when not expressed in lyrics?
Let’s dive into the 22 best Phoebe Bridgers quotes.
1. “Me writing sad songs doesn’t mean I am a sad person.”
2. “I wanted to talk about how stupid music is. I wanted to talk about how awesome music is, how depressing it is, and why we all make music if it doesn’t last forever.”
3. “There is nothing more useless than an album that you don’t feel strongly about, out in the world.”
4. “We’re all guilty of slacktivism, or of feeling like a savior for taking two seconds of your day to think about someone else.”
5. “Sometimes I just need somebody to tell me a bunch of ideas I don’t like so that I can figure out what it is I actually want.”
6. “I feel like in pop music and even indie music, there’s this weird thing where women have been pitted against each other.”
7. “I love women in suits.”
8. “You look at Taylor Swift, and every ‘i’ is dotted, every story is finished.”
9. “Doing stuff on my own terms and making a record without being signed to a label—I credit that all to my commercial work.”
10. “Whenever I write songs, it’s my outlet for a certain feeling. I just don’t as often feel compelled to write when I’m not really sad about something, or wanting to sort through something dark.”
11. “I love going on walks and talking to people.”
12. “Once in a blue moon I’ll have some sort of concept song or it will be about a bunch of different things, but yeah, it’s all from experiences.”
13. “A lot of my close friends are musicians and are consumed by the idea of death; their heads are like a torture chamber. I’m not like that—I don’t have death anxiety and I don’t think about it all the time.”
14. “The more specific you are about a very general feeling of loneliness is actually how you connect with people.”
15. “I’m not afraid to have a really weird idea or, you know, take a really bad guitar solo.”
16. “If you’re saying you’re epically depressed in a song, you better be able to back it up. You better be able to talk about it in a smart way with someone who comes up to you after a show and is looking for help.”
17. “I was actually with Conor Oberst on tour, and we were walking down the street getting a coffee. I walked into a random hipster-y coffee shop and I heard my own song, and I was so stoked.”
18. “Because I write what I feel the most heavy about. So if there is one day of the week when I feel completely crushed by existential dread, I’ll end up writing about it, not the great day I had at the park with my friends. I hope it resonates with people—and it does, with some.”
19. “People are realizing that vulnerability isn’t a weakness, and the rise of mental health-related humor is making vulnerability feel like a strength.”
20. “Sadness can feel so unproductive.”
21. “None of my family are musicians, but there was a lot of classic rock and country going on. I always wanted to sing. As soon as I expressed an interest my mom was super supportive of me.”
22. “When I’m writing, I try to think about what would make a song better before worrying about personal opinions.”
Photo by Tina Benitez-Eves
