My final Phoebe Bridgers selection is her cover of one of the most insightful and poignant works of art to come out of the pandemic: Bo Burnham’s ‘That Funny Feeling.’
Burnham is the talented multi-hyphenate who wrote and directed the film Eighth Grade. He got his start posting comedic songs on YouTube and eventually released several albums of his material. In 2021, he dropped the comedy special Inside, which he conceived and produced without a cast or crew during the Covid pandemic.
Phoebe Bridgers’ annual Christmas release started with traditional fare. She kicked things off in 2017 with a lovely version of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,’ then released a duet of ‘Christmas Song’ with Jackson Browne, and a cover of the Simon & Garfunkel track ‘7 O’Clock News / Silent Night’ with Fiona Apple.
Her next three were solemn tales that happened to be set around the holiday: Merle Haggard’s ‘If We Make it Through December,’ The Handsome Family’s ‘So Much Wine‘ (which I posted on Tuesday), and today’s track, Tom Waits’ ‘Day After Tomorrow.’
I read one Phoebe Bridgers’ fan complaining that today’s song, ‘Sidelines,’ is too upbeat. I had to laugh once I listened to it.
Perhaps that fan was referring to the lyrics, which do find Bridgers in a more optimistic place than she usually occupies. But musically, this sounds right in line with the rest of her sadly gorgeous (or gorgeously sad) discography.
An artist as melancholy as Phoebe Bridgers is bound to have a penchant for Christmas music, the most melancholy holiday music of all. And sure enough, Bridgers has as annual tradition of releasing a new tune each Christmas, with proceeds benefiting the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
She might have been too busy in recent years because the tradition paused after the 2022 release of ‘So Much Wine,’ her sixth straight Christmas cover. This one was originated in 2000 by husband/wife alt-country duo The Handsome Family.
Phoebe Bridgers has a well-earned reputation for making any song sound like the saddest thing you’ve ever heard.
Case in point: this cover of The Cure’s 1992 jangle pop classic ‘Friday I’m in Love.’ Bridgers recorded this track as part of Spotify Singles, a series that has artists pair a reimagining of an original song with a cover.
Her love for the song traces back to hearing it on her childhood iPod Shuffle and writing the lyrics in a school notebook.
Meet Me In Montauk 