Analysing ‘Moon Song’ by Phoebe Bridgers

 by Anya Shankar

I often think of music like I think of poetry. Sometimes they can be one and the same. Phoebe Bridgers’ lyricism can very much read like poetry and I find myself automatically starting to unpick her lyrics when I listen to her music. 

One of my favourite songs of hers is ‘Moon Song’, the seventh track from her 2020 album Punisher, which evokes vivid images accompanied by melancholy guitar strums and sombre harmonies. ‘Moon Song’ unravels a relationship in turmoil, playing on the idea of giving up oneself in a relationship for the benefit of the other, but falling to pieces when it falls apart. The song describes the crushing feeling of wanting to give everything to a person just so they will acknowledge you, with the hope that they will love you. 

Bridgers opens the song with; 

You asked to walk me home

But I had to carry you

And you pushed me in

And now my feet can't touch the bottom of you

In a literal sense, Bridgers may be referring here to a night out with her partner, who is intoxicated. Her partner offers to take care of her, wanting to walk her home, but she is the one who ends up having to take care of them. Bridgers suggests a kind of one-sided relationship, in which, even though her partner wants to care for her, Bridgers is always the one giving more of herself and carrying the weight of both of them. ‘You pushed me in’ could refer to a metaphorical swimming pool, a few of Bridgers’ songs have a nautical theme as we will return to. The act of physically being pushed into a pool could be an allegory for how the speaker fell in love; unprepared and all at once. The speaker relays how she feels like she doesn’t know her partner, ‘my feet can't touch the bottom of you’, but she is surrounded by her own deep love for this person, it is almost like she is drowning in it. 

Bridgers moves on to the pivotal point of betrayal:

You couldn't have, you couldn't have

Stuck your tongue down the throat of somebody

Who loves you more

The repetition of ‘you couldn’t have’ suggests the speaker's mindless denial of what had occurred, coaxing herself into delusion, not wanting to believe it due to her immense feelings for this person. Bridgers describes the act of kissing as almost forceful and invasive as if to help her convince herself that what happened, didn't. This could further reflect her falling into love, as blind serendipity. She had thought her love was boundless, but her partner had found someone ‘who loves you more’. Coupled with the repetition, Bridgers states that they couldn't have found anyone who felt as strongly as she does because she loves them the most. 

Bridgers follows with an inauspicious simile:

So I will wait for the next time you want me

Like a dog with a bird at your door

The simile illustrates the way that a dog brings a dead bird to its owner as a gift, one that is morbid and uncomfortable, representing the way that she feels she would give her lover anything in the hopes they will give her the greatest gift; to love her back. Moreover, a dog represents a classic symbol of loyalty and devotion, amplifying her need to win her partners love and respect. By saying ‘I will wait’, she knows that she only receives attention in conditional forms and is not willing to give up the relationship, even when she knows she should. 

The fourth chorus depicts a dream the speaker has:

But now I am dreaming, and you're singing at my birthday

I've never seen you smiling so big

It's nautical themed, and there's something I'm supposed to say

But can't for the life of me remember what it is

Bridgers paints a picture here, surrounded by her family and friends, dimly lit by the candles on her birthday cake. In her waking life, she is desperate for her lover to be happy but the fact that this only happens in her dream suggests that the person is never satisfied with her, she has never even seen them ‘smiling so big’. We circle back to the nautical theme of the song, which is a common theme in many of Bridgers’ songs. From her album Stranger in the Alps, Funeral also recalls a dream she had:

And I have this dream where I'm screamin' underwater

While my friends are wavin' from the shore

The significance of the title ‘Moon Song’ is connected to the theme of water. The moon controls the tides of the ocean with its gravitational pull. Bridgers reflect this through the way that the speaker can feel this rollercoaster of emotion when interacting with her loved ones, reflected in her unconscious state. The speaker tries to remember her dream in the bittersweet line of ‘there's something I'm supposed to say / But can't for the life of me remember what it is’. In the dream, she forgot what she was angry about and can only remember her partner being happy, which enforces the delusion she is living in, creating a tragic sympathy from the listener. 

After melancholy verses, Bridgers brings in the chorus, addressing the subject of the song; the moon. 

And if I could give you the moon

I would give you the moon

The physical act of giving someone the moon is impossible, but it is more about what it represents. It shows that the speaker would move heaven and earth to give her lover what they want. The repetition of the modal verbs ‘could’ and ‘would’ represent the speaker's pain and longing to please her lover. She is desperately putting every inch of herself into the relationship but it is not enough, because they want something from her that she cannot ever give. The name Phoebe is derived from the Greek name Phoibe, the name of a Greek Titan and grandmother of Artemis and Apollo who was closely associated with the moon, making this title exceptionally fitting. 

The outro of the song is the part that, in my opinion, carries the most literary weight:

You are sick, and you're married, and you might be dyin'

But you're holdin' me like water in your hands

When you saw the dead little bird, you started cryin'

But you know the killer doesn't understand

Bridgers uses a triadic structure in the first line, emphasising its meaning and leaving an impact on the reader. She lists all the things that her lover is suffering from, but the use of the conjunction ‘but’ has intense meaning. Bridgers suggests that, although her partner is facing things worse than she, ‘you are sick… you might be dyin'’, with every right to be scared and angry, she is the one who is breaking down. The simile ‘you're holdin' me like water in your hands’ contains very fragile imagery. It is very difficult to hold liquid in your hands without it slipping through your fingers, so by comparing herself to water, she suggests that it was easy to slip away, her partner didn't even want to fight for her. She saw a future with them but they chose someone else; ‘you're married’. Bridgers returns to the simile that characterises the relationship to close the song. The killer does not know why the owner is crying, it only recognises it as an act of love. When she says ‘you know the killer doesn't understand’ she argues that she can’t understand why her love is not accepted or reciprocated. As soon as she realises her partner is falling out of love, she gives everything of herself to try to save the relationship.

‘Moon Song’ is a delicate and melancholic song which depicts having love that you don’t know what to do with when the other person doesn’t want it anymore, no matter how much you care for them.