Singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers released her second album “Punisher” on June 18, 2020. More than three years later, the album still makes an impact. It is the perfect record for the days leading up to Halloween, as it has an otherworldly feeling to it. 

The album opens with the instrumental “DVD Menu,” which sets the haunting tone of the album. It then transitions into “Garden Song,” a song Bridgers wrote about her recurring nightmares on tour: “And it's gonna be just like my recurring dream/I'm at the movies, I don't remember what I'm seeing/The screen turns into a tidal wave.”

“Kyoto” is one of the only upbeat songs of the album, but the lyrics still carry a sad meaning. Bridgers expresses the complicated relationship she had with her father: “I wanted to see the world/Through your eyes until it happened/Then I changed my mind.”

Bridgers wrote the title track for her musical hero Elliott Smith. Bridgers describes the meaning of “punishers,” which are superfans who corner their idols when they meet them. She explains how it is a good thing she never met Smith because she does not want to be a “punisher” herself: “What if I told you/I feel like I know you?/But we never met/It’s for the best.”

“Halloween” is about wanting to save a dying relationship and pretending everything is okay: “Baby it’s Halloween/And we can be anything.”

Conor Oberst, lead singer of Bright Eyes and Bridgers’ bandmate in Better Oblivion Community Center, joins Bridgers in the outro of the song. The two repeat the words, “Whatever you want/I’ll be whatever you want,” showing that the couple is willing to play pretend.

Bridgers wrote “Chinese Satellite” about her envy of people who can find peace within their religions: “I want to believe/Instead, I look at the sky and I feel nothing.”

In “Moon Song,” Bridgers shows that she would do anything for her partner to reciprocate her feelings. The lyrics in this song are heartbreaking, as she sings, “So I will wait for the next time you want me/Like a dog with a bird at your door.” 

This simile is moving as it illustrates a dog bringing a dead bird to its owner, which the owner finds disgusting, but the dog is proud of. Bridgers is giving all of herself to her partner, but they are not returning the favor. She goes on to say that she would give this person anything for their love: “And if I could give you the moon/I would give you the moon.”

Bridgers described “Savior Complex” as the sequel to “Moon Song” in an interview with Apple Music. The song is entrancing, as Bridgers talks about wanting to be a savior for her partner: “I’m a bad liar/With a savior complex/All the skeletons you hide/Show me yours and I’ll show you mine.”

“ICU” is another one of the upbeat songs on the record that has a sad meaning. The song is about getting close enough to someone that you start to notice their flaws. Bridgers encapsulates this feeling with one of my favorite lyrics of the album: “If you’re a work of art/I’m standing too close/I can see the brush strokes.”

“Graceland Too” was written for Bridgers’ close friend and bandmate Julien Baker. Baker and Lucy Dacus of Boygenius accompany Bridgers in the background vocals. At a concert I attended in June 2022, Bridgers described the song as “a wish” and “a love song.” 

The song is about caring for someone who is going through a hard time. With a banjo and Baker and Dacus’ harmonies, Bridgers expresses that she would do anything for Baker: “Whatever you want me to do, I will do.”

She repeats “Whatever she wants” in the outro, further showing Baker that she cares for her. Boygenius performs this song at each of their shows, and it is touching to see Bridgers perform a song she wrote for Baker in front of her. 

Bridgers concludes the record with “I Know the End,” an apocalyptic ballad-turned-metal song. It starts out slow and melancholic, then turns into a whole different song when it builds up at the end. 

In the outro, Bridgers can be heard shrieking. At each of her shows, Bridgers encourages the crowd to scream along with her. This allows the audience a moment of catharsis as it is also the final song of her concerts.

Bridgers closed out the “Punisher” era while opening for Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour this summer. The ending of this era is bittersweet, but I cannot wait to see what she will do next. 

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