PUNISHER by PHOEBE BRIDGERS gives me emotional damage 

In regards to Moon Song: Phoebe comes from the Greek name of the Titan of the moon. So when she says “I would give you the moon” she’s not only giving them everything, but giving herself away as well

also fun fact the line about the skinhead neighbor is to imply that she killed him and buried him in the garden and his blood made their garden grow which ties into the “it’s haunted” line it’s fucked but it’s so cool

You know how we all wish we could hear our favorite songs for the first time again? Seeing awesome people like you hear them for the first time is as close as it gets.

the outro of i know the end is so amazing. i saw her live last year and for two minutes straight the entire audience screamed at the top of their lungs and it was the most cathartic experience of my life

Punisher is basically about how much she admired how Elliot smith was with his fans even though he was a very private person and these obsessed fans or “punishers” would always be very overwhelming. She has a similar experience with her fans because she’s grateful to them but she’s more introverted and when she says “I swear I’m not angry, that’s just my face” she’s referring to her resting bitch face and that she seems unapproachable

The lyrics “and you’re holding me like water in your hands” is hands down the line that broke me most. I absolutely had the same reaction to this song 😅

"sucking my tears back up... the next song is saviour complex" oh no bro - whos gonna tell him

honored to have been able to talk to you about queen phoebe 😊 this is easily one of my favorite albums of all time 🖤

“The doctor put her hands over my liver. She told me my resentments getting smaller.” This line breaks me every time

i love how she says “baby you’re a vampire” like this person is so damaging to her, that they take the life out of her but she still wants to fix them and save them from themselves

you gotta listen to Boygenius, dude. It's Phoebe, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker. All of which did vocals on Graceland Too. Unreal harmonies

the callback in moon song from “like a dog with a bird at your door” to “when you saw the dead little bird you started crying BUT YOU KNOW THE KILLER DOESNT UNDERSTAND” omg it gets me everytime it’s genius edit: adding to this that the last line of savior complex being “show me yours” and then the song ending on an unresolved chord GENIUS

The last song’s final melody also blends into DVD Menu!!

also how the whole skeleton outfit thing came up about is her and her band had a show on Halloween and they had just gone to buy cheap costumes and they all ended up wearing these little skeleton suits for the show and while taking the picture for the album cover she was supposed to have this gorgeous dress but remembered they had the costumes laying around and used them for the cover as she said the skeleton and just fit perfectly lol

Seeing Pheobe in concert was the BEST moment of my whole life. I’m so glad you finally listened to her. There is nothing quite like a whole theater screaming simultaneously in The End is Near

I Know the End is the most satisfying end to an album I've heard in a long long time. Also it was just Phoebe screaming. She asked Connor from Bright Eyes who's known for his screaming how to do it and he just said "you just scream". There's a video of her screaming into the mic somewhere. Really cathartic moment to just listen to, I'm sure it feels great to actually do it.

The guy singing in Halloween is Connor Oberst! He's from a band called bright eyes and he's also in a band with Phoebe called better oblivion community center. Also the backing vocals in graceland too are from Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, Phoebe is also in a band with them called boygenius. Please do more Phoebe reactions, you have so much music to check out. Btw I really liked this reaction, you put a lot of effort into it and it pays off!

The thing with Phoebe's writing and why I love it so much is cause it's so deeply personal and introspective yet the more detailed and conversational she is, the more relatable it can be. There's so much depth in her writing and it's like the more you listen the more layers you'll discover. She's just truly such a special artist for me and one who really deserves all the success she's been getting.

Finally after 2 years you're reacting to this masterpiece. Can't wait for your reaction. I was a mess when I listened to it for the first time, one of the best albums and my favorite of 2020 and of all time

I love Garden Song *so much*. That line about the notches in the doorway gets me every time. That feeling of everything about your childhood burning down except for the record of your growth and the weird realization that you keep going even after people have stopped paying attention. "I don't know how, but I'm taller." Gorgeous. Devastating.

thank u for listening!! her lyrics are sad in a way thats got this blunt humor/irony ya know? like she's speaking these ugly truths about life. while i love stranger in the alps as more of a folksy piece, I'll never forget when this album came out. it was the beginning of the hot uncomfortable summer of 2020 and i was back at home with my parents in the suburbs after graduating college online. this album will mark that painful and somehow beautiful time in my life forever driving alone screaming to the finale in my car. thanks for the sweet reminder :)

my main takeaways from this album is that everything kind of falls between two main forms of desire: the desire to change oneself to fit the needs of the person they love, and general dissatisfaction with life - the desire to change and stray from something that feels inevitable. in almost every song, phoebe expresses some kind of desire or ‘want’. garden song presents child phoebe wishing for a better adulthood, one where she can simply look up from her phone and confidently believe that she does have everything she wants (i have everything i want). in kyoto, phoebe is travelling the world on tour but is still dissatisfied both at home and oversees (i wanted to see the world then i flew over the ocean/then i changed my mind). at the same time, phoebe expresses her confliction at forgiving her dad (i don’t forgive you but please don’t hold me to it / i’m a liar). halloween is probably most explicit in this, where phoebe flat out admits that she will become whatever her partner wishes her to be. in chinese satellite she presents her willingness to do whatever it takes, become whoever she has to become, to believe in whatever she has to, to be reunited with her lover after death. in moon song she flat out admits that she would give him the moon if she could. she know’s this isn’t healthy and acknowledges this w the dead bird imagery: the human doesn’t want the dead bird but to the dog, this is the ultimate symbol of their love. they don’t understand that the bird (or phoebe’s love) is hurting the other. in savior complex, phoebe expresses how she wishes to take on the other person’s problems. the last line “show me yours” exemplfies this, as this time, she does not answer this with “and i’ll show you mine”. this is because phoebe actually does not care about her partner learning about or helping her with her problems: she just wants to ‘fix’ him [sidenote: one of my favourite uses of imagery on this album is “wake up and start a big fire in our one room apartment”. she lives with this person in one room. when they fight, there is nowhere to escape to]. in icu, phoebe takes on the sadness of her ex as a result of her failure to properly express her desire (i used to light you up/now i can’t even get you to play the drums/i dont know what i want/until i fuck it up]. graceland too is also pretty outrightly indicative: phoebe sings delicately about loving a friend and realizing that she would do absolutely whatever she wanted in order to hang onto the feeling that she gives her [another sidenote: this song is about her friend julien baker leaving rehab. julien and lucy dacus sing the backing vocals on this track. the three of them are in a band called boygenius and they have an ep of 6 tracks it is so incredibly good]. finally, i know the end displays a general dissatisfaction phoebe has with her life. no matter where she goes, she does not feel fufilled, somewhat because of how commercialized everything is. in verse one, she talks about how homesick she is on tour, but in verse two she reflects and realizes that that feeling does not disappear once she returns home. it’s a dull sort of lingering homesickness.

I think the thing about punisher that gets me is how cinematic and atmospheric every song feels. Like it perfectly invokes the feeling of the cover art and being intoxicated in different ways

Your reaction to moon song is me whenever I hear it. It’s devastatingly beautiful.

Regarding the title track, a "punisher" is a fan who gets too excited when meeting an artist they love, or just in general someone who just keeps on talking bc they're way too excited about something. As Phoebe said: "Say you’re at Thanksgiving with your wife’s family and she’s got an older relative who is anti-vax or just read some conspiracy theory article and, even if they’re sweet, they're just talking to you and they don’t realize that your eyes are glazed over and you’re trying to escape: That’s a punisher. The worst way that it happens is like with a sweet fan, someone who is really trying to be nice and their hands are shaking, but they don’t realize they’re standing outside of your bus and you’re trying to go to bed. And they talk to you for like 45 minutes, and you realize your reaction really means a lot to them, so you’re trying to be there for them, too." Phoebe is terrified of becoming a punisher herself, which she said is what would happen if she ever met her hero Elliott Smith (who you should consider reacting to, he's easily one of the greatest songwriters of all time). She also believes it's extremely obvious that she was influenced by him ("A copycat killer with a chemical cut // Either I'm careless or I wanna get caught")

you know "i know the end" is *THAT* bitch when you see hthaze basically reacting to the whole song. i was here for it and thank god i stayed.

savior complex is sonically one of the most gorgeous songs I’ve ever heard

Notice that the final melody in 'I Know The End' is the same melody in 'DVD Menu'. Essentially, 'DVD Menu' gives you an idea of how the last song would sound, although you wouldn't know it immediately until you actually hear the last song. So, in a sense, when you hear 'DVD Menu', you "know the end."

Phoebe has been so open about mental health and coping mechanisms, particularly throughout this album. The line in Graceland Too "She made up her mind/ And laced up her shoes" also hits different from that point of view, as typically at a stay at a mental hospital, they tend to confiscate anything you can use to harm yourself. Phoebe's merch also reflects this, as her sweatpants dont have drawstrings.

I don’t know but I always have a thing about last songs in an album. I feel like a lot of artists actually really put a lot of thought in the last song and maybe that’s why they also sound so special to me. I Know The End is soooo beautiful and exquisite. It sounds so clean yet noisy, magical yet haunting. I always play it before I sleep. Strange lol

punisher- phoebe describes being a “punisher” of elliott, and a punisher is a kind of die hard fan that sometimes does more harm than good. he was her inspiration for so much music wise that she wishes that she could tell him how much he means to her, but she can’t because of his untimely death in 2003. she knows so much about him and his music and he will never know her

Garden song, Moon song and I know the end have become some of my favorite songs of all time since the first time I listened to this album

I've listened to this album for like a 100 times and still hear new details every time I listen to the songs... It's so amazing

this is one my favorite albums of all time. the emotions it evokes in me is like no other. also ‘I know the end’ hits EVERY TIME i listen to it. ‘savior complex & ‘moon song’ are my fave songs as well :)

At least the songs in this album make you cry. I feel that in Stranges in the Alps, instead, it's a totally different feeling: songs like Demi Moore, Geogia, Funeral, Killer and Smoke Signals leave you totally empty and dead inside. It's a different type of sadness, the one that goes past tears and you can't even cry.

I'm so so so sorry you had to go through 2020 and 2021 without Punisher. That album got me through it

I actually heard Savior Complex while I was sleeping one time, and I instantly fell in love with just that song alone. It actually puts you in a twilight nostalgia. Like the twilight movie series.

moon song genuinely rips my heart out of my chest everytime i listen to it

Our reactions to Phoebe’s hoarse, no-voice-left screaming at the end of I Know the End were.. uh.. different lol. I was in like a tear-filled existential crisis and it’s just funny to see someone just laughing at it. That ending always reminds me of the scene from Garden State where Zac Braff and Natalie Portman just scream helplessly into the void. Brutal, but somehow cathartic

if you like the strings, would 100% recommend the copycat killer version of some of the songs

When he thought Moon Song was gonna be a cute little song but it’s actually RIP YOUR HEART TO PIECES SAD GOODNESS 😔

Everybody calm down it's happening!!!

I love watching you react to albums that I have already spent a lot of time with. It makes me feel like I’m listening to them for the first time again bc you’re so damn musical and so insightful and it is immensely enjoyable to watch. Makes me love the albums more than I did before!

this album is literally imprinted into my fucking soul

the way i got so happy when moon song, saviour complex, and i know the end got the recognition they deserve. i wish i could get those songs tattooed into my brain. so good. phoebe is out of this world with her production and writing of this album.

I saw Phoebe live a couple weeks ago and the way she had an ENITRE ARENA SCREAMING at the end of "I know the end" is absolutely everything

Loved this. ‘I Know the End’ - a perfect song. Beyond. Kills me.

I saw phoebe on her punisher tour in manchester a couple of days ago, 'the end is near' live is... absolutely insane

Graceland Too is basically just a boygenius song and I'm so happy it ended up on this album. It's pretty cool that when they recorded that song Julien Baker ran into Haley Williams and that's how Phoebe ended up singing on Haley's album.

i just love watching your videos when i am high. i`m a phoebe fan and this video gaves me serotonin. you r amazing bruhhh

My dad (middle aged straight cis white man) Is the biggest Phoebe Bridgers fan ever. He's seen her live twice (Last night we actually just saw her opening for Taylor, we cried together.) He was in her top 0.1% of streamers last year, his most streamed song was graceland too. my older sisters name is Phoebe, and he tells people he named her after Phoebe Bridgers (isn't true, but its funny.)

Imagine Ashley Ippolito and him doing a collab, that shit would be fun as fuck

as a fellow introvert/ambivert, this album resonates with me SO much. phoebe has never disappointed but every single one of these songs had my body in full chills and on the verge of tears. shes incredible. and those MELODIES BOIIIIIIIIIIIIII

phoebe is like my Elliot Smith so i know too much about her and punisher is like my favorite song… so this song is obviously about him and how she wishes to have met him because of the emotional attachment she has to him, she even lived a few neighborhoods down from where he lived in the Snow White cottages and how she imagines if only she was a little older and he hadn’t passed she would meet him. The term punisher refers to a fan that is as explained a “archetype of an overly energetic fan, making their hero, and in this case Smith, feel trapped when they get to meet them” and how they’re like stalkers in a way because they love the artist and phoebe knows she has some but she obviously knows where they’re coming from because she would do the same for him, she is a punisher for him as she said this song is literally about her stalking him lol. but the song is also about how she’s scared that if she had met him her hero he wouldn’t be interested, in the words of phoebe “the song is mostly about stalking Elliott Smith and being afraid that I’m a punisher - that when I talk to my heroes, that their eyes will glaze over. Say you’re at Thanksgiving with your wife’s family and she’s got an older relative who is anti-vax or just read some conspiracy theory article and, even if they’re sweet, they’re just talking to you and they don’t realize that your eyes are glazed over and you’re trying to escape: That’s a punisher.” “The worst way that it happens is like with a sweet fan, someone who is really trying to be nice and their hands are shaking, but they don’t realize they’re standing outside of your bus and you’re trying to go to bed. And they talk to you for like 45 minutes, and you realize your reaction really means a lot to them, so you’re trying to be there for them, too.” she obviously sees both sides of omit because you know she’s an artist lol! So she gets both povs and the song is kind of reflective of both sides of these people the punisher and punishee lol, the line “I swear I’m not angry, that’s just my face” reflects on her knowing the artist can be happy when meeting fans and maybe even punishers although their face, emotions and feelings say otherwise. “but never not sweet to the trustfunds and punishers” talks about obviously how she sees him always kind no matter the situation with a fan encounter “Wouldn’t know where to start/ Wouldn’t know when to stop.” She touches on this idea of not knowing what to say, this feeling that you’re talking, but not saying anything of value, something a person needs or wants to hear. And finally saying this lol because I could go on and on about this song “if Elliott Smith were alive, I probably wouldn’t have been the most fun person for him to talk to, […] I’m a superfan, and I know way too much about his music. So I wrote that as if I were the punisher.” I fear I am her punisher lol

I love hearing these albums through your ears! Punisher is one of my favorite albums ever, and watching this video is like getting to hear it for the first time again. Thanks!

yall should see i know the end live... when the screams start in the outro, she signals for us, and everyone (her, her band, the audience) just SCREAM and its the best thing ever 😫

This album is in the top 3 of all time for me. But I'll admit that it wasn't until perhaps the 5th listen or so that it started coming together for me. It's so densely referential, to Phoebe's life, current events, movies, musicians, just... other parts in the album (The dog with a bird between Moon Song and I Know the End is such a great "have you been paying attention?" moment). There are still things I'm catching for the first time after dozens (but more likely hundreds at this point) of listens. And the whole thing is so wonderfully and gorgeously cinematic and grand. I just cannot get enough of it. Wild stuff. I hope you've given it a bunch more listens, because it will reward you for the effort. Best album in the past decade, and I personally don't think there's much competition.

Watching you react to I Know The End was perfection. It makes me so sad I was too hungover to go to one of her concert last year 💔

this felt like i was rediscovering one of my favorite albums, i’m emotional

My fave album over this past few years, well is my quarantine album it had helped me through some tough times this last two years

Your reaction to the second part of I know the end is priceless. Love your reactions 💟

so beyond ecstatic that my fav reactor ever reacted to this album, and gave it the appreciation and hype it deserves. thank you king

Omg how convenient this is gonna come out when my interest for Phoebe Bridgers started rushing in lately

the latter third of I Know the End acting as a sort of DVD Menu reprise is just genius sequencing. it’s unreal.

after watching you react to pheobe and taylor I promise you you'd love Lana del rey's Norman f***ing Rockwell one of the best albums of the decade I know you'd love it. The production is amazing if you like strings and piano and Lana really comes into mature song writing on this beautiful album. I promise if you want to cry and listen to some amazing music (produced by jack antonoff) I really really recommend

the cover art of punisher is phoebe pictured in the middle of the night using the break lights of a car while wearing her skeleton costume she once wore for halloween and found to be so comfortable and fitting for her vibe that it became her main theme throughout her public appearances and it is the costume her entire band wears onstage! highly recommend looking up phoebe's live performances, she's a goofy weirdo while making the most heart shattering music known to mankind😀

i’ve listened to this album like a billion times but watching this video- the way it’s edited & the way you’re reacting made me feel like i was listening to it for the first time again and it was amazing

I think reacting to Home Video by Lucy Dacus (who's one of Phoebe Bridgers' most common collaborator) would be a great follow up for you to listen to!

Yes, dude! Finally I found someone who broke down like me on "Moon Song". That shit wrecked me

Eagerly waiting for Punisher ❤️🥺

THE SPECIAL GUEST BEING CAITLIN IS THE SWEETEST SURPRISE. i know the end is of the best songs i've listened to in a few years...

i love these videos because it allows me to find new songs either from my favorites or people who i don’t listen to. i have a hard time listening to new music because idk- but i’ve found so many new favorite through these videos. so thank you.

Troy your videos are actually my therapy they make me so happy!

I just got the transition from "notches in the doorframes" to "I don't know how but I'm taller". I always misinterpreted as hinges being the only thing left but it's the measurements of a child's height that were the only thing left.

this is my comfort video. i come back to this reaction every few months or so :)

I seriously recommend listening to the boygenious album by Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus (Lucy and Julien both did backing vocals on this album). It's incredible.

if you didn’t know the ending instrumental of i know the end is actually the instrumental for dvd menu so you can listen to the album on loop🤪

Elliot Smith was such a fantastic writer but almost so haunted by living because he was always consumed by his own sadness 🥺 anyways, his lyricism is an entire journey and I highly recommend listening to “Say Yes” as a first time listen because all of his other stuff is pretty melancholic and heavy in the best way.

I absolutely loved this video, not lying during moon song I was also absolutely sobbing (so much so my mom came upstairs to check on me !! lolz) thank you for reacting, one of my most favorite albums ever

This Album deserved all the Grammys in the world...

25:25 troy did not just get confused between saviour complex and gag reflex......SIR😭🤚

i fell in love with your videos after your olivia rodrigo sour review and punisher has been one of my favorite albums for so long, so it is such a joy to finally watch your reaction to it

Absolutely love the quality and work you and David put into these videos. I am also enjoying watching your earlier ones for the first time. This was a great intro to Phoebe for me...gotta have this album! Thanks Troy! Love from Texas, Mama T.

Don't get me wrong but, 'I Know The End' is on the same playlist (for me) as Welcome To The Black Parade, This is War, This is How i Disappear, Closer to The Edge ... my emo kid comes alive. And after all this time with this masterpiece i don't know why.

This album is so special to me and yet I don't listen to it from start to bottom frequently... like, I have to be in a very specific MOOD (and, no joke, I listen to it more during the autumn/winter season, lol) Mi fav songs, the ones I'm always listening, are: Savior Complex (the striiiiiings!!!! ❤️ and the skeleton line reminds me of "And the skeletons in both our closets plotted hard to fuck this up" by Taylor. Full circle. Love it xD), I Know The End (OMG!!! What an end!!!! So chaotic so beautiful... it reminds me of the end of Midsommar, like this song could be on that movie), Chinese Satellite and Graceland. Also looove Phoebe's work as a producer. Last year I listened Begginers by Christian Lee Hutson (were Phoebe is THE producer) and omg, I reaaaally really liked it! Especially that opening song: “Athiest". PS: Oh, loooove the fact that Elton John was such a Punisher's fan xD. "Elton John has backed Phoebe Bridgers to win a Grammy this weekend (Me: Hi, it didn't happen 😭), saying he will “hit someone” if she doesn’t get a trophy (...) Speaking on John’s Apple Music radio show Rocket Hour, the pop icon first praised the singer-songwriter and her second record. “Your album is like an old friend,” he said. “It’s like [Carole King’s] ‘Tapestry’ (Hi, me again, LOVE TAPESTRY SO MUCH!) (...) I have records in my life that are reference points and I think ‘Punisher’’s one of those reference points. I can’t pay you a bigger compliment than that.”

I have been WAITING for this one!!

my fav reaction channels doing collabs is making my heart so warm

watching you hear these for the first time is like i’m hearing them for the first time again too and it’s so bittersweet🥲

Also, looking forward for your reaction to "If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power by Halsey" 😅 Music wise, I wasn't a huge Halsey fan BUT what she did along with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is SO GOOD! I reaaally hope she wins a Grammy 🙏🏼 (she got 1 nom in the "Best Alternative Music Album" category 😑) because that album + the visual experience are 🙌🏼 * I know Grammys don't mean a lot BUT it would be nice to see them receive some recognition :B

I loved this reaction so much !! Faves interacting here.. Troy vibing and being impressed by so much. The ending was quite something and i honestly till date think it is one of the coolest album ender. Hope Troy checks out Strangers in the Alps. Definitely not as well produced as this one but the lyrics there r really haunting too.

I was SO excited to see your reaction to I know the end and you did not disappoint! Such a phenomenal song

i just love coming over here to listen to some new music with you, such a great experience. love from brazil, bro.

this was the push i needed to listen to this album thank u troy

for the past month i have only listened to this album and stranger in the alps. every morning to school and through first hour i start my morning off all the way from dvd menu to i know the end, its so deep yet so comforting

I love how your graphics depict the feeling of the music so well

I have literally been waiting on this one omg

I know you probably get tons of requests, but I'd love to see your reaction to Preacher's Daughter by Ethel Caine! It's an album that tells a continuous narrative throughout, her vocals are great, and the lyrics are gutting!

this is my first time hearing this album (through this video lol) and i was getting emotional over the title track 'punisher' but i started choking on my iced coffee through tears when i suddenly looked back up and saw troy soaring over the ocean

i LOVE watching your videos whether i’m reacting along with you and hearing an album for the first time or i’m seeing your reaction to one of my favorites (like this one ☺️) can’t wait to see what kinds of videos you put out this year

OMG I’ve been waiting so long for this