Saturday, October 09, 2021

Phoebe Bridgers officially releases her version of Bo Burnham’s ‘That Funny Feeling’

Phoebe Bridgers has released her cover of Bo Burnham’s ‘That Funny Feeling’ for Bandcamp Friday. 

This comes after Bridgers and Burnham allegedly performed the track together back in August at a show where filming wasn’t allowed. Since then, Bridgers has played her cover during her current US tour, much to appreciation of her fans.

Most listeners would have heard the original whilst accompanied by the visuals of Burnham’s comedy special ‘Inside’ released earlier this year in which he sits with a projection of trees behind him and flickering lights to mimic that of a campfire. Bridgers, who is often portrayed as the queen of relatable sad music, brings her own emotions to the track, after posting to her Instagram a photo of 'That Funny Feeling' off of 'Inside' (The Songs)' and writing “every bone in my body wants to plagarise this”.

 

In her version, the entire track has been slowed, and certainly gives listeners a different experience to the original. Bridgers’ delicate voice takes listeners through Burnham’s cleverly crafted lyrics reflecting on the irony of things in our society, namely capitalism and climate change, before confronting dissociation and derealisation- this all comes to a head with the lines, “that unapparent summer air in early fall/the quiet comprehending of the ending of it all”.

 

She adds her own spin on the outro too, by sampling what seems to be soundbites from the news/reporters, mirroring the message and overall tone of the song. There’s more of a build up to the outro than in Burnham’s original, and Bridgers adds drums which shift the tone of the track and act as a grand ending to the track. Her voice starts off coated in effects but as the ending continues and she confesses “we were overdue/but it’ll be over soon/you wait”, the effects fade away, and the fading out of the violin, guitar, and drums leaves listeners with something slightly hopeful yet bittersweet.

 

Bridgers’ version of this song she says she ‘wish [she] wrote’ (Largo performance) is both moving and cathartic, and a track that will continue to be relevant and relatable.  

 

All proceeds made from the track will go to a range of abortion funds in Texas, following the restrictive abortion laws passed in September.


Robyn Hill

@robyynnhill
Image: 'That Funny Feeling' Official Single Artwork - by Christian Sarkine

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