Phoebe Bridgers
Phoebe Bridgers
Phoebe Bridgers
Phoebe Bridgers
Phoebe Bridgers
Phoebe Bridgers
Phoebe Bridgers
Phoebe Bridgers
Phoebe Bridgers
Phoebe Bridgers
Phoebe Bridgers
Smoke signals are a form of communication in which a person would use fire and smoke to transmit or communicate a message to another person across a long distance.
In the song, Bridgers sings about someone who was looking for her and who tried to get her attention in various ways, one of which bein...
[Verse 1]
I went with you up to the place you grew up in
We spent a week in the cold
Just long enough to Walden it with you
Any longer, it would've got old
Singin' "Ace of Spades" when Lemmy died
But nothing's changed, LA's alright
I'm sleepin' in my bed again and gettin' in my head
And then, walk around the reservoir
[Chorus]
You, you must've been looking for me
Sendin' smoke signals, pelicans circling
Burning trash out on the beach
[Verse 2]
One of your eyes is always half-shut
Somethin' happened when you were a kid
I didn't know you then and I'll never understand
Why it feels like I did
"How Soon Is Now" in an 80s sedan
You slept inside of it because your dad
Lived in a campground in the back of a van
You said that song will creep you out until you're dead
[Chorus]
And you must've been looking for me
Sendin' smoke signals, pelicans circling
Burning trash out on the beach
[Verse 3]
I wanna live at the Holiday Inn
Where somebody else makes the bed
We'll watch TV while the lights on the street
Put all the stars to death
It's been on my mind since Bowie died
Just checkin' out to hide from life
And all of our problems, I'm gonna solve 'em
With you riding shotgun, speeding 'cause fuck the cops
[Chorus]
And you, you must've been looking for me
Sendin' smoke signals, pelicans circling
Burning trash out on the beach, mm
[Verse 4]
I buried a hatchet, it's comin' up lavender
The future's unwritten, the past is a corridor
I'm at the exit, looking back through the hall
You are anonymous, I am a concrete wall
[Instrumental Outro]
Smoke Signals was written by Marshall Vore & Phoebe Bridgers.
Smoke Signals was produced by Tony Berg & Ethan Gruska.
Phoebe Bridgers released Smoke Signals on Fri Jan 13 2017.
In 2018, NPR ranked this as the #190 greatest song by a female or nonbinary artist in the 21st century, saying:
Phoebe Bridgers' ‘Smoke Signals’ is a bookmark in time. Released in January 2017, the rising singer-songwriter sang softly of Lemmy and David Bowie’s then-recent deaths, and more than a y...
Aside from the clear references to Bowie, Lemmy, and The Smiths in the lyrics, Bridgers used the music video, instrumental, and single cover to praise some works of art she appreciates:
The music video borrows the haunting vibe and make-up concept from a cult film from the ‘60s titled Carnival of S...
I think it’s just another love song. “Smoke Signals” is a love song about waking up to your reality, in a way, finding someone who shares the same interests as you.
– Phoebe Bridgers, Stereogum