Punisher Analysis- "Garden Song"

Love that! I grew up in a really small town, Southern town, and we had parades for EVERYTHING! I kind of miss it 😭😭😭

English Teacher KP

You were spot on about the parade! Every year Pasadena has the Rose Parade on New Years Day

Ooooooh, I like the way you describe the ending of the song here. You're right-- there's definitely some optimism there at the end!

English Teacher KP

I thought of that lyric as well! Great minds 😉😉😉

English Teacher KP

The “then I knew what I wanted” remind me of the lyrics “how can a person know everything at eighteen but nothing at 22” from the song Nothing New from Taylor (which features Phoebe!)

Pedro Medeiros

I took me many listens to really appreciate and love this song. People've mentioned that this song feels like you're going through dissociation, and that is definitely the effect of the enjambment. This song has really helped me reflect back on my personal growth. Like you've been through a lot but you're in a much better place now and it's ok to let go i.e. "everything is growing in our garden / you don't have to know that it's haunted" I love that this song ends with the sentiment of believing in yourself ("No, I'm not afraid of hard work / I get everything I want") and then contentment ("I have everything I wanted"). Like we know everything hasn't fully resolved yet, but we can do this, and we're grateful for what we have now. Thanks for the great reaction!

I think even without a lot of stylistic devices its so much fun to go through and question the lyrics. There is so much in Phoebe’s music I dont really understand but I let it pass by without thinking about it. I understand what you mean about it being a surprising recommendation though. I think the way she writes her lyrics makes so much sense when held next to her sorta flat & direct talking style haha I didnt hear the interview but I can imagine her voice and the way she talks in my head.

Oh wow! Loves these quotes; they add a lot of context! I'm so glad you enjoyed my analysis!

English Teacher KP

I'm glad you mention that, for some, memories feel murky. My memories don't really feel like that, so it was nice to see that perspective. Also, I love that a doctor actually said that but about the liver to her!

English Teacher KP

I love this connection! Thank you for sharing that! Also, I'm glad I wasn't too far off about the Huntington! It being a museum/garden definitely makes sense (given the fence).

English Teacher KP

Yes! Love the manifestation vibes there! Also, I totally hear you about the stupid stuff we do as kids. I often wonder how I survived my teens and early 20s 😭😭😭

English Teacher KP

That's so sad. I can't imagine losing my childhood home ☹️

English Teacher KP

I’m also a 1994 baby! I was literally just talking to a friend about what you were saying about what we did and felt like at 17 and how stupid we were to be so fearless because our prefrontal cortex wasn’t fully developed yet lol. I am lucky to be alive from all the dumb shit I did as a teenager, drinking too much and getting into trouble with my friends. Now I’m like scared of everything, but yes- turning 29 in a couple months and I still feel way younger lol. There is this meme that I love to share bc I relate to it so much and it’s from the show Broad City and the girl says “marriage? Lincoln, I’m only 27. What am I? a child bride?!” 😂I’m nowhere near ready for marriage or kids. I still feel like a kid! even though I definitely don’t act like much of one anymore lol. When phoebe said “i get everything I want” it reminded me of Ariana grande’s song called Just Like Magic where she says “i get everything I want, cause I attract it.” And Ari says the song is about manifesting what you want in life and I know a lot of people are huge believers in that. I wonder if phoebe is manifesting here.

Nikki S

also the lyric about the house on fire is literal, it's about the house she grew up in

j

i'm so excited! garden song is probably my favourite phoebe song. i hope you'll enjoy this album, it's not very upbeat and probably not really your taste sonically but her lyrics are great! i was actually surprised that so many people suggested phoebe because, even though i love her lyrics and i think they're amazing, she doesn't necessarily use a lot of stylistic devices - what makes her songwriting great is mostly just how poignant, honest and direct it is but i still think analysing the content is definitely worth it. i loved your analysis of the title, its meaning is very specific and she has talked about it, i think it'll probably become more clear when you get to the song punisher this is something she said about the song: "Yeah I had a crush on someone who lives next to a nazi and used to joke about just killing him and burying him in the garden. Originally it had this whole thing about making out on top of the unmarked grave but it was Very Stupid. I broke into Huntington Gardens in Pasadena with @lukasscottfrank and his cute friends and they smoked weed and I was like I want to be cool"

j

I had to look up what The Huntington is after watching your video. Turns out it is a library, museum, and botanical gardens in Pasadena. The song's title and first verse always remind me of the novel, "The Cement Garden," an early work by English novelist Ian McEwan, about two kids whose mother dies, but instead of letting anyone know for fear of being sent to foster care, encase her body in cement, put her in the basement, and try to get on with their lives. The novel is pretty well known in Great Britain - it is also a movie - but I can't be sure Phoebe would know it. I could never let the connection go.

Jim Lent

Oh boy, yeah you are for sure in for a journey with this album. It took me some time to come to appreciate the sound, I had a fairly “meh” opinion about it until I went to her concert with my sister (who was a fan) and was legitimately hypnotized by her performance. I think this particular song really captures the unreliable murkiness of recollection. The fumbling way she moves from one specific memory to the next feels very true to me. At least for me, my memory of my youth is not perfect or intact. She seems to be searching for identity in her memories, the good and bad ones, the resentments and fulfilled dreams, and trying to find herself in all this conflicting information. One little fun fact about the doctor lyric: apparently it was a literal doctor that told her that. She thought it was so strange that she wanted to write it in a song. She mentioned it during the concert I attended. Loved the reaction. Between this and Dance Fever I hope it doesn’t get too too weird for your liking 😂 especially coming off a few pop albums. Cant wait for the rest of the series!