This Phoebe Bridgers Lyric Has Gracie Abrams Fans Completely Losing It
The lore behind these lines goes way back.
Phoebe Bridgers has lived a lot of life since her 2020 album Punisher, and that’s very evident in the reflective lyrics about her past relationship on her new release Lost Weekend. In the title track, the singer reveals that she was the one to break off her and Paul Mescal’s engagement in 2022, singing: “I'm supposed to be married, but I called it off.” But it’s another song that really has all of social media buzzing. In “The Governor’s Waltz,” Bridgers dissects how her romance with Mescal ended, and seems to have a pointed message to his new girlfriend, Gracie Abrams.
The somber breakup song illustrates an unhappy couple trying to keep things together by putting on a positive front. Bridgers knows the relationship isn’t working and already feels checked out of it, but she also feels compelled to stay with her partner because he doesn’t want to end things: “I'm next to you, you're next to nothing / You promised that you'd never leave / But maybe you'll do it for me.”
The final chorus describes a shift after the former couple finally breaks up — and it’s also the section that has everyone talking. In it, Bridgers seems to reference the viral rumor about Mescal running away from his hookups, but making herself the runner. The singer also mentions her ex’s new love interest, claiming that she’s at peace with her “pretend[ing] to be me.”
Now, let's see how far I can run without stopping / And she can pretend to be me / Since she took my place in my bed on that stage / I have not lost any sleep / Being myself wasn't easy / Do it for me
The final couplet can be interpreted in multiple ways. A generous reading would be Bridgers realizing she didn’t like the person she was when dating Mescal, and thanking Abrams for taking over that position so she can be free. But it’s hard to ignore the shadier element of the lines, since Bridgers seems to be saying that Abrams has molded herself into a clone of Bridgers to be with Mescal.
There is a lot of lore that goes into this last verse, going all the way back to Abrams’ musical beginnings. Abrams has frequently cited Bridgers as one of her major inspirations, revealing that the first song she ever recorded was a cover of Bridgers’ 2014 song “Waiting Room.” Abrams went on to open for Bridgerts in 2021, before Abrams started dating Mescal in 2024.
The line “she took my place in my bed on that stage” can be taken quite literally, since Abrams famously purchased the rocket-themed bedsheets that Bridgers popularized on Instagram back in 2017. And those sheets featured prominently on Abrams’ The Secret Of Us Deluxe Tour in 2025, where they laid atop a bed in her staging.
Portions of “The Governor’s Waltz” lyrics were published over a week prior to the song’s official release, which is what first stoked the flames of a possible Abrams slight. But the full song is clearly more about Bridgers’ own journey to discovering her identity rather than some diss track.
