"Motion Sickness" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Phoebe Bridgers Phoebe Lucille Bridgers (born August 17, 1994) is an American singer-songwriter. Her indie folk music typically centers on acoustic guitar and Electronic music, electronic production, with melancholic lyrical themes. She has won four Grammy Aw ...

. It was released on July 18, 2017 by

Dead Oceans Dead Oceans, Inc., is an American independent record label founded in 2006 and based in Bloomington, Indiana. History On June 30, 2006, Phil Waldorf founded Dead Oceans with Chris Swanson. Swanson suggested the name Dead Oceans, which came fro ...

as the second single from her debut studio album, ''

Stranger in the Alps ''Stranger in the Alps'' is the debut studio album by American musician Phoebe Bridgers, released on September 22, 2017 by Dead Oceans. Background and recording ''Stranger in the Alps'' was produced by Tony Berg and Ethan Gruska. Bridgers recor ...

''. The song was written by Bridgers and Marshall Vore and produced by

Tony Berg Anthony Rains "Tony" Berg (born October 21, 1954) is an American musician, record producer, and A&R representative, in which role he has been described as an "industry guru". Berg's music career began in the late 1970s as a session guitarist who ...

and Ethan Gruska. "Motion Sickness" was written about Bridgers's ex-boyfriend

Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American Rock music, rock and Country music, country singer-songwriter. He has released 30 studio albums and three as a former member of Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams left Whiskeytown and released ...

, whom she later accused of emotional abuse, alongside several other women. In 2022, the song was certified gold in the United States (

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

Background and composition

"Motion Sickness" is an

alt-country Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...

and "

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana music, a genre or style of American music * Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1981 film), an American drama film * ''Americana'' (20 ...

-tinged" song that has been compared to the work of

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known as Elliott Smith, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of his life in Portland, Oregon, whe ...

in its lyrical honesty. It is the most upbeat song on the album, with a "hopping pulse and singalong chorus." The song was described by Mish Barber-Way of ''The Fader'' as "the epitome of confession-meets-comedy, a big 'fuck you' delivered with a wink and a kiss." The song’s title was inspired by the Bright Eyes song “Motion Sickness,” first released in 2006 on the Rarity Compilation Album “Noise Floor,” and by the 2005 Bright Eyes live album “Motion Sickness.” Bridgers subsequently teamed up with Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst in 2019 to release the album “Better Oblivion Community Center” by their band of the same name. “Motion Sickness” was written about Bridgers' ex-boyfriend

, who produced her debut EP ''Killer'' and released it on his record label

PAX AM Pax Americana Recording Company, also known as PAX-AM, is a record label founded by Ryan Adams. Established in 2004, the label released certain of Adams’ then-unpublished demo recordings. Following Adams' fulfillment of a recording contract ...

. The song gained renewed attention in 2019 when Bridgers joined a chorus of women accusing Adams of abuse. Of the song's relevance to the situation, ''Flood'' magazine writer Anya Jaremko-Greenworld said "when Bridgers sings sadly on the chorus, 'There are no words in the English language / I could scream to drown you out,' she's wrong. Adams was drowned out last week by the voices of women in the music industry, harmonizing in fury and in liberation."

Music video

"Motion Sickness" was accompanied by a Justin Mitchell-directed video that depicts Bridgers riding a scooter around her

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

neighborhood in a

tuxedo Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and North American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal ...

, before ending up in a

karaoke is a type of interactive entertainment system usually offered in nightclubs and bars, where people sing along to pre-recorded accompaniment using a microphone. Its musical content is an instrumental rendition of a well-known popular song. I ...

bar. At one point she rides on the

sidewalk A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English, South African English), or footpath (Hiberno-English, Irish English, Indian English, Australian English, New Zealand English) is a path along the side of a road. Usually constr ...

past the intersection of Lucile Avenue and Hoover Street. Of the video Bridgers said, "I've had the idea for this video since before recording

he song He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

Probably inspired by my brother Jackson singing " Down With the Sickness" to me in karaoke with 100% commitment in an orange jumpsuit."

Live performances

Phoebe Bridgers promoted the song through various live performances. On November 27, 2017, she performed the song in her

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

Tiny Desk Concert ''Tiny Desk Concerts'' is a video series of live concerts hosted by NPR Music at the desk of former '' All Songs Considered'' host Bob Boilen in Washington, D.C. The first ''Tiny Desk Concert'' came about in 2008 after Boilen and NPR Music ed ...

with Ethan Gruska and

Rob Moose Rob Moose (born 1982) is an American multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer, conductor, and orchestrator. He primarily plays the violin, viola, and guitar. Early life and education Moose was born in 1982. He was raised in Windsor, Connec ...

. In the set she also performed ''Stranger in the Alps'' album tracks "Demi Moore" and "Killer" She performed the song on ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

''s Basement Sessions on December 7, 2017. She then played the song on

KCRW KCRW (89.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is an NPR member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming ...

on January 11, 2018, and on

KEXP KEXP-FM (90.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a non-commercial Radio broadcasting, radio station in Seattle, Seattle, Washington, United States, specializing in indie music programmed by its disc jockeys. KEXP's studios are located at the Seattle Cent ...

on July 13, 2018.

Critical reception

Radio station

named "Motion Sickness" their "Song of the Day", calling it "a love-hate song that chooses honesty about heartbreak as opposed to vindictive bitterness towards a past lover." Tully Claymore of ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'' described the song as "an aching betrayal, a story of a friendship or relationship that collapsed under some unknowable pressure" In a review for the album, Ellen Peirson-Hagger of '' Under the Radar'' singled it out as a highlight, saying "Stand-out track 'Motion Sickness' hits at both the familiarity she spawns with her youthful lyrics, and her controlled and nuanced observational skill. She acknowledges her childishness, singing 'I hate you for what you did/and I miss you like a little kid,' while still rendering the ability to mock her overbearing sensitivity with 'I have emotional motion sickness/Somebody roll the windows down.'" The song was included on ''NME'' and

's lists of the best songs of 2017, placing 16th and 38th respectively.

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Phoebe Bridgers 2017 singles 2017 songs Phoebe Bridgers songs Songs written by Phoebe Bridgers Alternative country songs Dead Oceans singles Ryan Adams