Afternoon Delights: Phoebe Bridgers, “I Know The End”(Live Performance)

One of the breakout stars right before COVID-19 hit who seemed to thrive during the tumultuous time was Phoebe Bridgers. Her marriage of whimsy and morbidity echoed the fact that the world watched as the worst life has to offer was often met with the best in humanity.

Because of the quarantine, most late night talk shows had to improvise with how to handle guests—especially musical guests. Sometimes they were able to concoct really impressive performances like this one for Late Night With Seth Meyers. From a show in November 2020, the performance is directed by Jason Lester with cinematography by Powell Robinson, that consists of a (seemingly) single take moving through space and emotions as Bridgers sings “I Know The End”.

The song, from her album Punisher, is about that collision between grace and destruction, the beauty glimpsed in the postapocalyptic haze. The end of the world fast approaches and we look at everything around us—the good, the bad, the ugly—and it’s all part of the same piece that’s about to be gone in the blink of an eye.