Phoebe Bridgers fans are speculating that her new song ‘The Governor’s Waltz’ is about her former relationship with Paul Mescal.
The track appears on the singer-songwriter’s third studio album, ‘Lost Weekend’, which was released today (Friday August 14).
Bridgers, who was previously engaged to Mescal, appears to allude to the actor’s current partner Gracie Abrams in ‘The Governor’s Waltz’. “And she can pretend to be me/ Since she took my place in my bed on that stage/ I have not lost any sleep,” she sings.
As some fans have pointed out on social media, the “bed on that stage” lyric is an apparent nod to the bed that was part of Abrams’ live set on tour. The bed looked similar to the one Bridgers previously recorded videos of herself playing songs from during the pandemic.
In 2017 – before either Bridgers or Abrams had met Mescal – Abrams shared some photos of her rocket-themed bed sheets online. In response, Bridgers commented: “I HAVE THE SAME SHEETS.”
i am so fucking sad pic.twitter.com/jVtgcqQHk7
— zac ❦ #bb28 era (@sabsfaultline) August 5, 2026
the unfortunate thing about all of this, is that gracie abrams and phoebe bridgers just happened to have the same expensive ass bed sheets from Garnet Hill in their childhood bedrooms. Diana Silvers also had them, there was was a whole article about it a couple years ago lol https://t.co/SEwEM3BIkI
— zoe (@urstarzoe) August 5, 2026
In the chorus of the song in question, Bridgers sings: “So, let’s see how long we can go without touching/ Why don’t you sing me to sleep?/ I know you’d never actually think about jumping/ But do it for me.
“[…] So let’s see how long we can go without talking/ Watch me pretending to sleep/ 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.”
Elsewhere, Bridgers seemingly looks back on her engagement to Mescal on the ‘Lost Weekend’ title track: “I’m supposed to be married but I called it off/ I’ve been known to throw a tantrum/ When things are not the way I imagine thеm/ I am restoring the natural order/ Lеarning the same lesson over and over again.”
Discussing ‘The Governor’s Waltz’ on Reddit, one fan theorised: “She means like go ahead and take my place, take my former life. I was never good at living that life, so go do it for me (likely Gracie Abrams).”
Another user wrote: “What a well-written song, a perfectly understated and snide kiss-off to the Paul of it all. As for the ‘Gracie shade’ stanza in question, I must say in the context of the song I find it more humorous than anything, which I don’t think came across in all the press coverage.”
The fan went on to suggest that Bridgers was “acknowledging the weirdness of the situation”, adding that “it’s clear she’s quickly moved on and is more glad than anything that the relationship with Paul is over”.
“It’s like she’s expressing gratitude to Gracie for ‘taking her place’ more or less,” they continued, “and allowing her to move on, hence the [line] ‘being myself wasn’t easy, do it for me‘.”
On X, a user noted that Bridgers’ “song about Paul” also contained some “Gracie shade”, with someone else writing: “Knowing the context and the song’s basically showing she’s (Phoebe) an outsider in her own life, she’s pertaining to no one but herself here.”
The singer also refers to her current relationship with Bo Burnham (full name Robert Pickering Burnham) on ‘Lost Weekend’, most notably on the love song ‘Bobby’ – which follows ‘The Governor’s Waltz’ on the tracklist.
“So you followed me home like you’d done it before/ And you had to bend over to get through the door/ And if you didn’t like either one of my friends/ I’d kill them, I’d kill them,” Bridgers sings.
Bridgers and Mescal were reported to be engaged in late 2022, but broke up shortly afterwards. Mescal then said he intended to keep his relationship status private in future, owing to interest around the split.
The actor later shared the advice his All Of Us Strangers co-star Andrew Scott gave him after his break-up with Bridgers. Quoting Scott, Mescal said: “The only thing you’re left with after love is grief. Which is, like, a bleak thing, but I think it’s just a fact.”
Last autumn, Mescal opened up about feeling protective over his relationship with Abrams, describing it as “deeply precious” to him. Abrams recently said she “feels lucky to be generally inspired” by the actor for songwriting, explaining that their romance “held a mirror” up to her past relationships.
In a glowing five-star review of ‘Lost Weekend’, NME hailed ‘The Governor’s Waltz’ as one of the album’s “most poignant moments” where Bridgers “wades in the dark underbelly of love”.
It adds: “She acknowledges the similarity of herself and her ex’s new partner with a deprecating slight,” it adds […] Despite shying away from the public, she’s unafraid to bare the details in her songs.”
Meanwhile, there is speculation that Geese frontman Cameron Winter sings under an alias on two ‘Lost Weekend’ songs.
In other news, Bridgers has announced some intimate phone-free shows in the UK for next week. She’ll then head out on ‘The Lost Tour’, kicking off in North America next month before heading to the UK and Europe in November and December.
The UK and Ireland dates include shows at Dublin’s 3Arena, Manchester’s Co-op Live and London’s The O2. Find any remaining tickets here (UK and Ireland) and here (North America).
Phoebe Bridgers premiered ‘Lost Weekend’ by playing the record in planetariums worldwide, accompanied by some custom-made visual displays.
