This weekend on Saturday Night Live, musical guest Phoebe Bridgers smashed her guitar. It came at the end of the song “I Know the End,” her second performance of the night. Overall, it was a strong performance. But the big news story has nothing to with her music, but her act of smashing her guitar into an amp. Can you believe it??
Well, yeah, sure I can. Smashing instruments has been an iconic rock star stunt since the mid-Sixties. Originally popularized by The Who as an example of “auto-destructive art,” the act was repeated by countless numbers of musicians over the next several decades. Kiss smash their guitars as part of their over-the-top performances, and Nirvana made waves by destroying their instruments on stage in the Nineties. Of course there is the iconic image of Paul Simonon smiting his bass on the cover of The Clash’s London Calling, and Jimi Hendrix upped the ante by setting his axe on fire before he rammed it into his monitors. No matter who does it, smashing a guitar is the ultimate symbol of rock ‘n roll abandon – it is catharsis and rage and release made real. It’s cool.
So why the kerfuffle over Bridgers doing the same? Bridgers has received tons of criticism on social media from arm-chair warriors. There have been countless reports and think pieces published about the act, and she even fielded questions about it on CNN. People criticized her for seeming to lack the strength to fully swing the instrument (even though she did, clearly). People said that smashing it showed a “lack of respect” for the instrument. (How belittling – I’m pretty sure that someone who appears on national TV and is nominated for several Grammys can afford a new guitar. Don’t sweat it). Even notorious old fogey David Crosby went on a Twitter rant about it. (Hey Croz, you’ve always thought smashing guitars was stupid? Go back to 1968 and say that to Pete Townshend’s face, you West Coast soy boy.*)
While Bridgers’ music is generally not at the adrenaline level that I would consider “guitar smashing energy,” this live version of “I Know the End” really kicked up some dust and provided her with the perfect platform to do so.
I think there are three interlocking factors that play into why a bunch of people have their panties in a twist over this. Firstly, as many people have already pointed out, she is a woman. Rock is notoriously a boys club, and women have always had to work harder to make it big in the industry. I could tell from perusing internet comments that her sex led many people to assume she was some manufactured pop star, instead of a long working indie musician who’s just made it big. Would they assume the same about a man playing the same type of music? Would they be making fun of her perceived strength if she was a man?
Secondly, she writes confessional, often downbeat songs. Smashing a guitar is not what many people would initially expect from her, so it threw them for a loop. There’s long been a culture problem about what constitutes “real rock,” as though if you aren’t ripping thick power chords or finger-tapping solos your music isn’t legitimate; some people just want to see Aerosmith clones. That’s fine I guess, I’m sure Greta Van Fleet will play SNL at a later date. But just because you don’t jive with the style of an artist doesn’t mean that they don’t have a right to perform as they wish. What has happened to rock ‘n roll where someone gets made fun of for doing something universally hailed as emblematic of the very same genre?
Finally, many people just don’t understand where Bridgers is coming from. Fans are familiar with her ironic tone and satirical take on subject matter; smashing her guitar tracks perfectly with her sense of humor. It’s the same sly irony that compelled her to print her name in a black metal font on the bass drum for the clip. Last I checked, SNL was a comedy show, not the Guggenheim. Many people, especially those not as invested in millennial internet culture, are not going to connect all those dots as readily as those who are.
When it came out after the fact that she cleared the deed with the show’s tech people beforehand, people criticized her more. “So it was planned,” people cried. “Faaaaake.” Give me a break. You think all the aforementioned acts spontaneously decide to destroy their instruments, night after night? No of course not – it’s for show. Bridgers had the idea to have some fun, and checked that it wouldn’t cause problems. Is it really so much of a surprise that a twenty-something would want to rock out on live TV and smash their guitar? That’s pretty much the dream. I previously thought smashing your guitar was cliche, but I guess it still holds transgressive power. Good for Phoebe Bridgers. I hope she smashes more.
*As much as I bash David Crosby, I must note that I love his music. Hey, what can I say – separate the art from the artist and all that.
Then Play On 