But for Bridgers, known for her melancholy melodies and somber lyrics, the abandoned storefronts and eerie corridors of the mall are what give shape to the romance at the center of the tune. In commentary about the album, Bridgers said the track was “about falling in love in a hopeless place.”

A view of the Liberty Tree Mall last year.Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff

“[It] is huge on, like, backrooms, liminal-space Internet,” she said of the mall. “People love it, and I love it. It’s very weird. Puts you in a really weird headspace.”

If you’re wondering what, exactly, brought Bridgers to the mall, the better question may be who brought her there. For the past few years, Bridgers has been romantically linked to comedian and performer Bo Burnham, who is a native of Hamilton — a quick drive northeast from the mall.

Burnham is a self-professed Liberty Tree aficionado. He hosted a friends-and-family screening of his 2018 film “Eighth Grade” at the mall’s AMC movie theatre, and took a New Yorker writer on an excursion there. “The mall was a self-contained, autonomous space for kids,” he said to the New Yorker, “where they could pretend like they’re free out in the real world when they’re not, really.”

Burnham is also credited on some songs on Bridgers’ new album, though not on “Liberty Tree.”

Located next to Route 128, the mall opened to much fanfare in 1972, anchored by department stores Ann & Hope and Lechmere Sales. In its heyday, shoppers and mallrats went to its Aladdin’s Castle arcade, Paperback Booksmith, and “International Food Pavilion.”

The Liberty Tree Mall was once home to Ann & Hope.Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff

But even before Bridgers’ song, observers had long noted that the mall, like others in the region, had seen better days. It has made semi-frequent appearances on the “Dead Malls” subreddit forum, where one commenter noted in 2021 that the mall was “definitely dying a slow, painful death.” There is even a Facebook group, 8,000-members strong, dedicated to waxing nostalgic about the mall back “in the old days.”

Both the Old Navy and Kim’s Hallmark Shop recently closed their doors there and opened locations in the Northshore Mall, less than a mile away in Peabody. (A Ross Dress For Less, however, is set to open at the Liberty Tree soon.)

“When I was younger, there used to be big trampolines in the entryway, they had this giant Liberty Tree that was in there, all the stores used to be active,” said Dalton DeLima, 31, a Peabody-based content creator who made a video visiting the mall shortly after Bridgers’ song came out. “It used to be a really, really active mall, and then now it’s just, like, a graveyard — a memory of what it used to be.”

In 2022, the mall was quietly listed for sale. But four years later, longtime owner Simon Property Group is still at the helm. (The company did not immediately respond to the Globe’s request for comment about Bridgers’ song.)

Today, the mall is still home to a hodge-podge of retailers, such as Target, Marshalls, Aldi, Home Depot, and Kohl’s. It’s got a kids’ swimming school, an indoor trampoline park, and mini-megachurch called Netcast. And, yes, as mentioned in Bridgers’ lyrics, there is a photo booth — or rather, at least two of them, according to DeLima, who found one across from Thread & Shape, and another by the food court.

DeLima, for one, expects Bridgers’ song to bring the mall a small burst of star power that translates into foot traffic. Already, on social media, some local fans are doing their part.

“Picking up wine from the Liberty Tree mall to listen to the album like Phoebe Bridgers intended,” declared text on one TikTok video, with Total Wine & More visible through a car windshield. “Liberty tree mall won’t die on my watch Phoebe,” said another, taken from the point of view of a person strolling into the AMC.

But for now, DeLima said, based on his visit, the bleakness of the song is fitting.

“It almost feels, like, post-apocalyptic in there,” he said. “This is the remnants of something that used to be.”

Dana Gerber can be reached at dana.gerber@globe.com. Follow her @danagerber6. Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.