{"id":644279,"date":"2026-08-18T21:26:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T21:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/644279\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T21:26:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T21:26:15","slug":"phoebe-bridgers-croons-about-liberty-tree-mall-on-new-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/644279\/","title":{"rendered":"Phoebe Bridgers croons about Liberty Tree Mall on new album"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/a>, Bridgers said the track was \u201cabout falling in love in a hopeless place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA view of the Liberty Tree Mall last year.Pat Greenhouse\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

\u201c[It] is huge on, like, backrooms, liminal-space Internet,\u201d she said of the mall. \u201cPeople love it, and I love it. It\u2019s very weird. Puts you in a really weird headspace.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re 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<\/a>, who is a native of Hamilton \u2014 a quick drive northeast from the mall.<\/p>\n

Burnham is a self-professed Liberty Tree aficionado. He hosted a friends-and-family screening<\/a> of his 2018 film \u201cEighth Grade\u201d at the mall\u2019s AMC movie theatre, and took a New Yorker writer on an excursion there<\/a>. \u201cThe mall was a self-contained, autonomous space for kids,\u201d he said to the New Yorker, \u201cwhere they could pretend like they\u2019re free out in the real world when they\u2019re not, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burnham is also credited on some songs on Bridgers\u2019 new album, though not on \u201cLiberty Tree.\u201d <\/p>\n

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\u2019s Castle arcade, Paperback Booksmith, and \u201cInternational Food Pavilion.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"TheThe Liberty Tree Mall was once home to Ann & Hope.Joanne Rathe\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

But even before Bridgers\u2019 song, observers had long noted that the mall, like others in the region<\/a>, had seen better days. It has made semi-frequent appearances on the \u201cDead Malls\u201d subreddit forum<\/a>, where one commenter noted in 2021<\/a> that the mall was \u201cdefinitely dying a slow, painful death.\u201d There is even a Facebook group<\/a>, 8,000-members strong, dedicated to waxing nostalgic about the mall back \u201cin the old days.\u201d <\/p>\n

Both the Old Navy<\/a> and Kim\u2019s Hallmark Shop<\/a> 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<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen 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,\u201d said Dalton DeLima, 31, a Peabody-based content creator who made a video visiting the mall<\/a> shortly after Bridgers\u2019 song came out. \u201cIt used to be a really, really active mall, and then now it\u2019s just, like, a graveyard \u2014 a memory of what it used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2022, the mall was quietly listed for sale.<\/a> But four years later, longtime owner Simon Property Group is still at the helm. (The company did not immediately respond to the Globe\u2019s request for comment about Bridgers\u2019 song.)<\/p>\n

Today, the mall is still home to a hodge-podge of retailers, such as Target, Marshalls, Aldi, Home Depot, and Kohl\u2019s. It\u2019s got a kids\u2019 swimming school, an indoor trampoline park, and mini-megachurch called Netcast<\/a>. And, yes, as mentioned in Bridgers\u2019 lyrics, there is a photo booth \u2014 or rather, at least two of them, according to DeLima, who found one across from Thread & Shape, and another by the food court.<\/p>\n

DeLima, for one, expects Bridgers\u2019 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. <\/p>\n

\u201cPicking up wine from the Liberty Tree mall to listen to the album like Phoebe Bridgers intended,\u201d declared text on one TikTok video<\/a>, with Total Wine & More visible through a car windshield. \u201cLiberty tree mall won\u2019t die on my watch Phoebe,\u201d said another, taken from the point of view of a person strolling into the AMC. <\/p>\n

But for now, DeLima said, based on his visit, the bleakness of the song is fitting. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt almost feels, like, post-apocalyptic in there,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is the remnants of something that used to be.\u201d <\/p>\n

Dana Gerber can be reached at dana.gerber@globe.com<\/a>. Follow her @danagerber6<\/a>. Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com<\/a>. Follow her @alexagagosz<\/a> and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz<\/a>.<\/p>\n