You're listening to Song Exploder, where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made.

I'm Rishi Kesh Hirway.

Lucy Dakis has a new album coming out on March 28, called Forever Is a Feeling.

So before it comes out, I thought it could be nice to revisit her Song Exploder episode from 2021.

It's about the beautiful and brutally heartbreaking song, Thumbs, which I love. Since recording that episode, Lucy's won

three Grammy Awards as part of her band Boy Genius, including album of the year. But back in

2021, I had a really nice afternoon talking to Lucy. She was the first guest to come over and record with me in person after COVID hit.

So I have a lot of fond memories about this one.

And I hope you'll enjoy listening or re-listening to it with me.

Before this episode starts, I want to give a content warning.

There's some explicit language, but more

crucially, the subject matter could be upsetting to some listeners. There's an explicit description

of a pretty violent act in the song, and there's some not explicit but implied behavior of a parent

mistreating their child. So please be mindful of that, and take care before going ahead.

Lucy Dacus is a singer and songwriter from Richmond, Virginia. She put out her first album in 2016,

and in 2018 she formed the band Boy Genius with Julian Baker and Phoebe Bridgers.

In June 2021, she released her third album, Home Video, which includes this song, Thumbs.

The first time I heard it, I knew I wanted to ask Lucy about how and why she made it.

So after some COVID testing, we spoke in person here in Los Angeles, and she told me the story of how Thumbs took months and months to get right.

Your nails are digging into my knee.

I don't know how you keep smiling. I'm Lucy Dacus.

The day that I wrote Thumbs was in 2018, but the event that the song is about happened like five years before.

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