ROCKLAND, Mass. — Local man Eddie Clifford was surprised to discover the most recent extended voicemail from his mother Ruth featured a cameo from acclaimed singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers, confirmed multiple confused sources.
“My mom’s voicemails always start off the same. She starts with ‘I love you, I miss you’ and then it usually gets kind of dark when she starts to let loose with what she actually wanted to say,” said Clifford while trying to upload the voicemail message to Youtube. “Today was different though, around the four-minute mark my mother just stopped talking and suddenly it was Phoebe Bridgers singing a beautiful song about how my mother raised me to be better than this, and how I need to take a long look in the mirror. Then it cut back to my mom who sounded a little tipsy saying ‘Don’t bother calling me back.’”
Bridgers, who has been a featured guest vocalist on multiple notable tracks over the past few years, says she was excited to work with Clifford’s 64-year-old mother.
“I first discovered Ruth by accident on Facebook in 2017. She would post some of the most hilarious status updates like ‘Why is Eddie getting married?’ and ‘Can I force my son oldest son to get a divorce?’ I think she was trying to use Google but got confused,” said Bridgers during a 40-second break from touring. “I had my management reach out to her immediately. It took her nearly six years to respond, but it was worth the wait. When I heard she planned on having a bottle of wine and calling her son I needed to be a part of it. I asked her to do some work with boygenius, but that led her to talk about how Eddie did really good in school and now acts like an idiot.”
Popular music reviewer Anthony Fantano was quick to praise the collaboration between Mrs. Clifford and Bridgers.
“Ruth Clifford has been known for years in the underground voicemail world as one of the most prolific talkers of her generation, and combining that with the toned-down style of Phoebe Bridgers is taking the ‘guilt trip voicemail’ to a new level,” said Fantano. “Not once do any of Ruth’s complaints seem forced, and it’s justifiable that she wants to hear from her oldest son more often. Then when Phoebe comes in—it’s just a punch straight to the guy. I just hope my own mother and Phoebe can also collaborate on a voicemail about how I’m a personal disappointment despite my success.”
At press time, Mrs. Clifford admitted she would be taking a break from voicemails while she tries to figure out why her television remote is “acting so weird.”