“Dog Bite” is Stella Bridie’s first release, and, with influences such as Mitski and Snail Mail, she sings about wanting to be loved by someone along with having a mental illness. Bridie is able to replicate feelings and experiences that are hard to put into words for a lot of people, and she does it effortlessly. Incorporating melancholy lyrics and upbeat guitar riffs, one could easily describe “Dog Bite” as the epitome of sad girl indie rock music.
In the song, Bridie sings, “I didn’t taste how you’d dreamed when you dreamed of your wanting,” which hits you like a ton of bricks the first time you listen to it. She realizes that she isn’t what her partner wants and isn’t going to get the love she wanted from them. A lot of her fans can connect to these lyrics on a personal level.
Using her online platform, Bridie explains the meaning behind the title on her blog: “I was really ill a little while ago and none of the doctors I saw could figure out what was going on, if it was chronic fatigue, if I was deficient in something, and I had one ask if I’d been bitten by any animals in the last two years, I guess to just rule out some possible diagnoses. I hadn’t, but I kind of thought how much easier it would be if I could just show people some kind of open wound rather than constantly trying to explain mental illness and trauma.”
The feeling of not wanting to explain a mental illness to someone—instead wishing to be able to show it the way one would with a physical injury—isn’t a universal feeling, but it is one that many people do feel and can relate to. It is hard to understand certain complex emotions and be able to properly put them into words, but, somehow, Stella Bridie can do it perfectly.