The Brief: The Phoebe Bridgers "emotional motion sickness" dance is a favorite on cottagecore/lesbian/WLW/indie TikTok.

Bluesquiggle
DEEP DIVE

The “Emotional Motion Sickness” dance is popular on TikTok subcommunities including cottagecore, lesbian, WLW, queer, mental illness, and indie TikTok as well as #PhoebeBridgersTok.

TikToker @biblegirlirl choreographed the dance which includes licking your hand, putting your hands above your head, and throwing it back, all to the slow beat of Phoebe Bridgers’ song “Motion Sickness.”

@illbetheartist

illness but make it mental #phoebebridgerstok #mentallyill #fyp #foryou #RockinCollege #dancer #motionsickness

♬ original sound – Abby

The lyrics included in these videos go:

I’ll be glad that I made it out
And sorry that it all went down like it did

I have emotional motion sickness
Somebody roll the windows down

This fun and silly dance both parodies traditional TikTok dances and embraces them.  At the time of writing, over 5,000 videos with the “Motion Sickness” clip have been uploaded to TikTok, and videos associated with the hashtag #MotionSickness have been viewed over 7 million times, although some of those are about actual motion sickness, not the song. Phoebe Bridgers’ TikT0k fandom is not insignificant as videos associated with the hashtags #PhoebeBridgers and #PhoebeBridgersTok have been viewed over 14.2 million times.

Cottagecore TikTok and related communities on the app aren’t typically known for their dance challenges, but this dance shows how smaller subcultures can be the source of viral dances.

@flabbygutler

wanted to bring the emotional intensity that #phoebebridgers deserves (dc: @biblegirlirl)

♬ original sound – abby_bearo

@mrsedwardcullen

He escaped the basement. I’m going to be in so much trouble 😬

♬ original sound – abby_bearo

@largiemargieinchargie

Dear phoebe,

♬ original sound – abby_bearo

@kadendjohns

Someone be my friend

♬ original sound – abby_bearo

@feedthatbooty

27 & Waiting for my big brother and his girlfriend to pick me up so we can visit my Dad at the beach, feels like being a teenager again. #Fyp #lgbtq

♬ original sound – abby_bearo

@shloopymoopy

this is the only kind of content we’ll be posting anymore. #Stitch #fyp #ImAMusician #foryoupage #spooktember #onlineschool #pheobebridgers

♬ original sound – abby_bearo