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 Rishikesh Hirway.
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.