Last March, Billie Eilish came to Paradise Rock Club — the concert venue next to one of my jobs. The entire day, I dealt with teenage girls in puffy yellow jackets, and parents who were forced to drive into the city to make their little girl happy. It was a rough day at work. People had been lining up since 6 AM … for a concert that started at 8 PM. Dedicated fans are no joke, but I was flabbergasted at the parents who were willing to hang out with their 13-year-olds for a literal 15 hours.
At the time, Billie was 16. I actually met her mom, who came into Goodwill for a can opener — Billie is obsessed with burritos and they needed to open a can for lunch. Long story short, I had heard her hit “Ocean Eyes” and was like “Damn, this is good,” but never listened to any of her other music.
Fast forward to February 2019, Billie Eilish’s “idontwannabeyouanymore” plays on my Pandora and I am instantly hooked. Her lyricism and haunting whispered vocals are enough to make me cry. Don’t get me wrong though, she seriously isn’t for everyone.
Her debut album, WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? is an addicting masterpiece. Even if you can’t appreciate the mixing and production, the lyrics will still shake you to the core (and make you angry that she’s SO [expletive] talented at 17). Here a few of her songs that you should listen to!
1. “xanny”
“xanny” discusses feeling out of place at parties and not understanding recreational Xanax use. She sings “I can’t afford to love someone/ Who isn’t dying by mistake in Silver Lake” referring to the increasing number of overdoses. The song utilizes Eilish’s vocal capabilities for the majority of the song, and strategically places bass drops to emphasize the message of the song. (Note: Please listen with headphones for maximum addiction potential).
2. “all the good girls go to hell”
“all the good girls go to hell” has so many religious allusions, the most important being that God is a woman. There are a large number of people on the internet who genuinely believe Billie Eilish is under the “Devil’s control.” It makes me laugh every time I see it. You can just get a good kick out of this song.
3. “i love you”
“i love you” is the only acoustic ballad on the album, and being sadboi Jericha, I have to include it in my top 3. It’s essentially about the fear of love — if someone ever said they loved you and you were afraid to admit that they actually love you. The chorus is my favorite: “Maybe won’t you take it back?/Say you were trying to make me laugh/And nothing has to change today/You didn’t mean to say I love you.” Love is completely scary. Even though Billie is 17, she has managed to put very real fear into words.
4. Honorary Mentions: “!!!!” and “bad guy”
“!!!!” and “bad guy” are just too much fun to not include on this list. If you ever have anxiety, these two songs in order at full blast will do the trick. This is just a bad b*tch song — Billie is teasing her lover, knowing she’s completely in control at all times, and questioning if he’s really the “tough guy” he thinks he is.
She flaunts her BDE saying, “I’m that bad type/Make your mama sad type/ Make your girlfriend mad type/Might seduce your dad type/I’m the bad guy/DUH.”
You can actually hear the 17-year-old eye roll. It’s just an all-around hype song. Even Billie herself was most excited to release this song because “Shit smacks!” and she’s not wrong.
If you can put your pride away long enough to listen to her music, you will be ADDICTED to Billie Eilish, that’s a promise. Very few artists on the charts these days have even half of the talent that she does, and I’m so MAD I didn’t see her last year.
Stop sleeping on Billie because she’s gonna do some BOLD stuff as she gets older! I can’t wait to watch her talent unfold.
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