FEATURE:
Groovelines
IN THIS PHOTO: Billie Eilish performs at Lollapalooza on 3rd August, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois/PHOTO CREDIT:: Michael Hickey/Getty Images
why I am sort of returning Barbie. I am not talking about the film or Greta Gerwig (its wonderful director and co-writer). I want to move to the soundtrack. I think that it has a fantastic collection of songs. Maybe recent allegations made about Lizzo – who provides one of the best songs on it with Pink – will slightly sour some of the focus on the album. I feel the finest track on the soundtrack is from Billie Eilish. I am going to end by discussing her a director. She directed the video for that Barbie song, What Was I Made For? It is a typically beautiful and slightly haunted song from the Los Angeles-born modern-day icon. It has such fascinating and thought-provoking lyrics. I shall come to them soon enough. I actually want to start with a feature from NME. There was a lot of interest around an artist one might expect to fit into a Barbie soundtrack aesthetic – brighter, more joyous and, well, pink:
“Billie Eilish has released her song for the Barbie movie soundtrack – a soft, piano-led ballad called ‘What Was I Made For?.
The track was written by Eilish and her brother and collaborator Finneas especially for the soundtrack of Greta Gerwig’s new movie. Finneas also produced the song at his home studio in LA.
In the lyrics, the star candidly shares feelings of losing her purpose and not being able to enjoy life. “When did it end? / All the enjoyment / I’m sad again / Don’t tell my boyfriend,” she sings in one verse. “It’s not what he’s made for / What was I made for?”
Writing on Instagram, Eilish shared some insight into how the song came about. “in january greta showed me and finneas a handful of some unfinished scenes from the film; we had nooooo idea what to expect at ALLL… we were so deeeeeply moved.. that the next day we were writing and COULDNT shut up about it lolll andddddddddd ended up writing almost the entire song that night,” she shared. “to be real with you this all seemed to happen in a time when i really needed it. i’m so so thankful for that.
“This video makes me cryyyyy.. it means so much to me and i hope it will mean just as much to you. don’t have much to say other than that, i think it will speak for itself.”
The video, which was directed by Eilish, sees the singer wearing yellow and with blonde hair, sat at a desk in a wide, green-walled and floored space, looking through a box of dolls’ clothes. As the visuals progress, the room shakes, a gust of strong wind begins to wreak havoc, and rain begins to pour on her as she hurriedly tries to hang the clothes on a miniature clothes rail.
Other artists who are set to appear on the Barbie soundtrack include Sam Smith, whose song ‘Man I Am’ will represent the Kens, PinkPantheress, Charli XCX, Karol G, and Dua Lipa. Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice have also teamed up for their second collaboration on ‘Barbie World’, which features a sample of Aqua’s hit single ‘Barbie Girl’.
The first reactions to the Barbie movie, which stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, were unveiled earlier this week, with critics praising the film as “funny, bombastic and very smart”. Barbie will be released on July 21”.
There is a lot to love about What Was I Made For? Written with her brother Finneas O’Connell and produced by Andrew Wyatt, Finneas and Mark Ronson, this song, I feel, signals a new era for Eilish. Others have made that declaration. Now twenty-one, maybe she is saying goodbye to baggy clothes and a certain perception people have of her. Not that the song is a radical departure from what we heard on her current studio album, 2021’s Happier Than Ever. I think that this might be one of Eilish’s best-ever songs – so that was why I am keen to explore it and briefly return to the magnificent Barbie. Aural Crave provide some interpretation and assistance when it comes to the incredible and deep lyrics of What Was I Made For? I think each listener will have their own view on that the song is really about:
“Announced a few days before its release, What Was I Made For? is the single released by Billie Eilish on July 13, 2023. As part of the soundtrack of the movie Barbie, set for release in the same month, the track is an emotional descent into Barbie’s psychology while acknowledging herself. The song’s lyrics are full of meaning: let’s discover them in this article; you’ll also find the complete lyrics at the end.
The lyrics of What Was I Made For? are about getting awareness of what we are and our place in the world. Billie Eilish expresses what would be Barbie’s feelings: apparently, Barbie has gained a new understanding of her life and now wonders what her role is. Basically, it’s the philosophic dilemma “Why are we here?” contextualized in Barbie’s individual life.
Following the lyrics of What Was I Made For?, we understand that the protagonist has experienced a growth phase, after which she now needs to understand her life purpose. From some lines, we may guess that Barbie realized she was part of a plastic world, and now she’s wondering why she came to life.
I was an ideal
Looked so alive, turns out, I’m not real
Just something you paid for
What was I made for?
If that’s true, now Barbie must find a new life purpose. A new way to conceive her life, a new perspective. Which means also changing the way you feel about what happens to you.
‘Cause I, I
I don’t know how to feel
But I wanna try
I don’t know how to feel
But someday I might
PHOTO CREDIT: Billie Eilish
It’s a sad song, and we cannot exclude that Billie Eilish expressed some personal feelings related to Barbie’s condition. However, What Was I Made For? is not hopeless, and that’s the authentic meaning of its lyrics: in the end, Barbie wants to find out why she’s here. She’s sad now but wants to be happy again. She must only discover what can drive her life in this new phase. “Something she can be.”
Think I forgot how to be happy
Something I’m not, but something I can be
Something I wait for
Something I’m made for”.
I am going to finish with some extracts from an interview Billie Eilish did with Zane Lowe. I love these types of interviews. Two people hanging out in a relaxed environment and almost shooting the breeze. Lowe is a great interview that gets some very interesting answers from artists. Let’s get back to What Was I Made For? The video of it will be in this feature, though Billboard highlighted some sections. In fact, before I wrap up, I need to talk about Billie Eilish directing the video for What Was I Made For? It is a gorgeous song that, let’s hope, might find its way onto her third studio album:
“You might just have Barbie to thank for Billie Eilish‘s next album. In a new interview following the release of the 21-year-old pop star’s Barbie film soundtrack single “What Was I Made For?,” Eilish confessed that the project, which dropped with a self-directed music video on Thursday (July 13), pulled her and brother/producer Finneas out of a brutal writing slump plagued by self-doubt.
“Honestly, we were in a period of time where we were both… like through this last winter, we’ve both been incredibly uninspired,” Eilish told Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1. “And we’ve still been working and trying to make stuff. And honestly, that song was the first thing we’d written in a minute. Even though we were coming up with ideas and coming up with this and that, I remember after we wrote that first half, I go, ‘I think we still got it.'”
The “Bad Guy” singer also shared that the writing process began with director Greta Gerwig treating her and Finneas to a special viewing of a rough cut of Barbie at the Warner Brother Studios. The very next day, the brother-sister musicians weren’t having any success in writing music independent of the film — but when they on a whim shifted into writing what would become “What Was I Made For?” from Barbie’s perspective, their writer’s block immediately dissipated.
“We were really in a zone of feeling like we lost it and feeling like, man, I don’t know if we can do this anymore,” she added. “Barbie and Greta just pulled it out of me, I don’t know,” Eilish said. “Those first couple lyrics, ‘I used to float, now I just fall down,’ just came right out.”
IN THIS PHOTO: Billie Eilish photoed (looking super-cool!) attending the World Premiere of Barbie at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on 9th July, 2023 in Los Angeles, California/PHOTO CREDIT: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Filmmagic
One of the most inspiring things to come out of the writing process, Eilish added, was how a song written strictly from the point of view of Margot Robbie’s titular character in Barbie somehow came full circle, with the “Happier Than Ever” artist realizing that she related to the lyrics without even trying to.
“I did not think about myself once in the writing process,” the Grammy winner explained. “I was purely inspired by this movie and this character and the way I thought she would feel, and wrote about that. And then, over the next couple days, I was listening and I was like, girl, how did this … honestly, and I really don’t mean this to come off a conceited way at all, but I do this thing where I make stuff that I don’t even know is … like I’m writing for myself and I don’t even know it.”
“It is one of the most incredible things I get to experience in my life,” Eilish continued. “Dude, the next week I was playing it in the car all day and playing it for everybody. And I was like, ‘This is exactly how I feel. And I didn’t even mean to be saying it.’ It was truly the trippiest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. I was like, oh, I absolutely was writing about myself, but I was thinking about myself from a third person”.
One of the most accomplished and incredible artists of her generation, Eilish is also a magnificent live performer. I have often wondered when she is going to go into films. I have not checked IMDB, but I think she may have been in a few bits briefly. In terms of putting her as a lead actor, actually, I can see Greta Gerwig tempting her into a flick. Maybe an Indie film similar to Gerwig’s Oscar-nominated (and scandalously un-awarded!) Lady Bird, Eilish has this naturalness and honesty. She is a phenomenal performer, so you can see her lighting up the big screen – though she could easily step into a T.V. drama or comedy too. The video for What Was I Made For? is terrific. Eilish has directed some wonderful videos before, but this might be her most vivid, memorable and accomplished visualisation. I love the colour palettes and the choice of shots. Eilish showing that she is a naturally skilful director with her own visual aesthetic and storytelling arc. Someone who understands bringing out the emotions, depths and nuances in a song in addition to bringing some wonderful visuals and elements to a video, I can see her directing a lot more. Perhaps this song marks a step to a more autonomous career. Artists like Taylor Swift are directing their own videos more, so maybe Eilish is going to be the helm of all of her videos. I do really think her musical gifts could translate to acting very easily. I can see her having a career as successful as Lady Gaga. What Was I Made For? is a tremendous song from the Barbie soundtrack. It would be excellent to see it included on Billie Eilish’s next album – which has not yet been announced, just to avoid confusion! -, as it is one of her very best and most affecting songs. I actually think it is her best. An outstanding talent who seems to grow stronger with each song, there is no doubting she is an icon! That is why I wanted to dive inside…
ONE of this year’s very best tracks.