#SOTD: Billie Eilish - “What Was I Made For?”

image courtesy of Jack Bridgland

I will spare my rant on how fucking hype I am about the Barbie movie for now to talk about Billie Eilish’s contribution to BARBIE THE ALBUM, the introspective ballad, “What Was I Made For?” Eilish sat down with none other than Zane Lowe to share details around how the song came to life and the way the meaning behind the song evolved as the song channeled its way out of her.

I won’t share all the nitty gritty details, but initially when she began working on the song with her brother FINNEAS the lyrics were written solely from Barbie’s perspective. The story goes that after writing the first couple of verses and the chorus, she proceeded to drive around playing the demo in her car everywhere she went. At some point while driving around it suddenly struck her that what she was writing was exactly how she was feeling, which then led her to be able to complete the song somewhat quickly.

Eilish also shared that around this time period that her and her producer brother were in a bit of a dry spell creatively, so having this song come together as quickly as it seemingly did was much needed for the siblings.

There’s a lesson here about being unafraid to experiment with your approach to your respective creative output. Sometimes a shift in perspective is all you need to get reconnected to your most authentic form of self expression. Also you should absolutely watch the whole interview, especially if you’ve been feeling a little creatively stifled.