Billie Eilish: Don’t Smile at Me

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Sixteen-year-old singer-songwriter Billie Eilish has blown the minds of millions worldwide with her powerful words and message. In 2016, Eilish released her debut song, “Ocean Eyes,” which became her first hit, and later became a part of her first album, Don’t Smile at Me. The album is composed of only 9 songs, yet they are all powerful and bold statements coming from someone who truly understands who she is and what her interests are. She doesn’t play by anyone else’s rules, which is perfectly embodied by the title of her album.

Her album opener “COPYCAT” oozes confidence and authority. The song is Eilish’s response to someone who tried copying her mannerisms. Throughout the song, along with her voice, you hear some beats and a haunting synth. It is eerie, slightly threatening, but powerful and laced with some great wordplay. The bridge, however, introduces us to part of Eilish’s incredible artistry: she surpasses all expectations and turns the song from a dark, electric composition of synth and bass to somewhat of a piano ballad. The confidence that was there before remains, but her voice becomes softer, a little more approachable as she builds into a falsetto.

Next, comes a song of vulnerability, “idontwannabeyouanymore”. The start of the song, with piano and Eilish’s ad-libs, seem like a melody interlaced with a jazz harmony. The song deals with her self-image and the struggle of juggling society’s pressures – but also brings this message to a wider context by referring to models and people’s tendencies to judge you for what you wear (“If teardrops could be bottled/ There’d be swimming pools filled by models/ Told the tight dress is what makes you a whore”). The range she displays in this song is a great show of Eilish’s vocal capacity; she doesn’t lose control of her voice while she floats between high and low pitches and is capable of delivering powerful sentimentality in every word.

“Watch”, the ballad of closure for a broken heart is one of the strongest songs of the album. She diverges from the conventionality of using regular instruments as her background music and instead opens with the strike of a match, which continues throughout the song as its main beat. Relating back to the match, her song centers around fire. Its use as a metaphor for desire seems cliché, yet Eilish makes it work due to her surprising originality. Months after the album’s release, Eilish released a second version of the song called “&burn” featuring Vince Staples. This second take is stronger and bolder, but retaining the same vulnerability the original lyrics offer.

“Bellyache”, one of Eilish’s top hits, and one of the main reasons for her fame, displays more of her ‘indie’ style than what is seen in some of her other songs.

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This song embodies a serial killer, and it gets better with every listen — the casual guitar strums coupled with Eilish unapologetic embodiment of this character and beats that really challenge you not to move to them.

Eilish’s album went on to gain so much fame that she released an album for the second season of 13 Reasons Why, a well-known Netflix show which received more than 6 million views. The 16-year-old’s net worth is now approximately $150 thousand and continues to rise. She’s a very talented artist with the power of turning her feelings into words and sounds her listeners can understand and relate to.