When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Analyzing current music for its meaningful content moves you away from what's on the radio and what's popular. There are so many artists and albums and bands coming out daily, making it difficult to find what you like and even more difficult to identify why. Everyone has their own particular style (both the artists and listeners) and everyone can interpret music in the way it will benefit them most. This analysis is really going to be about how mental health, the good and the bad, shows through in music, focusing on one particular example.
Recently, artist Billie Eilish released her new album and made half the world, and probably more than half of our school, explode. Just starting out stating my opinion- I think she's absolutely incredible and that it's amazing that she has built a career at 17. Her age also makes her easy to relate to and approachable. Her personality in interviews is open, modest, and generally kind. That being said, let us dive into an analysis of "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go" and the nods to struggles with mental health throughout.
The album opens (after a brief and cute introduction) on the song "Bad Guy". Despite the upbeat tone and comically cynical lyrics, there are some undertones to the song that comment on
insecurity and trying to live up to gender expectations. It's almost a cry for help- "I'm only good at being bad" and the arrogance of trying to fit into the bad girl role expressed by "you say she's scared of me? I mean, I don't see what she sees but maybe it's cause I'm wearing your cologne".
The next track is called "xanny" and is directly talking about self medication, specifically in youth. How teens especially use illegal drugs to feel better, or fit in. This can often be detrimental to mental and physical health, and this song is meant to bring awareness to that.
"You Should See Me in a Crown" is an eerie single included on the album that's a cross between a power anthem and impatience with youth. Opening with "Bite my tongue, bide my time. Wearing a warning sign, wait till the world is mine" the song plays on the anger and impatience teenagers can feel today with school, parents, relationships- really anything. It's like the angry side of BPD. Personally, my favorite line is "tell me which one is worse, living or dying first". It's that limbo between adulthood and childhood frustration.
Skipping over some amazing tracks for the sake of time, the next song that evokes incredible emotion about depression and loneliness in general is "When the party's over". This made me cry the first time I listened to it. The song tells a story of a troubled person going through a semi-abusive relationship an the pain behind that. I think this could not only be taken at face value, but also be looked at as symbolism for letting go of a feeling, a mindset, you've held onto for so long. It's going out of the comfort of one thing to make way for something better. "But nothing is better sometimes, once we've both said our goodbyes. Let's just let it go, let me let you go".
The next track I would like to bring up is "ilomilo". This stanza pretty much sums up this songs commentary mental health:
"If you're gonna die, not by mistake
So, where did you go?
I should know, but it's cold
And I don't wanna be lonely
So tell me you'll come home
Even if it's just a lie".
This is an accurate representation of a thought process for someone with Borderline Personality Disorder. A person is going through their own struggles, and tends to gravitate towards someone else who is equally as screwed up, and it's a draw to whether they build each other up or break each other down. It's a puzzle, which is what the word "ilomilo" means.
"listen before i go" is a direct reference to suicide. The song itself is almost a suicide note, saying "call my friends and tell them that I love them, and I'll miss them, but I'm not sorry". The song ends with sirens. It's heartbreaking.
The second to last track is my favorite, called "i love you". Again, the song is a struggle (like ilomilo) in a relationship. Sink or swim. It's another track that seems catered to people with Borderline Personality Disorder, describing an "I hate you, don't leave me" situation. The struggle of sticking
around when there is almost nothing left in life to live for. The line that struck me as most powerful is "the smile that you gave me even when you felt like dying".
The whole album, like many others nowadays, tells a story from beginning to end, that comments on struggles with various mental health disorders. Billie has been open about her Tourettes syndrome since she started performing, and though that is a physical ailment, her honesty in her interviews and her music makes her identity and story easy to connect to whether you have a physical or mental disability.
Music gives us something to connect to, helps bring positive awareness to a stigmatized community, and brings people together. This album is one superb example of the way music saves lives through honesty and awareness.
Recently, artist Billie Eilish released her new album and made half the world, and probably more than half of our school, explode. Just starting out stating my opinion- I think she's absolutely incredible and that it's amazing that she has built a career at 17. Her age also makes her easy to relate to and approachable. Her personality in interviews is open, modest, and generally kind. That being said, let us dive into an analysis of "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go" and the nods to struggles with mental health throughout.The album opens (after a brief and cute introduction) on the song "Bad Guy". Despite the upbeat tone and comically cynical lyrics, there are some undertones to the song that comment on
insecurity and trying to live up to gender expectations. It's almost a cry for help- "I'm only good at being bad" and the arrogance of trying to fit into the bad girl role expressed by "you say she's scared of me? I mean, I don't see what she sees but maybe it's cause I'm wearing your cologne".
The next track is called "xanny" and is directly talking about self medication, specifically in youth. How teens especially use illegal drugs to feel better, or fit in. This can often be detrimental to mental and physical health, and this song is meant to bring awareness to that.
"You Should See Me in a Crown" is an eerie single included on the album that's a cross between a power anthem and impatience with youth. Opening with "Bite my tongue, bide my time. Wearing a warning sign, wait till the world is mine" the song plays on the anger and impatience teenagers can feel today with school, parents, relationships- really anything. It's like the angry side of BPD. Personally, my favorite line is "tell me which one is worse, living or dying first". It's that limbo between adulthood and childhood frustration.
Skipping over some amazing tracks for the sake of time, the next song that evokes incredible emotion about depression and loneliness in general is "When the party's over". This made me cry the first time I listened to it. The song tells a story of a troubled person going through a semi-abusive relationship an the pain behind that. I think this could not only be taken at face value, but also be looked at as symbolism for letting go of a feeling, a mindset, you've held onto for so long. It's going out of the comfort of one thing to make way for something better. "But nothing is better sometimes, once we've both said our goodbyes. Let's just let it go, let me let you go"."If you're gonna die, not by mistake
So, where did you go?
I should know, but it's cold
And I don't wanna be lonely
So tell me you'll come home
Even if it's just a lie".
This is an accurate representation of a thought process for someone with Borderline Personality Disorder. A person is going through their own struggles, and tends to gravitate towards someone else who is equally as screwed up, and it's a draw to whether they build each other up or break each other down. It's a puzzle, which is what the word "ilomilo" means.
"listen before i go" is a direct reference to suicide. The song itself is almost a suicide note, saying "call my friends and tell them that I love them, and I'll miss them, but I'm not sorry". The song ends with sirens. It's heartbreaking.
The second to last track is my favorite, called "i love you". Again, the song is a struggle (like ilomilo) in a relationship. Sink or swim. It's another track that seems catered to people with Borderline Personality Disorder, describing an "I hate you, don't leave me" situation. The struggle of sticking
around when there is almost nothing left in life to live for. The line that struck me as most powerful is "the smile that you gave me even when you felt like dying".
The whole album, like many others nowadays, tells a story from beginning to end, that comments on struggles with various mental health disorders. Billie has been open about her Tourettes syndrome since she started performing, and though that is a physical ailment, her honesty in her interviews and her music makes her identity and story easy to connect to whether you have a physical or mental disability.
Music gives us something to connect to, helps bring positive awareness to a stigmatized community, and brings people together. This album is one superb example of the way music saves lives through honesty and awareness.
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