Billie Eilish calls back to past eras in her new 'Barbie' music video here's every real-life outfit she pulls out of her doll trunk
Callie Ahlgrim
- Billie Eilish released a new song for the "Barbie" soundtrack on Thursday, titled "What Was I Made For?"
- The music video shows Eilish looking through a trunk full of doll clothes and accessories.
Billie Eilish released her new song "What Was I Made For?" on Thursday.
The enigmatic, moody ballad will be featured in "Barbie," the upcoming film directed by Greta Gerwig. The soundtrack was executive produced by Mark Ronson, who described Eilish as "one of the fucking greatest living artists around" who "also had a very personal, idiosyncratic tie to Barbie as well."
The song is packed with existential lyrics that speak to the cyborgian trap of feminine beauty, but also more precisely, the plight of a literal plastic doll: "I was an ideal / Looked so alive, turns out, I'm not real / Just something you paid for."
Eilish herself has spoken at length about her struggles with body image and feeling objectified by the public, especially as it pertains to her personal style, which tends to lean more traditionally masculine.
"No matter what you do, it's wrong and right," she told The Times. "Wearing baggy clothes, nobody is attracted to me, I feel incredibly unlovable and unsexy and not beautiful, and people shame you for not being feminine enough."
"Then you wear something more revealing and they're like, 'You're such a fat cow whore,'" she continued. "I'm a slut and I'm a sell-out and I'm just like every other celebrity selling their bodies, and woah! What the fuck do you want? It's a crazy world for women and women in the public eye."
She has also criticized fans for treating her like "different Barbies with different heads" when she dyed her hair blonde.
Indeed, the "What Was I Made For?" music video, also released on Thursday, draws an explicit connection between Eilish's career in the spotlight to the servile life of a Barbie doll.
Eilish is shown opening a trunk of doll clothing — the 1962 "Solo in the Spotlight" Barbie trunk, to be specific — and pulling out miniature versions of real-life outfits she has worn. Keep scrolling to see every reference the video makes to Eilish's past.
1. The "Bellyache" music video
"Bellyache" was released as a single in 2017. It's the sixth track on Eilish's debut EP, "Don't Smile at Me."
2. The 2020 Oscars red carpet
Eilish wore a baggy Chanel suit for her Oscars red carpet debut in 2020. She took the stage later that night to sing a haunting cover of the The Beatles' "Yesterday" during the "In Memoriam" segment.
3. The "Lovely" music video
"Lovely," a duet with Khalid, was released as a single in 2018. It was featured on the soundtrack for the second season of Netflix's teen drama "13 Reasons Why."
4. "TRL" appearance in 2017
Eilish made an appearance on MTV's "TRL" when she was just 15 years old, wearing a matching camo-print set.
5. The "When the Party's Over" music video
"When the Party's Over" was released as a single in 2018. It's the seventh track on her debut album, "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?"
6. The "Bad Guy" music video
"Bad Guy" was released as a single in 2019 and quickly became Eilish's signature song.
7. The 2020 Grammy Awards
Eilish swept all four major categories at the 2020 Grammys, becoming just the second person in history to do so.
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