Many people assume that Billie Eilish’s music is made for sad, depressed, and unhappy people, but that’s just not true at all.
To understand the meaning of music and lyrics just like some teens here at Casa Grande do is a different way of listening to music. Having an artist that you can relate to and understand feels so comforting. Eilish has had a huge impact on her many teen fans. Many of them are here at Casa. Ninth grader Emme Colaizzi said, “I’ve been a huge fan of Billie Eilish ever since I was seven, so about eight years now.”
Many people have become a fan of Eilish since she released her most recent album, “Hit Me Hard And Soft,” in May of 2024. She released her tour dates before the album even came out, and all of the shows were sold out in minutes. After the first leg of the tour ended, she decided to release more U.S. tour dates to extend the tour.
The last show of her additional leg of the U.S. tour, which ended in San Francisco, gave so much joy to all the fans here in the Bay Area. When the show was about to come to an end, Eilish announced a 3D movie of her tour that she had been co-directing with James Cameron. This brought many tears to the audience, not just because this was going to be the end of an era, but also because she still wants to commemorate this era forever. This made fans very happy, because during the show, she expressed to the crowd that touring used to be something she dreaded when she was younger. But now, touring is what she enjoys most about making an album.
Eilish expressed to her fans that her brother is sadly not with her on this tour because she felt she had to do this one on her own, with her own band. He has always come along and helped with touring all throughout her fame, but for this one he sat out. On the last show he ended up surprising everyone there, as well as singing a couple of songs with Eilish, just like the old times. While her recent tour shows how far she has come, Eilish’s journey started much more simply. She and her brother, Finneas, started making music in her brother’s room when they were very young. Eilish released her first song Ocean Eyes in 2015, and just became more and more famous after that.
The more she became popular, the more depressed she got. Thinking back on it, she was only 17, just a teenager, and people expected so much from her.
Eilish is very much known for her different hair colors and styles. Casa tenth grader Olivia Fragakis said, “I think my favorite era of hers was her red roots with black hair.” When Billie’s pop hit “Bad Guy” was released, she had green roots with black hair. When speaking to some Emme and Olivia, they both agreed that that’s what her most popular hair color was throughout her fame.
Most of these mentioned fans here at Casa had seen Eilish in concert like Colazzi, Fragakis, and tenth grader Aliah Klass. They all agreed that she was incredible and would go to see her again, if she goes on tour again. Colazzi shared how difficult it is to choose a favorite song. “That’s too hard. All of them.” Fair, so then when asked which sad and which happy song she prefers, Colazzi said, “For a sad song, probably “Listen Before I Go,” and for a happy song, probably “Guess” with Charlie XCX.”
When listening to “Listen Before I Go,” many lyrics feel heartbreaking. When Eilish was just about 16 years old, she struggled a lot mentally. She had severe depression and often spoke about how difficult it was at times. The song, “Listen Before I Go” is mainly about her experience with having to overcome that mind set and finding the happy things in life instead of the bad things. In the song, she says, “Call my friends and tell them that I love them,” meaning that her relationship with her friends is very deep, and when even she feels lost, she doesn’t want to ask for help and instead she wants to leave but let them know that she loves them. When listening to this, fans could tell that this was a dark moment for her and wanted to help share these experiences with others, not just to let her fans know she’s struggling but to be a safe place where others can relate too.
Thinking back on it, Eilish has made so much history in the music industry. According to The Grammy Academy, she has won over 180 awards in her whole music career. She has won 10 Grammys, two Oscars, two Golden Globes, and three Billboard Music Awards, and many more, of course. She has had over 200 nominations for awards. She went from making songs with her brother in his little bedroom from when she was only 13 and him being 17, to making new world records and becoming a millionaire with many hits.
Billie Eilish has changed so many young teenagers’ lives just in the little span of her career. She has been very open that it is OK to not be OK, and to be different as well as opening up about what you’re feeling. She expresses this in her music and shows many that she herself struggles. She tries to encourage teens to just be themselves and not try and worry about fitting in with everyone else. This makes many fans motivated to try and be different and show their true selves with confidence and not letting others judgment affect them.
