If you watched Billie Eilish’s music video for “you should see me in a crown” and “when the party’s over” and got pretty spooked out by it, well, prepare to get more spooked out by “bury a friend.”
Two days ago, on her Instagram, she posted a teaser of this song and also posted the same clip on her YouTube channel with the title “hahahahaha.” In the teaser, Billie, didn’t just tease about “bury a friend” – she also revealed the title of her debut album: “when we all fall asleep, where do we go?” which is also a lyric from “bury a friend.” The next day, she revealed her very spooky cover art for her debut album.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtOyjVHAOp7/
As she always does, Billie nailed it again with her haunting vocals and her perfectly matching visuals for the music video of “bury a friend.” At the beginning of the video, we see a man laying on a bed in a very dark room. He jolts up before laying back down and calls Billie’s name (which really is a lyric of the song) and Billie lies under the man’s bed with her blackened eyes as if she’s representing the “monster under the bed”.
Billie’s also known for her dancing, and in this video, she dances through a hallway as lights flicker above her. The eeriness and the dim lighting just make the song alone scarier. The visuals make it seem like a music video of a soundtrack for a horror movie: gloved hands are touching Billie’s face, her eyes are sometimes black, lights flicker and flash and Billie floats in a backbend position. (Warning: if you’re scared of needles, I recommend you to watch this video extra carefully because some parts are pretty squeamish!). Also, what amazes me are the movements in this haunting video are so perfectly choreographed; it matches all the beats in the song.
Speaking about the song alone, some of the lyrics are confusing and slightly concerning for Billie herself; for instance, she sings the line “I wanna end me” repeatedly. Some of the other lyrics in the song are also pretty disturbing, but they match her style of dark and edgy songs. But the thing that actually makes this song terrifying is that this song is literally from the perspective of the monster under Billie’s bed, and when combined with the eerie lyrics, it all makes sense and proves that Billie is a total genius.
We also know that Billie and Finneas, her brother and mastermind behind her songs, truly make a perfect duo on creating masterpieces. Unlike some of Finneas’s own songs that have small details with subtle unique sounds, “bury a friend” has scarier sounds such as a loud sound of glass crushing, a subtle click of a stapler and a quiet sound of a shovel scooping dirt that synced with the lyrics.
Step on the glass
Staple your tongue
Bury a friend
What I love the most about this song is the beat. It’s not as eerie as the lyrics, and it is so catchy you can tap your foot and bop your head when you listen to it. The beats are very contrasted to the dark lyrics, and it actually distracts you from the lyrics.
Billie definitely released the perfect song to introduce us to her debut album; “bury a friend” is even topping the charts now. I have a feeling that her first ever album will have the very opposite vibe from her EP, “don’t smile at me,” and I am definitely here for it. Her debut album “when we all fall asleep, where do we go?” will be released on March 29th which also includes “you should see me in a crown” and “when the party’s over” and the album’s already up for pre-order on iTunes, go pre-order it now!
Featured image via Billie Eilish’ Official Twitter
