#8. Billie Eilish - You Should See Me In A Crown
We've reached the point in the Countdown where a random pop song seems to rise out of nowhere and ascend into the top 10. It's happened six times before, but this year feels a little different. Unless you've been living under a rock the last two years, you've probably ran into someone who has a strong opinion on Billie Eilish. Good music? Trendsetter? Overthrowing the bad pop empire? Just plain annoying? If nothing else, she's become a cultural phenomenon unlike any other pop star we've seen in recent years. She and her brother write all of her songs, and they definitely don't sound like what you'd expect on a pop station. She purposefully wears huge baggy clothing to keep people from body shaming or sexualizing her. Oh, and she's 17. If nothing else, she's been a fascinating sociological study in how we react to different stimuli throughout the last few years.
Musically? I've heard it called trap-pop, avant-garde pop, electro-pop, alternative pop... take your pick on what you want to call her. She mumbles, she whispers, and she has simplistic piano twinkles and bass kicks that generally don't overwhelm her songs. There are so many opinions on what popular music should sound like, but she and her brother have found a way to capture something that is bizarrely unique and easily accessible at the same time. I wouldn't say I love it, but I appreciate the fact that it breaks up the Swift/Grande/Beyonce wannabes populating the top 40 stations. Regardless of how you feel about the girl or the music, her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? was a massive success, hitting double platinum in the US and landing at #1 on 24 different charts worldwide, taking the #1 spot for the year on Billboard. Massive is an understatement.
"You Should See Me In A Crown" (which, like all of her songs, is normally stylized in all lowercase when found online) is really the only song that latched on for me, but it blew up in a big way over the summer. Interestingly, it performed worse than most of the other singles released on the record, only getting to #41 on the Billboard Hot 100 but still selling over 1 million units. The song definitely has trap stylings, with a thundering bass drum rattling the chorus while Eilish sings about destroying those who stand before her. She says the song was inspired by an episode of "Sherlock", and lyrically it is relevant to anyone who wants to overcome obstacles in their life. "Watch me make em bow one by one" was a lyric that bounced around my head the entire year. The video features Eilish in her trademark baggy garb with spiders and tarantulas crawling all over her and her crown. It is definitely not for the arachnophobics out there.
Favorite Line: "Tell me which one is worse, living or dying first? Sleeping inside a hearse."
Title: you should see me in a crown
Artist: Billie Eilish
Album: when we all fall asleep, where do we go?
Previous #8s
2018: Miller and the Hunks - Gravity
2017: Circle of Dust - Machines of our Disgrace
2016: Jess Lamb and The Factory - End of the Line
2015: Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do
2014: Sleeper Agent - Waves
2013: Paper Route - Letting You Let Go
2012: Demon Hunter - Dead Flowers
2011: Emmure - Children of Cybertron
2010: 30 Seconds to Mars - Kings and Queens
2009: Jordin Sparks - Battlefield
No comments:
Post a Comment