Billie Eilish Is a Living Doll in Video For Emotional ‘Barbie’ Movie Soundtrack Ballad ‘What Was I Made For?’
Written by djfrosty on July 13, 2023
Billie Eilish released her simmering contribution to the soundtrack of the summer’s hottest must-see on Thursday morning (July 13), the Barbie movie soundtrack ballad “What Was I Made For?” In the video for the dreamy track Eilish sports a Barbie-like high blonde ponytail and poofy bangs and wears a yellow dress (with matching shoes and earrings, of course) while seated at a child’s desk to open a Barbie-themed box, whose contents she carefully examines.
“I used to to float/ Now I just fall down/ I used to know, but I’m not sure now/ What I was made for/ What was I made for?,” Eilish sings in a breathy whisper over a gentle piano backing on the track co-written and produced by brother FINNEAS. “Takin’ a drive, I was an idea/ Looked so alive, turns out, I’m not real/ Just something you paid for/ What was I made for?”
The Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe-winning singer directed the clip, in which she meticulously tries to arrange the Barbie clothes on a tiny rack in a green void as wind and rain whip them around to her frustration. “Cause I, I/ I don’t know how to feel/ But I wanna try/ I don’t know how to feel/ But someday I might/ someday I might,” she croons on the chorus.
According to a release, the “intimate and heart-rending track exists as the sonic background for pivotal scenes through-out the film, while beautifully and poignantly highlighting the film’s important message and sentiment.”
In a statement accompanying the video’s release, Eilish said director Greta Gerwig showed her and Finneas a handful of unfinished scenes in January, admitting that the sibling collaborators had, “nooooo idea what to expect at ALLL… we were so deeeeeply moved.. that the next day we were writing and COULDNT shut up about it lolll andddddddddd ended up writing almost the entire song that night. to be real with you this all seemed to happen in a time when i really needed it. i’m so so thankful for that.”
She added that the video she created for it, “makes me cryyyyy.. it means so much to me and i hope it will mean just as much to you. don’t have much to say other than that, i think it will speak for itself🫀 :’’’’) enjoy.”
The singer teased the emotional track earlier this week in a video in which a voice was heard telling Barbie (Margot Robbie), to “take my hand, close your eyes, now, feel,” backed by a gentle, melancholy piano and Eilish singing the title of the song. “absolutely over the MOOOOON excited for you to see this,” she captioned the post. Finneas and Eilish won the best original song Oscar in 2022 for their collaboration on the title track to the most recent James Bond film, No Time to Die.
The Mark Ronson-produced soundtrack for Gerwig’s candy-colored toy story will also feature contributions from Lizzo, Charli XCX, Karol G, Sam Smith, co-star Ryan Gosling (with Slash), Dominic Fike, Haim, the Kid LAROI, Khalid, PinkPantheress, Gayle, Ava Max, Fifty Fifty, Tame Impala and already released singles from Dua Lipa and Ice Spice with Nicki Minaj; the movie will hit theaters on July 21.
Watch the “What Was I Made For?” video below.