Billie Eilish has achieved more in her career in the space of six or seven years than most artists manage to achieve over a lifetime. Musically and lyrically, Billie Eilish’s songs are at another level compared to most of her contemporaries. Her phenomenal success is more than warranted.
Of all her major chart successes, the most successful has been “Bad Guy.” This is, therefore, the track I want to explore. However, before taking a closer at the meaning behind the song: “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish, I want to start with Billie Eilish’s early life and career success. Let’s get to it.
Early Life
Billy Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell was born on the 18th of December 2001 in Los Angeles, California. And, considering that she is still in her early 20s, she has already packed plenty into her young life. There has been a ton of music success, and no doubt there will be a lot more to come. So, what did she do for the few minutes of her life before she became famous?
She started with a pair of stupid actor and musician parents giving her the ridiculous name of ‘Pirate.’ Luckily, her uncle had more sense and talked her parents out of their idiocy. But, less fortunately, the nickname stuck. The only conclusion I can draw from this is that her parents might have been better suited to having cats. And that all Californians, actors, and musicians are off their rockers.
Moving on…
Billie was home-schooled by her mother, Maggie Baird. Despite my worst initial thoughts that she might have taught her about crystals and cosmic energy, her mum did a pretty fine job. As well as learning all the basics of school, Billie also learned about music. At just six years old, she started to learn the ukulele.
Additionally, Billie was encouraged to explore her artistic side. This I heartily applaud. Billie also showed a keen interest in acting and dancing, as well as music. However, despite her interest in acting, she apparently hated auditions. And she was much more interested in recording background dialogue.
As far as her dancing development, this was unfortunately cut short in 2016 due to an injury. So, at 15, she began to put all her energies into music.
Music Career
Billie had been writing songs from 11 years of age. But, in 2015, at just 13 years old, she worked with her brother, Finneas, to record her first singles, “Fingers Crossed” and “Bitches Broken Hearts”. The first song was written by Billie, and the latter by Finneas. Both songs were mixed and produced by Finneas. The final products were uploaded to SoundCloud for fun.
Later in the year, things got more serious…
Finneas was an avid songwriter, and he had a couple of songs that he considered to be a better fit for his sister. The songs were “Ocean Eyes” and “Six Feet Under”. Again, Finneas mixed and produced the songs. And, again, they were uploaded to SoundCloud.
However, this time they received much more attention. “Ocean Eyes” incredibly had several hundred thousand people listen to it in the space of just a couple of weeks. Finneas saw the potential in his sister and enlisted the help of his manager to secure Billie a deal with Apple Music.
Subsequently, she hired a publicist, a YouTube Channel was set up, and “Ocean Eyes” was released as Billie Eilish’s first single on March the 24th, 2016. Just a couple of months later, she released “Six Feet Under” on June 23rd. She was still just 15.
So, how did the songs do?
“Ocean Eyes” went crazy. It earned her multiple platinum discs on just about every chart you could name. “Six Feet Under” also performed well. Although, as a non-album single, it was understandably less popular. 30 more singles followed, and frankly, the success of Billie Eilish’s recording career is staggering.
Just about every single she has released has gone platinum somewhere. She has billions of views to her name on streaming platforms like Spotify and YouTube. Staggeringly, she has already been nominated for a total of 359 awards, and she has won 166. Most significantly, she has eight Grammys to her name. For her age, that is astounding.
As you can see, she is an incredibly successful young artist. So, what has been Billie Eilish’s most successful song to date? That would be “Bad Guy,” which I am going to look at in more detail right now.
Recording and Video
The song was written in collaboration with her brother. And, like many of her songs, she relied upon Finneas for the production. However, the mixing was courtesy of Rob Kinelski, with John Greenham in charge of making the master copy.
The inspiration for the music came from a series of unexpected sources. These included everyday sounds that were captured on an iPhone as Finneas just walked around going about his normal life. He recounted one instance in Australia where the pedestrian crossing signal made an especially interesting sound. So, he decided to record it, and it became an integral part of the main melody.
More conventionally, part of the chorus came from listening to a piece of music for a Disney Show that was fronted by Selena Gomez. It was, therefore, a case of drawing inspiration from a multitude of sources to come up with the song.
This approach clearly worked…
“Bad Guy” went to #1 in the US and #2 in the UK. Additionally, it peaked at either #1 or #2 on most other charts. Plus, it also earned her close to 50 platinum discs around the world. Thirteen of those came from Australia alone.
The single came out in 2019 and was simultaneously released with the album it was taken from, When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go? It was Billie Eilish’s debut album and was also a huge commercial success. Furthermore, it made it to #1 on every major chart in the world. As well as filled her wall space with yet more platinum discs from the four corners of the earth.
The video is a little bit out there…
It features a series of disturbing images of gangster lifestyles. At the same time, it is interspersed with Billie having fun. No doubt she is poking fun at those with a hard man image, and she is clearly not taking their stance on life too seriously.
Like everything else she touches, the video was a massive success. Currently, it has 1.2 billion views and counting. And, with a couple of Grammy awards she picked up for her efforts, she has plenty of positives to reflect on.
Lyrics and Meaning
So, what is the meaning behind the song: “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish? The song is essentially a dig at all the would-be hard guys and girls that go around posing and pretending to be something that they are not. It calls out their behavior. And it highlights the fact that people who constantly tell other people who they are will seldom be the people they claim to be.
The song exposes these people’s hypocrisy and exposes them for being nothing but fake plastic gangsters. However, rather than be angry, she makes it clear that she is happy to make fun of them and doesn’t care about the consequences of what they do or how they act.
Her carefree attitude also extends to her feeling comfortable at the party but without ever believing that this is who she is. She remains grounded in her personality and does not get swept up in the craziness of it all.
It is a strong song…
One made more so because it places the young singer in a position of power. She is front and center at a point of control and authority that is normally reserved for the gangster style of male Rap artists.
However, she does all of this cleverly and nonchalantly, which can simultaneously make you laugh. A remarkable song and a remarkable achievement for someone at just 17 years of age.
In The Mood For More Music From Amazing Female Singers?
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Meaning Behind the Song: “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish – Final Thoughts
Billie Eilish is one of the most talented singer-songwriters of her generation. She has written and recorded plenty of good songs. But I think that “Bad Guy” is undoubtedly in the top two or three of Billie Eilish’s best songs.
The lyrics and meaning behind “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish also showcase her incredible ability as a social commentator and lyricist. What makes this even more amazing is that she was still a teenager when this was written.
Frankly, this puts her in a very small group with the likes of Taylor Swift when it comes to songwriting and general maturity. I think “Bad Guy” is a great song. And I also think there is a lot more to come from this super-talented young woman.
Until next time, enjoy the music.
