Billie Eilish shares self-directed video for ‘Barbie’ ballad ‘what was I made for?’
'It means so much to me and i hope it will mean just as much to you,' the singer says of her contribution to all-star soundtrack
By Daniel Kreps
Billie Eilish has dropped her self-directed video for “What Was I Made For?,” her “sob”-worthy contribution to the all-star Barbie soundtrack.
Filmed in one take, the video finds Eilish sorting through a collection of Barbie clothes based on her own red carpet-outfits. However, the elements — rain, wind, quakes — dampen the solitary play date.
“Think I forgot / How to be happy / Something I’m not / But something I can be / Something I wait for / Something I’m made for / Something I’m made for,” Eilish sings on the piano ballad, which she recorded alongside brother Finneas at his home studio in Los Angeles.
In a statement posted minutes after the video’s premiere, Eilish wrote, “In january greta showed me and finneas a handful of some unfinished scenes from the film; we 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. this video 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.”
Eilish joins a star-studded group of artists with music featured on the record, which is produced by Mark Ronson. Rolling Stone first announced the lineup of musicians in May, including Ava Max, Dominic Fike, Gayke, Haim, the Kid Laroi, and Lizzo.
Since the announcement, Dua Lipa released ‘Dance the Night’ Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice have dropped ‘Barbie World,’ PinkPantheress released ‘Angel,’ Karol G dropped ‘Watati,’ and Charli XCX released ‘Speed Drive.’
“I don’t read a lot of scripts, but it was just everything I want in a movie,” Ronson told Rolling Stone of working on the soundtrack. “I was like, ‘If I don’t get this gig, this is gonna be my favorite movie of the year.’ ”
Barbie, the movie and the soundtrack, arrives July 21.