Billie Eilish’s melancholic ballad, “What Was I Made For?”, created for the “Barbie” movie soundtrack in collaboration with her brother Finneas, has undeniably resonated with a global audience. Since its July 2023 release, the song has amassed over 600 million streams on Spotify, solidifying its place as a defining track and awards season frontrunner.
Garnering accolades, “What Was I Made For?” secured the coveted Song of the Year award at the 2024 Grammys and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song in January. It now stands as a strong contender for Best Original Song at the Oscars, further cementing its critical and popular success.
Initially, Eilish, 22, acknowledged the surprise from some quarters regarding her involvement in the “Barbie” soundtrack, given her signature darker musical style. As she recounted to Variety in December, the common perception was, “What the hell? It’s gonna be a fun, cute, girly, pink movie for the summer and we’re all going to be laughing. What the f— is Billie doing on the soundtrack? Why is there going to be a sad song? That doesn’t make any sense.’ And I remember just being like, ‘Guys. It’s not me, it’s the movie. The movie is f—ing sad!’”
Indeed, “What Was I Made For?” delves into the profound undercurrents beneath the movie’s vibrant aesthetic. The lyrics explore universal themes of identity, belonging, and the pressures women face to meet external expectations, often leading to feelings of inadequacy.
Let’s delve deeper into the meaning embedded within the lyrics of “What Was I Made For?” and understand its personal significance for Billie Eilish.
The Genesis of “What Was I Made For?” Lyrics
Billie Eilish has revealed that the opening lines of “What Was I Made For?” emerged spontaneously during a songwriting session with her brother Finneas O’Connell, 26. During a December appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” Eilish described a day of creative block, feeling “not creative at all.”
“Then we kind of were like, ‘Well, I guess we could take a crack at this,’ and wrote the entire song in that sitting,” she told Fallon. The breakthrough came when Finneas spontaneously played the initial piano chords. Eilish elaborated, “And I just started going, “Da da da da…” singing the now-iconic opening notes that evolved into the poignant lyrics, “I used to float, now I just fall down / I used to know, but I’m not sure now.”
Unpacking the Lyrics: “I Used to Float, Now I Just Fall Down”
The “floating” imagery is multifaceted. As both Eilish and Finneas have noted, it perfectly aligns with the “Barbie” movie narrative, depicting Barbie’s graceful descent from her Dreamhouse, contrasted with her subsequent “fall” as she confronts an existential crisis.
However, the “floating” lyric also carries a deeply personal resonance for Eilish. It reflects her own journey navigating fame from a young age. Speaking with Variety, she explained, “That has so much to do with my life and the way that I view me as I was growing up: I was this person who was could do no wrong in so many people’s eyes, and I felt like everything I did was me floating, and I felt unstoppable and unbeatable, when everything was blowing up for me.”
She continued, “And then, things change and you grow, and sometimes you just feel like you don’t know how to float anymore.” This lyric captures the disorienting shift from feeling invincible to grappling with vulnerability and uncertainty.
The music video for “What Was I Made For?”, directed by Eilish herself, further visualizes this theme. Eilish, styled as a vintage Barbie, interacts with miniature versions of her past iconic stage outfits, symbolizing different phases of her career and identity. The intrusion of wind and rain, forcing her to protect these past selves, adds another layer to the song’s exploration of self-perception and change.
The Chorus: A Universal Question of Purpose
The repeated chorus, “What was I made for? / What was I made for?” encapsulates a universal existential question. Eilish emphasizes that this lyric is intended to connect with anyone grappling with their sense of purpose and identity.
Accepting an award at the 2024 Palm Springs International Film Awards Gala, Eilish dedicated the song “to anyone who experiences hopelessness and the feeling of existential dread and feeling like, what’s the point and why am I here and why am I doing this for?” She shared her own experiences with these feelings, offering a message of hope and self-compassion: “be patient with yourself and know that it is, I think, worth it all.”
“I’m Sad Again, Don’t Tell My Boyfriend”: A Lyric That Resonates Deeply
Eilish has also highlighted the profound meaning behind the verse: “I’m sad again, don’t tell my boyfriend / It’s not what he’s made for.” In a September interview with Variety, she called this lyric “one of my favorites that we’ve ever written,” recalling her immediate reaction: “God, this is so real for me.”
While superficially relatable to Ken’s inability to understand Barbie’s emotional complexities in the movie, this lyric delves into the deeper isolation that can occur when individuals feel unseen or misunderstood, even by loved ones. It speaks to the often unspoken burden of hiding one’s emotional state to protect others or avoid being a perceived burden.
Eilish confessed her initial apprehension about the lyric’s reception, fearing it was too obscure: “I … remember being like, ‘How is anyone going to know what this means? It doesn’t explain itself. No one’s going to understand it,’” However, it became “the first lyric that people understood,” leading her to feel profoundly “heard, and related to.”
Fan Reactions: The Song’s Widespread Impact
The emotional rawness of “What Was I Made For?” has clearly struck a chord with listeners across demographics, evident in the comments section of the official music video on YouTube.
One commenter articulated, “I’m crying because this is literally describes how I’m feeling at the moment,” capturing the song’s immediate emotional connection.
Another shared a broader perspective, “This song asks the question that I have (struggled) with for all of my 68 years. I thought I had the answer several times, only to realize that it slipped through my fingers yet again. Ms. Eilish, your vocals here are a perfect fit for the emotion of the words and music you’ve written.” This comment highlights the song’s ability to resonate across life stages and experiences.
The song’s impact even extended to unexpected demographics, as one comment revealed, “as a father of 2, and a veteran, i was caught by surprise by the dialogue about life, meaning, and purpose, and this song playing. have not cried in years like that. i am glad my little girls took me to watch this.” This testament underscores the song’s universal themes and ability to transcend typical genre boundaries.
Eilish herself has expressed being deeply moved by the song’s reception. In a video interview with Allure, she described the powerful experience of witnessing audiences “literally bawling their eyes out and singing the lyrics to a song that just came out.” She emphasized the personal significance of creating the song, stating, “Like, even if that song never came out, I really needed to write that song,” highlighting its cathartic and essential role in her own life journey.
Full Lyrics to ‘What Was I Made For?’ by Billie Eilish
I used 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?
Takin’ a drive, I was an ideal
Looked so alive, turns out I’m not real
Just somethin’ you paid for
What was I made for?
‘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
Mm, mm, ah
Mm, mm, mm
When did it end? All the enjoyment
I’m sad again, don’t tell my boyfriend
It’s not what he’s made for
What was I made for?
‘Cause I, ‘cause 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
Think I forgot how to be happy
Somethin’ I’m not, but somethin’ I can be
Somethin’ I wait for
Somethin’ I’m made for
Somethin’ I’m made for