Waylaid within the psychic muck of a songwriting hunch, Billie Eilish bought an auspicious homework task from Hollywood final 12 months, and as a substitute of handing in one thing pink and ample, she ended up establishing a direct line of communication with God.
That is perhaps the simplest method to perceive “What Was I Made For?,” the existential piano ballad that simply took the Oscar for finest authentic music at Sunday evening’s Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Eilish’s process was to write down a tune for Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” and with the assistance of her brother-collaborator Finneas, she sang from the angle of a plastic doll with disarming sentience and supreme grace, creating one thing that appeared like a lullaby however felt extra like a prayer. Having already delivered a conspicuously breathy efficiency of the music earlier within the ceremony, Eilish sounded half-breathless whereas accepting her prize: “I’m so grateful for this music, and this film, and the way in which that it made me really feel.”
Even within the context of an mental property comedy that’s been galactically applauded for being higher than it wanted to be, “What Was I Made For?” is doubly higher than it wanted to be. It’s a plea to the universe that we’ve all cried out in our loneliest hours — What’s life and why am I in it? — with Eilish posing the music’s titular query in an ASMR whisper that breezes by the chasm between annihilation and hope. “Suppose I forgot easy methods to be completely happy,” she sings, gently nudging herself out of the abyss. “One thing I’m not, however one thing I could be, one thing I look forward to.”
That is clearly the top-tier work of an overachiever who, now, sadly, runs the danger of being overprized. That is Eilish’s second Oscar on this class, her jazzy James Bond theme “No Time to Die” having gained the trophy in 2022. Over on the Grammys, Eilish swept the highest 4 classes in 2020, and “What Was I Made For?” gained the Grammy for music of the 12 months simply final month. The 22-year-old has stated in interviews that being requested to write down about Barbie launched her from the paralyzing strain of writing lyrics about herself — which, in a serendipitous psychological somersault, allowed her to do precisely that. So who’s she now? Definitely greater than a homework-doer or a trophy collector. The reply is one thing we’ll look forward to.
