Billie Eilish's ballad 'What Was I Made For?' from Barbie soundtrack is named BEST SONG of 2023 by Variety
Billie Eilish has received high praise for her song What Was I Made For? as Variety named it the Best Song of 2023. It was written for the Barbie movie soundtrack.
The 22-year-old music artist — who was on Saturday Night Live this month — topped the magazine's list, with boygenius' Not Strong Enough and Drake's First Person Shooter coming in second and third respectively.
The outlet described the ballad, dreamed up by Billie and her brother Finneas, as 'the best movie theme since their own No Time to Die,' which was penned for 2021's James Bond film of the same name.
Elsewhere in the description, the tune was lauded for its witty, double-meaning lyricism and stripped down delivery.
The haunting number debuted this past July and was accompanied by a music video that saw Eilish transform into a platinum blonde doll-like figure.
Billie Eilish has received high praise for her song What Was I Made For? as Variety named it the Best Song of 2023
In an Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe, the songstress revealed she and her brother were in a stagnant creative state when they were approached about contributing to the Barbie soundtrack last December.
Billie noted she thought collaborating on a song for the album was unlikely, because it had taken months to write the Academy Award-winning No Time To Die.
Director Greta Gerwig invited the songwriting siblings to watch a rough cut of the movie, which starred Margot Robbie as the titular character and Ryan Gosling as Ken.
'I went into it not thinking that anything would necessarily come of it. I was like, 'I just want to see this movie. This is so cool. I'm honored to even be thought of,'' she recalled.
Billie said Gerwig and screenwriter Noah Baumbach stopped the viewing several times to explain the context of the scenes.
'She was literally like, "I don't care. Please just, if you're inspired, make something. And if you're not, that's fine. It's fine. It would be my dream,"' the pop star shared.
She added, 'Finneas started playing piano, and… those first couple lyrics: "I used to float, now I just fall down,' just came right out…'I used to know, but I'm not sure now what I was made for."'
The superstar also revealed that she 'did not think about myself once in the writing process.'
The 22-year-old music artist topped the magazine's list; pictured in the song's music video
In an Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe, the songstress revealed she and her brother were in a stagnant creative state when they were approached about contributing to the Barbie soundtrack last December
Billie revealed she thought collaborating on a song for the album was unlikely, because it had taken months to write the Academy Award-winning No Time To Die
However, as she reflected on the finished product, she realized, 'I'm writing for myself and I don't even know it. It is one of the most incredible things I get to experience in my life.'
'It was truly the trippiest thing I've ever experienced in my life,' Eilish reiterated.
Not content to co-write the lyrics and star in the video, Billie also decided she wanted to direct it.
'I feel really proud of it,' she said of her directorial debut. 'It was literally just an image. It was just me turned to the 45 degree angle, left profile, blonde Barbie wig, yellow dress, kind of sage green background, desk.
'Doing something on the desk, don't know what it is, that's all I see. And that was the idea.'
