Billie Eilish’s latest project isn’t a typical pop number. It’s a message to the trolls, the haters and the body-shamers: their opinions aren’t her responsibility.
The teenage alternative pop star’s creative juices have been flowing in lockdown, with the release of short film titled “Not My Responsibility.”
On it, Eilish’s delivers a spoken word performance over a mesmerizing synth track.
The “Bad Guy” singer is done with all the negativity.
“If I wear what is comfortable, I am not a woman,” she says. “If I shed the layers, I’m a slut though you’ve never seen my body, you still judge it, and judge me for it. why?”
In the clip, Billie strips down and dunks herself in black goo, not dissimilar to the stuff that streams from her face in the music video for “when the party’s over”. She emerges at the end, different.
Eilish, one of the breakout stars of the past two years, has spoken on various occasions about the constant negativity she faces on social media. In a post last October she asked her fans to be more civil to one another, noting: “I don’t care if people are being mean to me, it’s my entire life. It’s hate all the time, it’s totally fine, I’m very used to it. It doesn’t bother me anymore. I have so much love and so much support that it’s not important to me.”
The 18-year-old has some impressive records to add to that love and support.
“Bad Guy” was named the biggest global single of 2019 by the IFPI and she won five Grammys, including song of the year, making her the youngest-ever artist to win the category.
Also, she was selected to perform the new James Bond theme “No Time to Die,” becoming the youngest artist to record a song for the Bond franchise in its 50-year history.
Watch “Not My Responsibility” and read the lyrics below.
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“Not My Responsibility”
do you know me? really know me?
you have opinions
about my opinions
about my music
about my clothes
about my body
some people hate what I wear
some people praise it
some people use it to shame others
some people use it to shame me
but I feel you watching
always
and nothing I do goes unseen
so while I feel your stares
your disapproval
or your sigh of relief
if I lived by them
I’d never be able to move
would you like me to be smaller?
weaker?
softer?
taller?
would you like me to be quiet?
do my shoulders provoke you?
does my chest?
am I my stomach?
my hips?
the body I was born with
is it not what you wanted?
if I wear what is comfortable
I am not a woman
if I shed the layers
I’m a slut
though you’ve never seen my body
you still judge it
and judge me for it
why?
we make assumptions about people
based on their size
we decide who they are
we decide what they’re worth
if I wear more
if I wear less
who decides what that makes me?
what that means?
is my value based only on your perception?
or is your opinion of me
not my responsibility
