On today’s blog post I will be looking at Billie Eilish’s song IDONTWANNABEYOUANYMORE from her EP album. To analyze this song, I will be using the close text analysis to only really look at the chorus of the song. Close text is “analysis or scrutiny of the text, looking at what you read in detail rather than superficially.” (English Lecture, 2018)this is basically a way to analyze like how I am doing a song, you do this to really get into those couple of lines of the song to get a deeper understanding of what this artist is trying to get across to the audience that is listening to a specific part.
This song was released in 2017 written by Billie Eilish herself and was produced with the help of her brother Finneas, and the song as a whole is about Billie’s insecurities that she struggled with. (Genius, n.d.)When analyzing this song, I will be looking at specifically the chorus of it. The chorus goes:
“If teardrops could be bottled
There’d be swimming pools filled by models
Told “a tight dress is what makes you a whore”
If “I love you” was a promise
Would you break it, if you’re honest?
Tell the mirror what you know she’s heard before
I don’t wanna be you…
Anymore”
The first and second lines “If teardrops could be bottled, there’d be swimming pools filled by models.” She says that she thinks that models are the saddest people in the world, and it is sad because models are the people that everyone looks up, because they are peoples role models and standards.
The third line “Told “a tight dress is what makes you a whore”” she is simply saying that how in today’s society that when women wear tight dresses and go out into public like that people right away just assume that you are a whore or even promiscuous. And that this being said so much can lead women to feel extremely insecure about themselves.
On the fourth through fifth line “ If “I love you” was a promise, Would you break it, if you’re honest?” she is simply talking about how she becomes so insecure as a person that she is questioning the person telling her that they love her, if they really do honestly love her, because deep-down she feels like she isn’t good enough for anyone so how could someone really truly love her.
In the sixth- eighth lines “Tell the mirror what you know she’s heard before, I don’t wanna be you…, Anymore” here she is talking directly to herself. In the actual music video when singing this exact part, she is looking in the mirror and pointing at herself saying she doesn’t want to be herself anymore.
In an interview she did with Genius when referring to this 3 lines she said “You are always you, that’s terrifying, and that line is my favorite line I’ve ever written in my life.” In this same interview which was done in 2017 she really talks about how she is very insecure about herself and how she really hates herself. She also says “Even though I have a great life with many wonderful things in it, I have still dealt with depression. ‘idontwannabeyouanymore’ is about times I’ve felt this way. The real truth is that depression can happen to anyone no matter who you are or what you have and there is NO SHAME to admitting that you feel this way. It’s a very real thing and should never be ignored or labeled ‘a choice.” (Genius, n.d.)I think that this song and specially the chorus I went over with careful detail really embodies this quote very well. The chorus shows how she is so insecure with herself and how it affects her day to day relationship with not only other people but especially with herself.
Works Cited
English Lecture. (2018). What is ‘Textual Analysis’ or ‘Close Reading’?
Genius. (n.d.). Billie Eilish Breaks Down “idontwannabeyouanymore” On Genius’ Series ‘Verified’. Retrieved from Genius: https://genius.com/videos/Billie-eilish-breaks-down-idontwannabeyouanymore
Alexa Mendez’s Blog 
I read this! I love what you did with the design and the use of lyrics as drop quotes I do that for my blog. Great post.
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Really great job Alexa! Going line by line and being as descriptive as you were really hit the nail on the head. Good job of explaining close text, and adding in quotes. I thin it would be cool to add in a video of the interview she did with Genius 🙂 And don’t forget to add in quotes from the reading when you do your final! (Something I also need to to do myself!)
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I read this!
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I agree with Anthony that your design is a particular strength here (and in all of your posts, honestly). Nice job integrating those as evidence in the post; they also provide a nice visual break.
Your analysis here is strong, and you’ve segmented it up into paragraphs well. I think this is a strong post, and one that will make a nice addition to your final post assignment later in the semester.
When you are ready to revisit it for that assignment, I have three suggestions. The first is fairly minor. Make sure you put a period after your source parentheticals in-text. And then put a space after it, before the next sentence. Second, I would recommend adding a little more robust set-up of how close text works (Lucas has a good quote a lot of other people have used, if you want to pop into the Reading Reports). Finally, I think your post would benefit from a single sentence stating that you find the song works in part because of these micro-decisions that Eilish makes. Basically, add a thesis.
All around, this is a solid post. Keep up the good work!
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