“Wish you were gay”. This song was written 3 years ago and uploaded to SoundCloud as a rough recording that was done in her room. She later announced that it was going to be properly recorded and be put on her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and also released as a single before the album actually dropped. Using the Rhetorical Situation analysis, I will go ahead analyze Billie Eilish’s song.

The goal of a Rhetorical Situation is to figure out if the response given by the author is fitting for the situation. You find this out by looking at the exigence which asks the question of why does this Rhetorical message need to happen? In an article by Blitzer he explains an exigence being “An imperfection marked by urgency; it is a defect, an obstacle, something waiting to be done, a thing which is other than it should be” (Burrchardt & Hillary A. Jones, 2017). You then look at the audience which is described as “those persons who are capable of being influenced by discourse and being mediators of change” (Burrchardt & Hillary A. Jones, 2017), and lastly you look at the constraints and opportunities which are things such as; what. you can/cannot say, the rules, and what it enables you to do. 

When people first saw the name of the song some people were offended because they taught she was bashing the LGBTQ+ community, but she quickly made a statement saying that its message is not meant to offensive but just that she wishes he was gay because then he wouldn’t like her for an actual reason. Billie Eilish made this song about the first boy she had a crush on that didn’t feel the same way about her. In an interview with Billboard Billie Eilish said  “First off, I want to be so clear that it’s so not supposed to be an insult,” Eilish said. “I feel like it’s been a little bit misinterpreted. I tried so hard to not make it in any way offensive.” (Daw, 2019). 

The Exigence

The exigence of this song is that the boy that Billie Eilish loves does not feel the same way about her, throughout the whole song she sings about how she wants to make him feel okay, that she wish’s he would stay, and that she wishes that she didn’t want to stay. In her lyrics she even is so upset that he doesn’t love her back that she asks if there is a 12 Step program to get over him, as referencing the 12 steps in alcohol anonymous, the lyrics being:

“Is there a 12 step just for you?
“Our conversation’s all in blue
11 ‘Heys’ (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Ten fingers tearing out my hair
Nine times you never made it there
I ate alone at 7, you were six minutes away”

This song was written and made by Billie Eilish because of how bad she felt from being rejected by this boy that she had such deep feelings for. 

The Audience

As for the audience of this song for her it would be the boy it is written about. She made this song for this boy as a way to let her feelings out and to stop holding them in. As I said before she did make this song 3 years ago in her bedroom so I am sure back then she didn’t think it would reach the amount of people it has now. Her putting it in the album for her fans to listen to I think she did this because it is common for people to have such strong feelings about people but for that person to not feel the same way back, which is an awful feeling. So, it is nice to be able to relate to a song and to an artist that is in a major limelight. The constraints and opportunities for this song are that she her saying “I wish you were gay” is relatable to her fans because that would be a better reason for someone not to like you back, instead of that person just being completely not interested in you if they were straight. In the same Billboard interview I quoted earlier she also said that she made this song for the boy but that now she sees so many of her fans both male and female, and even straight and gay fans relating to the song. So even though it was meant for one boy in particular, it is now relatable to her fans of all sexes and sexual preferences. 

Constraints/Opportunities

A constraint for this song is that people that listen to it or just read the title might think that she is being homophobic. As for the guy it was meant for, I think that the opportunities for this song are that if he has a good sense of humor that he will think it is funny and another being that he could see the way he treated her wasn’t fair and that maybe he could do something about it. As for constraints he could just be offended by her wishing that he was gay or just be upset that she out a song out for everyone to hear about his personal life. 

Overall, I think that the goal of this song for its audience as the fans is fitting and a good response because of how much her fans love it and relate to it so well. As for the guy it was written for, fun fact he thought it was funny because when she had first written the song everyone thought that he was straight, but he did end up being gay so him and Billie Eilish just laugh about it now.  This information was all said in a livestream Eilish did on her Instagram that will be linked right her for you to see that and to also enjoy her playing an acoustic version of the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA5etFXaae8

References

Burrchardt, C. R., & Hillary A. Jones. (2017). Readings in Rhetorical Criticism.Pennsylvania: Strata Publishing, Inc.

Daw, S. (2019, 3 7). Billie Eilish Responds to ‘Wish You Were Gay’ Backlash: ‘It’s Not Meant to Be an Insult’. Retrieved from Billboard: https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8501522/billie-eilish-responds-wish-you-were-gay-backlash-video-interview