Billie Eilish on how Olivia Rodrigo inspired her song ‘Goldwing’
Billie Eilish has explained how Olivia Rodrigo inspired her song ‘Goldwing’.
During a new interview with the LA Times, Eilish, 21, spoke about how the ‘Guts’ singer-songwriter, 20, and how she feels “protective” over her.
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“I think everybody’s experiences are so individual,” she told the outlet. “Nobody has had anybody else’s life, you know? But I do feel a protectiveness over Olivia.”
Eilish continued: “I have a song called ‘Goldwing’ from my last album [2021’s ‘Happier Than Ever’] that’s kind of about her.”
She added: “It’s not only about her. I was just thinking about her when I was writing it. She was coming up, and she was younger than me, and nobody had ever been younger than me.”
‘Goldwing’ begins with some lines from a hymn that Eilish used to sing as a child in the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus. Later, the star sings: “They’re gonna tell you what you want to hear/ Then they’re gonna disappear/ Gonna claim you like a souvenir/ Just to sell you in a year.”
Eilish went on to recall in the conversation how she “felt so nervous” and “worried” about Rodrigo when the latter started “getting big” in the music industry.
“She came up in that acting world, and people are so weird. I don’t know — I just felt very protective over her. And I feel that way to everyone,” she said.
“I just see myself in all these young girls. And it’s the girls, man. Boys can handle themselves. They’re dudes — they don’t have to deal with it like we do. I just want to hold everybody in a little glass box and never let anything touch them.”
Back in September, Lana Del Rey spoke about being an inspiration to Eilish and Rodrigo – both of whom have attributed their inspiration within music to the singer-songwriter. “I love them and their music,” Del Rey explained.
Meanwhile, Eilish and Rodrigo have recently been nominated for multiple Grammy Awards. The two artists appear together in the Song Of The Year and Best Pop Solo Performance categories.
Eilish has also spoken out against the sexualisation she has faced throughout her career – and how “nobody ever says a thing about men’s bodies”.
The post Billie Eilish on how Olivia Rodrigo inspired her song ‘Goldwing’ appeared first on NME.
Tom Skinner
NME