Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Music

From classical to pop, join the discussion on our Music forum.

Original poster

Does your dd love Billie Eilish?

44 replies

RuffleCrow · 18/05/2019 18:48

Mine does!

I really really wanted to like her music too. I was hoping she might be a rare contemporary artist we could agree on. I was heartened by the idea of a teenager going back to the DIY punk ethos. I thought she even had the look of a young (female) Kurt Cobain about her Grin

But I'm sorry, having listened to her, i just find her music and her videos really depressing.

Am I missing something, or is it just that I'm 38 and I'm not supposed to get it?

OP posts:
snowyfox · 19/05/2019 09:56

Mumsnet, not MM Confused

megletthesecond · 19/05/2019 10:01

I don't think DD10 is that bothered.
But I'm 45 and I'm rather fond of her. She's awfully young so I hope she's not being manipulated too much.

Melissa McCarthy loves BE. She mocked up a video on her show the other day.

Original poster
RuffleCrow · 19/05/2019 10:11

Thanks Snowyfox, i've actually ordered the album for dd (the ole fashioned cd way!) as she tends to just listen online.

Do people think the sex references actually come from her? I feel a bit troubled by the 'bruises on my knees for you' 'like it really rough guy' stuff, personally.

Thinking back to how I was at 15/16/17, yes I was thinking about sex and having sex, but with boys my own age and I had the idea it was supposed to be a mutually pleasurable thing. Even if it wasn't.

I just feel like the sexual elements in her songs are darker than what the average teenage girl would imagine for herself.

It all seems to have a dark tinge of what an older man would fantasise about doing to someone as young as her. I wonder if she even 'gets' those oblique references if they were put in by her older brother for commericial reasons? I'm not sure I would have done - I might have thought 'that's a useful rhyme' whilst singing it.

I just think her 'knowing' persona might be obscuring how young and vulnerable she is in such a harsh industry. So many Justin Bieber style stories out there. Sad

OP posts:
Original poster
RuffleCrow · 19/05/2019 10:36

And then there's the fact she was/is home schooled meaning she will have missed out on quite a lot of the usual peer group rites of passage that most of us go through.

I'm worrying about her like she's my daughter!

OP posts:
snowyfox · 19/05/2019 10:58

Rufflecrow, the YouTube clip songs aren't on the latest album but show her gentler side. Didn't want to mislead anyone!

Agreed, hope the music moguls don't suck the life out of her. I would like to hope that her and Finneas come armed as a whole so don't get dragged under 🤞

Also agree about the sexual inferences but perhaps that's looking at it from an adult perspective? It's not until later years that I realised some of the songs I listened to (and sang along to) had sexual references which were beyond the normal teenage stuff.....

However I did wonder at how mature the themes are for someone so young. Good to hear an anti-drugs song on the album though... Just wished she didn't drop the f-bomb quite so much in interviews lol

TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince · 19/05/2019 11:03

My 12 year old dd likes her, and l like her too. I like her style, quite refreshing amongst the xfactor homogenised nightmare

Original poster
RuffleCrow · 19/05/2019 12:09

That's ok Snowy, I'd already ordered it by the time I saw your post.

Yes, hopefully he's a good sort of big brother and he's looking out for her.

OP posts:
snowyfox · 19/05/2019 12:17

You won't be disappointed with the album - more of the same 👍

VeronicaDinner · 19/05/2019 12:26

She's eighteen, so I'm pretty sure she knows what a blow job is.

WhenIsTheEasyBit · 19/05/2019 12:43

My DD (15) worships her and I (58 Sad) love a lot of her songs. We went to see her at an amazingly small venue when she toured the UK and it felt like a real privilege to be there, close up, when it was already clear she's going to be huge.

IMHO she has a beautiful voice and an incredible range. Six Feet Under is haunting. Ocean Eyes is another gorgeous song. We heard both live and she can really hold a tune. I love some of the bassier stuff too.

She is publicly very anti drugs and has said she wears oversized clothes so nobody can body shame her, so a role model I can get on board with. However, I agree there are some worrying submission type references in Bad Guy and OP, like you, I worry for her and really hope she doesn't get exploited or burned out.

megletthesecond · 19/05/2019 12:49

The older I get the more I worry about young pop stars Blush. I think Beiber was fed to the wolves.

Passtherioja · 19/05/2019 13:20

My DDs life this type of music so I've taken to playing Rage Against the Machine in the car!!

Original poster
RuffleCrow · 19/05/2019 14:12

I don't blame you passtherioja!

It's not so much whether she knows that, (most 18 year olds do) Veronica, it's whether she's aware of the imbalance of power implicit in the way it's presented in the song.

Yes, she's mocking those older guys with beer guts, but at 17/18 most girls aren't aware of the physical danger you can be in real life if you mock the wrong man - esp in a sexual context. When I was 17 I didn't know the femicide rate, doubt she does either. That's not to say she shouldn't, I just think it shows she's still quite naive.

OP posts:
SpiritedFarAway · 19/05/2019 14:18

I'm a similar age to you OP and I love her, think she's very talented. I also like that writes her songs with her (also very talented) brother.
'Lovely' the song she did with the singer Khalid is just beautiful.

@NoodlingAlong she toured in the UK a couple of months ago! So don't think she'll be back for a while. And even those dates were pretty massive venues and sold out almost immediately

boatymcboatname · 19/05/2019 14:38

My not quite 2 year old now says 'duhhhh' because of her haha

TheTurnOfTheScrew · 19/05/2019 14:38

my 12yo was quite keen, until I kept singing People Are Strange over the top of Bury A Friend, and has now decided she prefers The Doors.

I like that she wears clothes, as opposed to the Underwear As Outerwear seen on most other young female performers. Apart from Sigrid, who I have a lot of time for.

Original poster
RuffleCrow · 19/05/2019 14:54

Oh agree with the wearing clothes thing, good point. A few years ago someone was telling me their 13 year old wanted to go and see Ariana Grande and I remember not knowing who she was, looking her up and thinking "her voice is so great, why won't her management let her put some clothes on?!"

I'm not trying to body shame anyone, it's just if men can have 50 year music careers without having to girate in a belt for a skirt then logic would dictate there should be plenty of young women who feel free to do the same.

OP posts:
notenoughbottletonight · 19/05/2019 14:56

I'm 33 and think she's great too! I do like a lot of the newer younger singers coming out, helped by the fact DS is nearly 13 and just getting into this kind of music too.

TanteRose · 19/05/2019 15:00

Yep another fan here (aged 51)
I saw her live last year at a festival and she was mesmerizing- voice was top notch too Smile

New posts on this thread. Refresh page