“Getting Older” is the opening track on Billie Eilish’s 2021 album ‘Happier Than Ever.’ In the track, Billie Eilish opens up about growing up a superstar at a young age in the music industry and the dark side it exposed Billie to.
‘Happier Than Ever‘ is the second studio album by Billie Eilish following her massive debut album ‘WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?’ released in 2019. The new album opens up a new era for Billie Eilish as she opens up about her personal life and experiences throughout the tracklist.
Speaking about the meaning behind “Getting Older” with Spotify, Billie Eilish revealed that the song is a “very revealing song talking about things that I only at the time had just felt I realized about myself and felt insecure about and wanted to talk about. I don’t know, I think that that happens a lot and it should be completely welcomed, is realizing stuff years later. You sometimes don’t realize what’s going on around you until a really long time later or realize what you feel until years later.”
Listen to “Getting Older” by Billie Eilish
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“Getting Older” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review
Verse 1
In the first verse of the song, Billie Eilish talks about growing old. She thinks she is aging well and she is managing her life a lot better than she did four years ago when she burst into the music scene. In this sense, she is happier than ever. But she did have to crawl through the underbelly of the music industry to get to here.
Billie sings about how she has received all kinds of love and hate in this music industry. Love is scarier when it comes from a complete stranger camping outside your house. She talked about this real-life experience in her other track “NDA” on the album.
Verse 2
In the second verse, Billie opens about her relationships and her part in ruining them. She confesses that she craves attention and loves to soak herself in pity. However, it does not paint Billy in a good light to sing “When I retell a story, I make everything sound worse.” This makes us wonder how much of what she confesses is objectively unexaggerated.
Chorus
In the hook of the song, Billie Eilish sings how things she enjoyed before keep her employed now. The word ’employed’ is a double-edged sword. While it can mean that Billie Eilish earns a living doing what she loves. But it can also mean that she finds her passions turned into ‘chores.’ Suddenly it becomes a not-so-pleasurable experience.
Verse 3
In the third and last week of the song, Billie Eilish opens up about abuse in the industry. She highlights that anything done to her without her consent is ‘abuse.’ This applies to all forms of abuse inside and outside the industry. Billie Eilish has seen her share of Internet abuse, too.
However, she also has a positive outlook about her future. She thinks the worst is behind her. Billie knows that as she gets older there are more responsibilities on her shoulder. She is not scared to shoulder them. Her goal is happiness. So she would do everything possible to prioritize her health and happiness over everything else.
Let us hear what you think about the song in the comments below. Check out the complete lyrics on Genius.