Billie Eilish addresses the scrutiny over her body in her new track Skinny.
In the opening track on her third studio album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, the 22-year-old sings about her body image and a breakup.
“People say I look happy / Just because I got skinny / But the old me is still me and maybe the real me / And I think she’s pretty,” she sings near the top of the song.
In a later verse, Billie opens up about an old relationship and online trolling, saying, “And you said I was your secret / And you didn’t get to keep it / And the internet is hungry for the meanest kind of funny / And somebody’s gotta feed it.”
Many fans have interpreted the song as a reference to her romance with The Neighbourhood singer Jesse Rutherford, whom she dated for seven months from late 2022 to May 2023.
The song ends with the poignant lyrics: “I never did you wrong… I loved you for so long.”
The Bad Guy hitmaker has spoken openly about how the constant comments about her appearance have affected her mental health.
She told British Vogue last year that she was going through “a rough time” navigating the onslaught of criticism.
“Honestly, nobody can say anything about my body that I don’t have a stronger opinion about,” she said. “I like myself more than I used to, and I’m more interested in how I feel than how they feel. But then also that might be a load of bulls**t because it still hurts my feelings like a son of a b**ch.”
Hit Me Hard and Soft was released on Friday.
