STORY JAEDYN ARMBRUSTER

ART RILEY GROSNICKLE

“Maybe I’m the problem.” The crowd sings back to Billie Eilish as she sings her newly released song “TV” for the first time in Manchester, England, on June 7, while on her “Happier than ever” tour. To the crowd’s shock, the song was unreleased at the time.

A little over a month later, Eilish dropped two new songs on July 21 without any warning. Eilish posted on her website and said, “SURPRISE! ‘Guitar Songs’ !! Featuring ‘TV’ and ‘The 30th’ is out now! Finneas and I really wanted these to be yours as soon as possible. So here they are!”

Jumping into the first track on the single, there is “TV”. This song opens with a soft guitar melody before Eilish’s gentle voice floods your ears. In this song, Eilish creates a heartfelt tune with captivating lyrics that highlights her vocals and cuts back on the production.

Although Eilish is known for being honest and real in her music, most of her songs stay on the surface of what is really happening. This song, contrary to her other music, is personal and demonstrates vulnerability.

Eilish opens up about her desire to escape her feelings and heartache over a recently ended relationship. Willingly admitting her struggles is an admirably humble attitude and shows her maturity as an artist.

The song then takes a drastic turn as the next lyric is, “The internet’s gone wild watching movie stars on trial, while they’re overturning Roe V. Wade.” At the time it was written Roe v. Wade was not yet overturned, but the world was caught up in the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard trial; Eilish’s awareness and voice on these serious topics are admirable, especially considering the platform she has.

When Eilish first played this song in Manchester, she recorded the crowd singing the lyrics back to her and inserted it towards the end of the song. This addition allows for fans to feel included in the song and closer to Eilish.

Completely shifting gears, we have “The 30th.” This song is about a car accident that happened on November 30, 2021 to someone close to her. Eilish said it was “the most indescribable thing to have to witness and experience.”

The only word to describe this song is raw. It feels like you are reading straight out of a diary. The lyrics themselves are understandable, but without context it could end up being a little confusing to connect the dots.

The highlight of this song, hands down, is the bridge. For the most part this song has a light melody with only an acoustic guitar in the background, extenuating Eilish’s vocals. Unlike any other part of the song, the bridge builds up a crescendo with the instrumental and vocals getting louder, until the end when the instrumental is dropped. During this, Eilish talks about scenarios that could have ended up worse for the person in the accident. Like, “What if it happened to you on a different day,” or, “On a bridge, where there wasn’t a rail in the way.” This draws attention to the seriousness of the topic and how personal it is to her.

These two tear-jerking songs are the ideal acoustic melody with beautifully written lyrics and vocals to tie it all together. Fans are awaiting the release of Eilish’s junior album, which she stated she has been working on. While these songs will not be included on the track list, they will still be played just as much.