{"id":14729,"date":"2020-01-29T09:00:31","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T14:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=14729"},"modified":"2020-01-28T22:18:20","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T03:18:20","slug":"in-the-eilish-of-the-beholder-an-opinion-piece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=14729","title":{"rendered":"In the Eilish of the Beholder: An Opinion Piece"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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After watching the Grammy awards this Sunday, I found my Facebook and Twitter feeds flooded<\/em> with news about Billie Eilish and her game-changing inaugural Grammys. Normally I wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about who wins what music awards – save for Hadestown <\/em>winning the award for Best Musical Theater Album (congrats, guys!). But after seeing the outcry of negative feedback over Billie’s win, I knew I just had<\/em> to step in and prove some people wrong. Now yes, we are the Video Game Utopia, and it may seem weird to read an article about music here, but I figured this would best be handled in a think piece, rather than an extended Facebook status that nobody would read. So if you continue reading, well, thanks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout 2019, Billie Eilish has been a force to be reckoned with. Her debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?<\/em> started off at the top of the charts, and over the course of the year produced five singles that landed in the top 40 of Billboard’s Hot 100. The girl’s on fire, and that fame continued into 2020 with the 18 year old winning 5 Grammy awards alongside her brother\/producer Finneas, who found himself winning Producer of the Year. All in all, the year’s been quite good to the O’Connell clan (“Eilish” being a middle-turned-stage name), yet her popularity seems to be lost on many, even so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that we’ve got the facts out of the way, let’s get to some loud opinion-ing! What’s probably the most upsetting thing about music criticism is the whole “this isn’t music” argument. If I were to sit here and tell you that the majority<\/em> of today’s rap\/hip hop\/trap\/whatever-we’re-calling-it-now isn’t music<\/em>, you know how much hate I’d get? I wouldn’t even dare to shit on half the industry of same-sounding beats and thoughtless, simple lyrics that are out there. Because they’re out there. But I’d rather look at this critically. Sure, Billie may sound like she’s whispering in the songs on the radio. But have we ever considered perhaps that’s an aesthetic for particular songs? Have any<\/em> of these people looked into her discography and found the plethora of emotional songs that utilize her range? Allow me to demonstrate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Grammys, as well as many other talk shows and live performances, Billie sang her first big hit, “When the Party’s Over.” Is it somber? Yes. Is it melancholy? Absolutely. But this song also demonstrate’s the kid’s tremendous<\/em> range in three short minutes. As my sister’s described it, Billie has three different voices, and they’re all<\/em> on display in this song. Give it a listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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