Billie Eilish’s new album, Happier Than Ever, is out now, and as Eilish has noted, it’s a profoundly personal creative endeavor. To celebrate the album’s release, she has shared a rainy new video for one of the most personal songs on the album, the title track.
Eilish previously said of the song, “‘Happier Than Ever,’ probably the most therapeutic song I’ve ever written or recorded, like ever, ever, ever, ’cause I just screamed my lungs out and could barely talk afterwards, which was very satisfying to me somehow. I had wanted to get those screams out for a very long time and it was very nice to.”
The song seems particularly autobiographical, as it all but directly names Eilish’s former boyfriend, rapper Brandon Adams (aka 7:AMP). In her The World’s A Little Blurry documentary, there’s a phone call between her and Adams, in which he reveals that he drove while drunk. Meanwhile, on “Happier Than Ever,” Eilish sings:
“You call me again, drunk in your Benz
Drivin’ home under the influence
You scared me to death but I’m wastin’ my breath
‘Cause you only listen to your f*ckin’ friends
I don’t relate to you
I don’t relate to you, no
‘Cause I’d never treat me this sh*tty
You made me hate this city
And I don’t talk sh*t about you on the internet
Never told anyone anything bad
‘Cause that sh*t’s embarrassing, you were my everything
And all that you did was make me f*ckin’ sad
So don’t waste the time I don’t have
And don’t try to make me feel bad
I could talk about every time that you showed up on time
But I’d have an empty line ’cause you never did
Never paid any mind to my mother or friends, so I
Shut ’em all out for you ’cause I was a kid
You ruined everything good
Always said you were misunderstood
Made all my moments your own
Just f*ckin’ leave me alone.”
Watch the “Happier Than Ever” video above.
Happier Than Ever is out now via Darkroom/Interscope. Get it here.