In part four of my album review of “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”, I break down the last section of songs. They’re titled, “ilomilo”, “listen before I go”, “I love you”, and “goodbye”. The songs that are best listened to together are “listen before I go”, “I love you”, and “goodbye.” All of the songs in this section are a bit darker in tone, melancholic, and raw with emotion but still beautifully sung. Continue reading for a full breakdown of each of these songs in this section of my album review for “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”
- ilomilo
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In a recent Genius article, it was confirmed that “ilomilo” references a 2010 puzzle game where the player must reunite Ilo and Milo, small round characters on separate ends of the board who require teamwork to meet at the end. Billie’s brother Finneas confirmed this when he replied to a fan’s Instagram story.
In the same Genius article, it was stated that “According to Billie on her featured episode of First We Feast’s Hot Ones: …’The whole idea is the game, it’s just like, losing the person you love and then finding them again.’”
In the song, we see the inspiration of losing someone and trying to find them come into play with the lyrics in the chorus,
“Where did you go?/ I should know, but it’s cold/ And I don’t wanna be lonely/ So show me the way home/ I can’t lose another life”
Meanwhile, the background noises sound like a video game with cute little bouncing and ringing sounds.
Yet there is also a sense of anxiety present when she utters the line, “Hurry I’m worried”
throughout the song, after she sings a lyric of concern, “So tell me you’ll come home even if it’s a lie”.
I think this song is growing on me because at one point or another we’ve all felt lonely or encountered a rough patch.
- listen before i go
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“listen before i go” is a beautiful song but it is definitely the saddest on the album. Backing the lyrics are piano instrumentals and occasional base drops.
It’s beautifully sung but overall, it’s almost like a will of her last wishes and what she hopes those that love her know. We see this in the lyrics of the final verse, “Call my friends and tell them that I love them/And I’ll miss them/ But I’m not sorry/ Call my friends and tell them that I love them/ And I’ll miss them/ Sorry”.
The song is a bit concerning though because I am unsure if it’s a cry for help because of the verse “Taste me, these salty tears on my cheeks/ That’s what a year-long headache does to you/ I’m not okay, I feel so scattered/ Don’t say I’m all that matters/ Leave me, déjà vu”.
If anything, the song does seem to have a subliminal suicidal message and gives me 13 Reasons Why vibes, especially since she was close in age to Eilish and both are/were 17 years old. - i love you
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“i love you” is a very pretty song and although slow, is very sweet due to the way she sings softly with the instrumentals of the guitar. The melodies are very beautiful in this song and I adore how her brother/co-songwriter Finneas is in the backing vocals.
According to a recent Genius article, “‘i love you’ is a soft acoustic ballad that explores the struggles and feelings from a complicated relationship.”
You can see the complications come in during the chorus of the song,
“Maybe won’t you take it back/ Say you were tryna make me laugh/ And nothing has to change today/ You didn’t mean to say “I love you”/ I love you and I don’t want to/ Oh-oh-oh”.
This is one of my favorite songs to listen to on her album because it’s the most vulnerable and raw and doesn’t use extra sound effects beyond the soft strums of an acoustic guitar.
- Goodbye
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I felt that this single did a really great job of tying the album together. It was interesting how she incorporated the key lyrics from all of her songs on her album and made it sound so beautiful and cohesive. My favorite part of this song is how soft and slow the song is and how it relies more on melodies, and hymns, instead of the odd sounds and electronic sounds like she did in some of the other songs on the album.
When listening to “goodbye”, all of the lyrics almost worked too well together and it makes me think that there is an overall message that Eilish is trying to convey or that she wants fans to connect with across her whole album.
In conclusion, the album is beautiful and is best enjoyed if listened to all in one sitting.
There’s something for everyone on the album as it appeals to different likes and tastes. But in terms of the album title, I guess that just leaves the question,
“When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”