Billie Eilish Opens Up About Writing ‘What Was I Made For?’

Billie Eilish opens up about the self-doubt and writing slump she found herself in before being able to write her Barbie soundtrack contribution, “What Was I Made For?”

In an interview with Apple Music 1, the singer shared how the song came about when she and her brother, Finneas, were going through a period of “frustration in writing.”

“And Finneas has always been the one that’s like, ‘No, no, no, let’s write. Let’s write.’ And honestly, we were in a period of time where we were both… like through this last winter, we’ve both been incredibly uninspired,” explained the artist. “And we’ve still been working and trying to make stuff. And honestly, that song was the first one we’ve written in a minute.”

During this period, the duo would get halfway through writing a song and think they “still got it” when beginning a track. Not long after, the self-doubt would slowly creep back in.

“We were really in a zone of feeling like we lost it and feeling like, ‘Man I don’t know if we can do this anymore.’ And we were like, I was 15 years old, 16, 17, and he’s a teenager, you can imagine my thoughts of doubt. Like, ‘Oh, I can’t do this anymore,'” Eilish shared.

Thankfully for both Eilish and Barbie director, Greta Gerwig, the singer and her brother were able to pull things together.

The star and her brother were able to watch an early screening of the hit film with just Gerwig and a few producers at Warner Bros. Studios. At the end of the screening, Gerwig had asked them to “make something” if they felt inspired.

Finneas bounced around the idea of writing a “Barbie song,” but Eilish rejected the idea. Soon enough, the lyrics for “What Was I Made For?” just “came right out.”

Fans and moviegoers everywhere were touched and heartwarmed by the duo’s contribution to the iconic film. Watch the music video for the song below.