If you were anywhere near a radio or a Spotify playlist in early 2019, you remember the thumping, industrial heartbeat that sounded like it was recorded inside a drainage pipe. That was the arrival of bury a friend. It wasn’t just a hit song; it was a vibe shift. Billie Eilish, then just seventeen, wasn't interested in being the next bright-eyed pop starlet. She wanted to be the monster under your bed. Honestly, she succeeded.
The track served as the third single from her debut album, WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?, and it basically laid the blueprint for what modern "dark pop" looks like today. It’s gritty. It’s weird. It’s got sounds of staplers and dental drills. People were confused, then they were obsessed.
The Sound of Sleep Paralysis
The production on bury a friend is where the magic (and the nightmare) really happens. Finneas O’Connell, Billie’s brother and longtime collaborator, is a literal foley artist in a producer’s body. Most pop songs rely on a standard kick-snare-hi-hat loop. Finneas? He used a recording of a dental drill. He used the sound of a stapler.
It’s minimalist to the point of being claustrophobic. The bass doesn't just play; it growls. When you listen to it with headphones, the panning makes it feel like Billie is whispering directly into your ear, then moving to the back of your head. This wasn't an accident. The song is written from the perspective of the monster under the bed, which—plot twist—is actually Billie herself.
She’s dealing with sleep paralysis and night terrors. It’s heavy stuff for a teenager. But that’s the thing about Billie Eilish. She didn't hide the "ugly" parts of her psyche. She invited them to tea and made a multi-platinum record out of them. The lyrics "What do you want from me? Why don't you run from me?" aren't just spooky lines for a Halloween playlist. They are a genuine confrontation with her own fame and self-perception.
Why the Music Video Changed Everything
You can't talk about bury a friend without the visuals. Directed by Michael Chaves, the video is a literal horror short. You've got Billie being poked by dozens of gloved hands, needles being shoved into her back, and those haunting blacked-out eyes. It was a massive departure from the "pretty" aesthetic of the mid-2010s.
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It felt real because it tapped into a very specific Gen Z anxiety. There’s a sense of being poked and prodded by an audience, a theme she’d revisit later in her career. The lighting is sickly—lots of flickering fluorescent whites and deep, murky shadows. It looked more like American Horror Story than a Top 40 music video.
Interestingly, the black eyes were a practical effect combined with some digital touch-ups, not just a filter. That dedication to the "gross" factor is what helped her stand out. She wasn't trying to be "relatable" in a scrubbed, Disney-channel way. She was being relatable by showing the parts of herself that felt broken.
The Lyrics: Who is the Friend?
The title itself is a bit of a riddle. Who is she burying? Some fans thought it was a literal person. Others thought it was a metaphor for a breakup. But Billie has been pretty clear in interviews (like her famous series with Vanity Fair) that the "friend" is her.
"I am the monster under the bed, I am my own worst enemy," she basically told the world.
Think about the line: "For the debt I owe, gotta sell my soul / 'Cause I can't say no, no, I can't say no." That’s a classic trope about the music industry, but coming from a teen who was suddenly the biggest thing on the planet, it felt uncomfortably literal. She was grappling with the cost of her own success while the ink was still wet on the contracts.
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Impact on the Industry and "Sad Girl Pop"
Before bury a friend, pop was in a weird transition phase. We had the remnants of the EDM-pop explosion and the rise of "mumble rap." Billie took the trap-influenced percussion of rap and married it to the lyrical vulnerability of folk, then doused the whole thing in a goth-horror aesthetic.
Suddenly, every major label was looking for their own "Billie Eilish." You started seeing more dark-hued visuals and hearing more whisper-quiet vocals on the radio. But most of it felt like a cheap imitation. You can't fake the specific kind of weirdness that comes from two siblings making music in a bedroom in Highland Park.
- The song peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- It has been certified multi-platinum in several countries.
- It served as the theme song for the fourth season of True Detective: Night Country.
That last point is huge. True Detective is a prestigious, gritty HBO drama. Using a pop song as the intro was a bold move, but it worked perfectly. It proved that her music had a longevity and a cinematic quality that transcended the "teen pop" label.
The Technical Brilliance of Finneas
We need to give credit to the technical side of this track. If you strip away the vocals, the instrumental is almost avant-garde. The "shush" sound at the beginning? It sets an immediate boundary. The distorted screeching in the bridge? That’s not a synthesizer; it’s a manipulated vocal sample.
Finneas has talked about how they wanted the song to feel "uncomfortable." Usually, producers try to make songs as smooth as possible. They want them to go down like honey. bury a friend is more like gravel. It catches in your throat.
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The song also lacks a traditional, soaring chorus. Most pop hits have that "explosion" at the 45-second mark. Here, the chorus actually gets quieter and more rhythmic. It draws the listener in rather than pushing them back. That’s a masterclass in tension and release.
Addressing the Controversy and Misconceptions
There were some weird rumors when the song dropped. Some people tried to link it to occultism or secret societies because of the "sell my soul" lyrics and the dark imagery. Honestly? It’s just art. It’s no different than a director making a horror movie.
Others thought she was glamorizing mental health struggles. But if you look at the trajectory of her career, Billie has been one of the most vocal advocates for therapy and mental health awareness. bury a friend wasn't glamorizing the darkness; it was exorcising it. It was a way for her to process the terrifying reality of night terrors and the crushing weight of global fame.
Practical Takeaways for the Listener
If you’re a songwriter or a creator, there’s a massive lesson in this track. Don't be afraid of the "ugly" sounds. Everyone has access to the same high-quality samples and software these days. What makes a project stand out is the human element—the weird, specific sounds from your actual life.
If you’re just a fan, go back and listen to it with a pair of high-fidelity headphones. Notice the way the layers build. Pay attention to the silence. Sometimes the most powerful part of a song isn't the noise, but the space between the notes.
- Check out the live performances: Watch her Coachella 2019 or Glastonbury sets. The way she performs this song live—often jumping and thrashing—changes the context from a bedroom nightmare to a stadium anthem.
- Listen for the samples: Try to pick out the stapler and the dental drill. It’s like a sonic Easter egg hunt.
- Read the lyrics as poetry: Strip away the music and just read the words. It’s a fascinating look at the internal dialogue of someone struggling to stay grounded.
bury a friend remains a pillar of Billie Eilish’s discography because it didn't play by the rules. It was a gamble that paid off, proving that audiences were hungry for something authentic, even if that authenticity was a little bit scary. It’s the sound of a young artist taking control of her narrative and refusing to be the "perfect" pop star. And years later, it still hits just as hard as the first time that dental drill kicks in.
To get the full experience of how this song fits into her evolution, listen to it back-to-back with her newer tracks from HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. You can hear the threads of that early experimentation growing into a more mature, but equally daring, sound. Take a deep dive into the credits of her debut album to see how many "found sounds" you can identify across the other tracks; it’s a masterclass in creative production.