It was 2019. Billie Eilish was basically everywhere, and "bury a friend" was haunting everyone's nightmares. But then there was this one track on her debut album that hit different because it didn't just sound like a pop song—it sounded like a binge-watching session gone wrong. Honestly, my strange addiction billie eilish lyrics are a masterclass in how to mix high-concept pop with a literal sitcom obsession.
The song is weird.
Actually, it's more than weird; it’s a sonic collage. Most people know by now that the track is built around samples from The Office, specifically the "Threat Level Midnight" episode. But if you look past the Michael Scott cameos, the lyrics themselves paint a pretty dark picture of what it feels like to be hopelessly hooked on something—or someone—that is objectively bad for you. It’s that feeling of knowing you're spiraling but kind of enjoying the view on the way down.
The literal and metaphorical layers of the track
When you first hear the song, the The Office samples are the loudest thing in the room. You hear Michael Scott (Steve Carell) talking about "The Scarn," and you hear the cast doing their little dance. It’s funny. It’s quirky. But Billie and her brother Finneas O'Connell didn't just throw those in for laughs. They used those snippets to frame the entire lyrical narrative.
Think about the chorus. When she sings about being "on the glass," she isn't just talking about a window. In the context of the song’s darker undertones, many fans and critics—including deep dives on platforms like Genius—have pointed out that "glass" often serves as a metaphor for a screen. Whether it's a TV screen or a phone, she’s describing a state of being frozen, staring at something that consumes her.
But there’s a second, more visceral meaning. "Glass" can be slang. The lyrics play with the idea of addiction in a way that feels uncomfortably physical. When she says, "to be on the glass, you're the glass," she’s blurring the line between the observer and the object of obsession. It’s basically about losing your identity to a habit. You aren't just watching the show; you are the show. You aren't just dating the toxic person; you've become the toxicity.
The bridge takes it further: "I'm the loser who is winning."
That's a classic Eilish-ism. It’s that self-deprecating irony that defined a whole generation of Gen Z music. You know you're losing because you're wasting your life on this "addiction," but the high you get from it feels like a win. It’s a paradox. It’s messy.
Why the Office samples actually matter (beyond the meme)
You might think getting the rights to use The Office was easy. It wasn't. According to various interviews with Finneas, they had to get approval from the creators and the actors involved. B.J. Novak even joked about it later, but the reality is that the song almost didn't happen because of those samples.
Why fight so hard for them?
Because the my strange addiction billie eilish lyrics wouldn't make sense without the context of a repetitive, comforting, yet mind-numbing distraction. Michael Scott’s "Threat Level Midnight" is a vanity project. It’s a distraction from his real life. By embedding his voice into a song about addiction, Billie is comparing our modern obsessions—like binge-watching a show for the 20th time—to a literal dependency.
It’s meta.
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She’s using a show about boredom and office life to describe a state of emotional paralysis. If you've ever spent six hours scrolling through TikTok or re-watching Friends instead of dealing with a breakup, you get it. You’re "deadly" but you're "deadly" in a way that feels safe.
A breakdown of the imagery
- The Medical Metaphor: The song opens with "No Billie, I haven't done that dance since my wife died." This immediately sets a tone of grief being masked by humor.
- Physical Symptoms: The lyrics mention "my skin is on fire" and "shaking." This isn't just teenage angst. These are descriptions of withdrawal.
- The Provider: When she asks, "Bad, bad news / One of us is gonna lose," she’s setting up a zero-sum game. In an addiction, the substance (or the person) always wins.
Most people miss the fact that the song is actually quite short—barely three minutes. This mirrors the "quick fix" nature of an addiction. It hits hard, it’s catchy, and then it’s over, leaving you wanting to hit "repeat." That’s the trap.
Dealing with the "bad news" in the lyrics
Billie has always been open about her struggles with mental health and the pressure of fame. In the album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?, this track acts as a bridge between the playful and the macabre.
The line "My doctors can't explain my symptoms or my pain" is a recurring theme in her work. It’s the frustration of feeling something that no one else can see. It’s invisible. It’s internal. By labeling it a "strange addiction," she’s giving a name to the nameless void that many young people feel—that sense of being "fine" on the outside but completely consumed by a fixation on the inside.
Let's talk about the production for a second because it influences how we read the lyrics. The bass is heavy. It’s distorted. It feels like a heartbeat in your ears. When she whispers the lyrics, it feels like she’s telling you a secret she’s ashamed of. This isn't a stadium anthem meant for shouting; it’s a bedroom pop confession meant for headphones.
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The cultural impact of the "Strange Addiction" aesthetic
Since the song dropped, the phrase "my strange addiction" has evolved. It’s become a shorthand for the way we consume media. We talk about "brain rot" and "doomscrolling" now, but in 2019, Billie was already describing that exact phenomenon.
She caught the tail end of the "fandom" era where being obsessed with something was a personality trait. But she twisted it. She made it sound dangerous. She made it sound like something you should probably be worried about.
If you look at the my strange addiction billie eilish lyrics today, they feel strangely prophetic. We are more addicted to our "glass" than ever before. The song doesn't offer a cure. It doesn't tell you to put the phone down or stop watching the show. It just sits there with you in the dark, acknowledging that we’re all a little bit hooked on something that’s probably killing us.
How to actually apply the "Strange Addiction" mindset to your life
If you find yourself relating a little too much to these lyrics, it’s worth looking at your own "glass." We all have that thing—the person we shouldn't text, the app we can't delete, the show we use to numb our brains.
- Identify the "Michael Scott" in your life. What is the thing you’re using to distract yourself from your real-world "Threat Level Midnight"? Recognizing the distraction is the first step toward breaking the cycle.
- Audit your screen time. If you’re literally "on the glass" for 8 hours a day, the metaphor isn't a metaphor anymore; it's a diagnosis.
- Acknowledge the "Bad News." Billie’s lyrics are powerful because they are honest. Sometimes, the situation is just bad. Acknowledging that you’re in a "losing" cycle with a habit is often more helpful than pretending you’re in control.
- Listen to the silence between the samples. In the song, the music often drops out to let the dialogue breathe. Try to find those moments of silence in your own day where you aren't consuming anything. It’s uncomfortable, sure, but that’s where you actually find yourself again.
The brilliance of Billie Eilish lies in her ability to make the specific feel universal. She took a niche obsession with a TV show and turned it into a haunting anthem about the nature of human desire and dependency. It’s catchy, it’s creepy, and it’s a permanent part of the pop lexicon for a reason.
Next time you hear that "Scarn" sample, don't just laugh. Listen to what’s happening underneath. You might find that you’re more "on the glass" than you realized.
To dive deeper into the lyrical structure, compare this track to "xanny" on the same album. While "xanny" deals with the literal addiction of those around her, "my strange addiction" deals with the figurative ones we choose for ourselves. Both highlight a different side of the same coin: the struggle to stay present in a world that constantly offers us an exit.
Pay attention to your habits. If you start feeling like the "loser who is winning," it might be time to change the channel.
The most effective way to process the themes in Billie’s work is to engage with the music as a mirror rather than just background noise. Take the lyrics and apply them to a single habit you’ve been trying to kick. Note how the feeling of "skin on fire" or "shaking" manifests as anxiety when you try to step away from your phone or a toxic social circle. Once you see the pattern, the song becomes less of a mystery and more of a roadmap for what to avoid.