How we perceive things both internally and externally holds such a great impact on our identity. When you really think about it, our internal factors are the utmost root of where we develop our biases on others and of course ourselves. In Billie Eillish’s song titled “idontwannabeyouanymore”, the artist dives deep into her own personal struggles with labeling being placed upon her from both external and internal factors. In reality, It’s you versus you. The internal you versus the external you. It is her own personal perception as well as the labels she casts onto herself versus opposing perceptions and labels casted onto her. To further elaborate on the overall text, this song analyzes how we label ourselves from an internal standpoint with so many expectations of overall how you should act as a young lady in society.
For example, the lyrics in the song “A tight dress is what makes you a whore” focuses on society’s prejudice on women who wear tight clothing being seen as “sluts” and “attention seekers” when really it is viewed as a way of style for most. The lyrics “Tell the mirror what you know she’s heard before that I don’t wanna be you anymore” really highlights the ideology of both perspectives reflecting off of each other from how one influence views another. The ideology of a mirror represents you looking right back at yourself from both sides of who you really are.
Reflecting briefly on the title of the song, the lowercase lettering of the song and the absence of spacing strongly suggest it is approached from a state of complete authenticity with the audience to further express a level of complete vulnerability from such a personal account of her own experiences.
Authenticity and vulnerability are present from the title through intense intimacy of labeling creating no space whatsoever for how you really truly perceive yourself. Labels leave you no space to breathe, it leaves you in a hostile situation.
This specific text belongs in this anthology because it is a universal struggle that we all deal with sometimes more than we even realize.
Eilish, Bille. idontwannabeyouanymore. 2017. Universal Music Publishing Group, 2017, genius.com/Billie-eilish-idontwannabeyouanymore-lyrics. Accessed 29 July 2017.