(The Hit Hammer Requests are requests from people who want me to review songs that did NOT hit #1, but still charted on the Hot 100. Right now, there is only one request per person, but if you're reading this, and you haven't already sent me a request, feel free to do so. I will try to do a request once a week, while still continuing my main project of reviewing each #1 song on the Hot 100)
Billie Eilish - "All the Good Girls Go to Hell"
Peak Date: April 12, 2019
Peak Position: #46
#1 Song At That Time: "7 Rings" by Ariana Grande
Requestor: Josh McDonald
Is Billie Eilish okay? To be fair, I don't think there was ever a time that she was. One of the biggest music stars today, Eilish stands out from the rest. She always sings in a low quiet tone, almost like she's trying to keep a sleeping parent from waking up in the next room over. She's also just an extremely eerie human being, though it's obviously intentional. A lot of her songs are just as eerie as she is, but again, that's just the way she wants it to be. A credit to her, she doesn't blend in to the Selena Gomezs, the Camila Cabellos and the Ariana Grandes of the world today. She's off in her own world, a world that's easy to imagine being filled of darkness and isolation.
Eilish is the daughter of actress Maggie Baird, who taught Eilish and her brother, Finneas, the basics of songwriting while they were homeschooled. Eilish wrote her first "song" when she was only 11 years old. Apparently the song was about a zombie apocalypse, inspired by the television show The Walking Dead. That should be a surprise to no one. She got her first taste of fame after she created her YouTube channel, and uploaded the music video to her song "Ocean Eyes". ("Ocean Eyes" peaked at #84 on the Hot 100. It's a 6) Justin Lubliner is the one credited with discovering Eilish, and after being impressed with "Ocean Eyes", he signed her to a record deal with Darkroom and Interscope Records. That's the label where Eilish found her biggest moments of success to date, and is where she released "Bad Guy", her lone #1 hit. (I won't give a score to "Bad Guy" yet, since it hit #1. It will be a post along with my regular Hit Hammer series) Also coming from that label is "All the Good Girls Go to Hell", which while it only peaked at #46, it's still one of her most notable songs.
The best way I can describe "All the Good Girls Go to Hell" is, well, strange. Everything about it is strange, including the music video. The video starts with Eilish being stabbed numerous times in her back with needles, which afterwards she graphically grows bat wings. She's then presumably cast down into hell, being covered in oil, and surrounded by fire. At one point, Eilish is even set on fire. The production is good, it's just really weird. The song deals with climate change, and how God and even Satan look at each other in disbelief on how cruel human beings treat the Earth. Eilish has gone into greater detail, explaining that the song is about global warming, and trying to save the world and "people not believing it needs to be saved."
The song's musical production features wild synths, a timid drum pattern and admittedly, a banger bass line. I like all the musical production more than Eilish's voice, mostly because there isn't much to say about her voice. Like I said above, she mutters to herself, kind of like the kid that sits in the back corner by themselves in a classroom. However, it all does work together well. They're all pieces of a puzzle that shouldn't fit, but in the end, they still do somehow. Unfortunately, I still can't get that excited by "All the Good Girls Go to Hell", and that's not because it's a bad song in my eyes, I'm just not a big Billie Eilish fan. I just find her music unnerving, and even sinister in some cases. This song is especially unnerving. But while I'm just a dude reviewing songs, she's a professional singer releasing hits. You can't deny that she's found herself as an artist, and she's currently thriving. I don't understand it, but I can't understand everything.
GRADE: 5/10
(Thanks for the request Josh!)
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