Oscars 2024: Billie Eilish and Finneas Win Best Song For Barbie’s “What Was I Made For”

Barbie took home the Oscar for Best Original Song with Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” The contemplative ballad was everywhere near the release of Greta Gerwig’s monster hit. Both the director and every creative involved in Barbie have to be cheering tonight as the film is up for so many awards. Eilish’s contribution cannot be understated though. Her performance of “What Was I Made For?” has stuck with audiences every time she steps on stage. As Barbie-mania gripped the world, the pop-star talked to Variety about the massive undertaking of this movie’s soundtrack.

“That’s like a challenge for us, to write these lyrics that are very specific but that totally make sense in everybody’s life,” Eilish revealed. “And Greta had such a beautiful film with such amazing visuals that it was easy to think, “OK, what do we write?” 

“I remember everybody being like, ‘What the hell? It’s gonna be a fun, cute, girly, pink movie for the summer and we’re all going to be laughing,” she told the outlet. “What the f*** is Billie doing on the soundtrack? Why is there going to be a sad song? That doesn’t make any sense.’ And I remember just being like, ‘Guys. It’s not me, it’s the movie. The movie is f******* sad!’”

The Personal Story Of “What Was I Made For?”

In addition to being a personal triumph for the star, “What Was I Made For?” also doubled as a comfort in a hard period of the singer’s life. Deadline’s Crew Call spoke to Eilish about the incoming Oscars appearance. It’s pretty clear that the Grammy-winner has thought a lot about the themes of Barbie and how they might relate to her career as well. Along with Finneas, she pondered if the duo would ever regain their excitement for the future.

“It was a dark period of time in life and very not inspiring period of time and a lot of like not feeling excited for the future and not feeling hopeful for the future, and not looking forward to the future,” Eilish told them. “It was a deeply important thing for my life, and also Finneas and my creative life; we needed something to shoot us back into the world of being creative.”

She added, “The movie allowed us to be honest in a way that I don’t think we would have been able to achieve had it not been for – had it not been like an assignment,” she shared.

Want To Revisit Barbie Now?

The film is currently streaming on Max! “In Barbie, to live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken. From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig comes Barbie, which hits theaters on July 21st. Barbie stars Oscar-nominees Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, alongside America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. 

The film also stars Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Dua Lipa and Oscar-winner Helen Mirren. Gerwig directed Barbie from a screenplay by Gerwig & Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach, based on Barbie by Mattel.” 

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