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When I Was Older

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"WHEN I WAS OLDER"
Single by Billie Eilish
from the album Music Inspired by the Film Roma
ReleasedJanuary 9, 2019 (2019-01-09)
RecordedNovember 2018
GenreElectronic
Length4:31
LabelSony Masterworks
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Finneas O'Connell
Billie Eilish singles chronology
"Come Out and Play"
(2018) 		"WHEN I WAS OLDER"
(2019) 		"Bury a Friend"
(2019)

"When I Was Older" is a song by American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish from the soundtrack album to the film Roma (2018). It was released as a single by Sony Masterworks on January 9, 2019. Eilish wrote the song with its producer, her brother Finneas O'Connell. "When I Was Older", an electronic track with lullaby-influenced instrumentation, has lyrics heavily inspired by the film's plot. The song was later included as a deluxe track on Eilish's debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019).

Eilish's lyrics address misery, while she uses impressions of singing underwater. "When I Was Older" received generally positive reviews from music critics, with one of them likening the lyrical content. The song reached number 11 on the US Billboard Alternative Digital Song Sales chart. It was performed live during Eilish's When We All Fall Asleep Tour and Where Do We Go? World Tour in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Background and release

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On January 8, 2019, Eilish announced the release date of "When I Was Older".[1] She stated that the song's title was inspired from a piece of dialogue spoken by the character Pepe: "When I was older I used to be a sailor, but I drowned in a storm."[2] Eilish revealed the 2018 movie Roma, which was directed by Alfonso Cuarón and described as "domestic worker’s journey set against domestic and political turmoil in 1970s Mexico", as a major inspiration behind the song.[1][3][4] "When I Was Older was released for digital download and streaming through record label Sony Masterworks on January 9, 2019 in various countries.[5] Although "When I Was Older" was not in the movie, it was chosen by Cuarón to appear on the album Music Inspired by the Film Roma on February 8, 2019.[6] The song was later included on the Japanese edition of Eilish's debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? in December 2019.[7] "When I Was Older" was written by the singer and her brother Finneas O'Connell, and he also produced it. Mastering and mixing were handled by studio personnel, John Greenham and Rob Kinelski, respectively.[8]

Composition and lyrical interpretation

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"When I Was Older" is moderately slow at 72-76 beats per minute (BPM).[9] The song is played in the key of B minor, while Eilish's vocals span a range of E3 to A4.[9] It has been described as a lullaby-influenced uptempo-electronic track in press reviews.[10][11][12] Derrick Rossignol of Uproxx said the song starts with "eerie" instrumentation consisting of "some bass and simple percussion".[13] Patrick Hosken of MTV has compared "the gloomy, blippy" track to Lil Uzi Vert's "XO TOUR Llif3" (2017) and Radiohead's "Pyramid Song" (2001).[14]

According to Eilish in a statement, "We wanted to write from within the narrative of the movie and the scenes that struck us the most from it. Having access to the sounds used in the film proved to be invaluable to help us convey this.”[12] Wandera Hussein of The Fader said of Eilish's auto-tuned vocals coming in that it has a "drenched murmur over a sparse, tingly melody",[15] giving the impression she's singing underwater, while sounds of the ocean are overplayed in the chorus, sounding like she is wanting to be there: “When I was older/I was a sailor on an open sea/But now I'm underwater/And my skin is paler than it should ever be."[12][13][16] Lines like "Memories burn like a forest fire/Heavy rain turns any funeral pyre to mud/In the flood" are accompanied by the sounds of trees burning in the woods outside of a house.[2] Daniel Kreps of Rolling Stone noted that Eilish added sounds of "student protest shouts and Borras barking" and turned them into "rhythmic percussive elements to help drive the song".[2][17]

Reception and promotion

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"When I Was Older" was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Idolator's Mike Nied said the song was a "standout" and "shaping up to be a rather menacing anthem".[1] Rolling Stone's Angie Martoccio and Billboard's Angelica Acevedo called it "haunting".[12] Rossignol stated that the song is "pretty neat".[13] Tom Breihan of Stereogum stated that it is hard to see how "When I Was Older" has anything to do with Roma, although wrote its "themes of alienation might have some resonance" and called the track a "weirdly pretty song".[16] Chris William of Variety praised the track for the lyrics, calling them "impressive" and also noted its "preternatural spookiness".[17] Pitchfork editor Philip Sherburne described it as "gorgeous" and one of the soundtrack's best songs, noting that while its sound "couldn't be further from Mexico City of the 1970s", its thematic closeness to the film made it "a fitting contemporary extrapolation".[18] "When I Was Older" experienced limited success on record charts. It peaked at number 11 on the US Billboard Alternative Digital Song Sales chart, number 7 on the New Zealand Hot Singles Chart, number 3 on the Sweden Heatseeker chart, and number 9 on the Dutch Tip Single charts.[19][20][21][22]

To promote "When I Was Older", Eilish performed it at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April, at the Glastonbury Festival in June, and at Pukkelpop in August 2019.[23][24][25] "When I Was Older" was included on the setlist of Eilish's 2019 When We All Fall Asleep Tour, and her 2020 Where Do We Go? World Tour.[26][27]

Credits and personnel

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Credits adapted from Tidal.[8]

Charts

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Chart performance for "When I Was Older"
Chart (2019) Peak
position
Greece (IFPI)[28] 52
Lithuania (AGATA)[29] 67
Netherlands (Single Tip)[22] 18
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[20] 7
Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[21] 3
US Alternative Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[19] 11

Certifications

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Certifications for "When I Was Older"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[30] Gold 35,000‡
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[31] Gold 20,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Nied, Mike (January 9, 2019). "Billie Eilish Drops New Single 'When I Was Older'". Idolator. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Kreps, Daniel (January 9, 2019). "Hear Billie Eilish's 'Roma'-Inspired Ballad 'When I Was Older'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  3. ^ Skinner, Tom (January 9, 2019). "Billie Eilish releases new single 'When I Was Older'- inspired by a Golden Globe-winning Netflix film". NME. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  4. ^ Colburn, Randakk (January 8, 2019). "Billie Eilish shares 'When I Was Older', a new song inspired by Alfonso Cuarón's Roma: Stream". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  5. ^ Citations regarding the digital release of "When I Was Older" in various countries:
  6. ^ "Music Inspired by the Film Roma on iTunes". iTunes Store (US). Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  7. ^ "When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (Cd Repack)" (in Polish). Empik. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  8. ^ a b "'When I Was Older' by Billie Eilish". Tidal. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Billie Eilish 'When I Was Older' Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  10. ^ Ahlgrim, Callie; Torres, Libby; Willen, Claudia (March 18, 2020). "Every Billie Eilish song, ranked". Insider. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  11. ^ Acevedo, Angelica (January 9, 2019). "Billie Eilish Unleashes New Song 'When I Was Older (Inspired By Roma)': Listen". Billboard. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  12. ^ a b c d Martoccio, Angie (January 9, 2019). "Song You Need to Know: Billie Eilish, 'When I Was Older'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  13. ^ a b c Rossignol, Derrick (January 9, 2019). "Billie Eilish's 'When I Was Older' Is Intriguing Alt-Pop Inspired By The Movie 'Roma'". Uproxx. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  14. ^ Hosken, Patrick (January 9, 2019). "Billie Eilish Is Lana Del Rey Meets Bon Iver On Roma-Inspired 'When I Was Older'". MTV. Archived from the original on January 9, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  15. ^ Hussein, Wandera (January 9, 2019). "Stream Billie Eilish's new song 'When I Was Older'". The Fader. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  16. ^ a b Breihan, Tom (January 9, 2019). "Billie Eilish – 'When I Was Older (Music Inspired By The Film Roma)'". Stereogum. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  17. ^ a b William, Chris (January 9, 2019). "Alfonso Cuaron's Mystery 'Roma' Album Gets an Inspired Billie Eilish Teaser". Variety. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  18. ^ Sherburne, Philip (February 6, 2019). "Various Artists: Music Inspired by the Film Roma Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  19. ^ a b "Billie Eilish Chart History (Alternative Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  20. ^ a b "New Zealand Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. January 21, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  21. ^ a b "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 3, 2019". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  22. ^ a b "Dutch Single Tip" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. January 26, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  23. ^ Powers, Shad (December 10, 2019). "Second time around even better for Billie Eilish as Weekend 2 set is more powerful, raw". The Desert Sun. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  24. ^ Saval, Marina (July 1, 2019). "Billie Eilish Mesmerizes Glastonbury Crowd With Life-Affirming Performance". Variety. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  25. ^ "Hysterie tijdens Billie Eilish, maar perfect is het nog lang niet" [Hysteria during Billie Eilish concert, but it isn't perfect yet]. Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). August 18, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  26. ^ Saw, Yadana (April 25, 2019). "Review: Billie Eilish at Spark Arena – 'a shared dream'". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  27. ^ Young, Alex (March 10, 2020). "Billie Eilish Launches 'Where Do We Go? World Tour'". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  28. ^ "Official IFPI Charts – Digital Singles Chart (International) – Week: 2/2019". IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on January 21, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  29. ^ "Savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. January 18, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  30. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2022 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  31. ^ "Brazilian single certifications – Billie Eilish – When I Was Older" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
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