At an age when many people are still in high school, 17-year-old music sensation Billie Eilish is breaking records as the first artist born in this millennium to top the album charts, with her debut album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? entering the Billboard 200 at number one on Tuesday for the week of April 13.

Including singles like “when the party’s over”, “bury a friend”, “wish you were gay”, and “bad guy”, the record throws you into the imagination of 17-year-old Eilish, and what feels like the beginning, middle, and end of a 43 minute, eerie and perfectly packaged dream.

Written and produced by Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell, the album begins with a 14 second song titled “!!!!!!!”, which displays her personality as she takes out her Invisalign and introduces the project.

Following the intro is the new single “bad guy,” which is, so far, the most popular song on the album. Paired with a music video, the premise of the song is Eilish making fun of someone for thinking they are such a tough person; when in reality it is her herself that is the “bad guy.”

The third track called “xanny,” after the prescription drug Xanax, which treats anxiety, condemns the recreational use of it, as well as the use of cigarettes. Eilish stresses the song is a message to be safe, as she doesn’t want to lose any more friends.

“Xanny” is immediately followed by the sharpening of a knife, in which fans can identify the song without looking at the tracklist to be “you should see me in a crown.” An anthem that makes you want to take over the world, the song was inspired by the BBC show, Sherlock, in which one of the villains, Jim Moriarty, exclaims that “the man with the key is king, and honey, you should see me in a crown.”  

There are a few seconds of silence following “you should see me in a crown,” but as you enter the fifth track titled “all the good girls go to hell,” there is the faint ring of church bells that gradually gets louder. Although this album mostly focuses on facing fears and personal demons, this song uses Biblical imagery to talk about the global evils of climate change, referencing the 2018 California wildfires and floods due to glacieral melting throughout the lyrics.

Next up is the single titled “wish you were gay,” which was struck with controversy after its release in the beginning of March. Eilish emphasized that the song was not meant to be offensive, but essentially poke fun at herself. In the track, she is explaining that she wishes the boy she was crushing on was gay so that the rejection wouldn’t be because there was something wrong with her, but because of his sexual orientation.

At the halfway point of the album is the seventh track, “when the party’s over,” and a noticeable shift in tone. The song comes with a strikingly disturbing music video, in which Eilish drinks black liquid that later flows out of her eyes like tears. The track seems to be a sequel to her 2017 song “party favor”, which is about getting out of a toxic relationship. She finally says goodbye in this song, letting the person out of her life.

The eighth track, titled “8,” also sounds reminiscent of “party favor,” as the song is mostly Eilish and her ukulele. The production plays with the pitch of her vocals, switching from a high-pitched voice to her normal tone. Thinking about the title of the song, it seems to be a sad love story between her younger, eight year old, self and who she is now.

Number nine, titled “my strange addiction,” takes a break from the sad songs, sampling audio clips of “Threat Level Midnight,” an episode from The Office. The song seems to be about being so obsessed with someone, that you would do anything to be with them, mirroring the TLC show of the same name.

The famously creepy “bury a friend” single follows as the tenth track of the album. Released with an equally, if not more, haunting music video directed by Michael Chaves, Eilish is depicted as the monster under your bed.

According to Eilish, “bury a friend” was the catalyst that lead to the rest of the album, including the theme of being your own worst enemy, and the side effects that come with it.

The eleventh song called “ilomilo” continues the beat that ends “bury a friend,” which makes the two tracks sound like one song. Inspired after a video game of the same name, the song tells a story of losing someone you love, and having to find them again; much like the puzzle game, where the player controls the two characters, ilo and milo, to bring them back together.

Rounding off the album with three tracks meant to be read as a sentence, “listen before i go,” “i love you,” and “goodbye” act as a gradual alarm clock, as you slowly wake up from the dream Eilish created.

The song “listen before i go,” is a sad one, as Eilish sings about suicide. Right off the bat, the opening pulls on the listener’s heartstrings, beginning with the lyrics “take me to the rooftop/ I wanna see the world when I stop breathing.” The song alludes to her wanting to see the world before she makes the decision to live or die by jumping off a building, later singing that “there’s no way out/ But down.” The song ends with ambulance sirens, suggesting that the character she is singing as has either decided to jump off, or attempted to do so.

The second to last song titled “i love you” tells the tale of a complicated relationship, where it seems as though the phrase is thrown around between the two, as Eilish doesn’t believe her significant other truly means what he is saying. Nevertheless, she says “i love you” back, even though she doesn’t want to.

The final song begins with background vocals found in the bridge of “xanny,” as well as the lyrics “please, please/ Don’t leave me be.” Eilish, then, ends the album by taking lyrics from each song, starting from the bottom to the top:

“It’s not true,” – “i love you”

“Take me to the rooftop” – “listen before i go”

“Told you not to worry” – “ilomilo”

“What do you want from me?” – “bury a friend”

“Don’t ask questions” – “my strange addiction”

“Wait a minute” – “8”

“Don’t you know I’m no good for you?” – “when the party’s over”

“Baby, I don’t feel so good” – “wish you were gay”

“And all the good girls go to hell” – “all good girls go to hell”

“Bite my tongue, bide my time” – “you should see me in a crown”

“What is it about them?” – “xanny”

“I’m the bad guy” – “bad guy”