Here is what I love about Billie and Finneas and the process by which they make music. Before "Your Power" even begins there is a component that sounds like someone sitting in a chair. It is obviously sound picked up by the studio microphone, but whatever it is I love the fact that it is a part of the song, because like with most songs, they just start. I get the feeling this elements is intentional and it says to me, "I need your attention". The visual I get is like that of a person stepping to a podium and tapping the mic to let the attendees know the program is getting ready to commence. Ultimately, Billie wants my attention and while I initially do not know that "Your Power" is going to have a powerful message, by the end of the music video I know why she wants me to listen.
The song opens with the most beautiful guitar melody and strumming pattern which is allowed to breathe for some time before the vocals come in. It relaxes me when suddenly Billie enters on such a lovely pitich and phrase that stays with me the whole time. The song is accompanied by a landscape view of caramel colored mountains, ridges, and valleys. The mountains representing power, the climb to power, moving up in life, majesty, prominence, seeing things from a different viewpoint or perspective, and authority. The valleys representing lows, the starting place, and often times the dark and low periods of life. As the song continues, I am captivated by the scenery when suddenly Billie comes into focus as she sits on the side of the cliff of the mountain and it is exactly what it is, a "coming into focus" moment. It represents moments of realization, deep thoughts, revelations, introspection, and seeing things more clearly. The fact that she is sitting high up shows that she has not only been physically elevated, indicating the power she has received because of her career, but also consciously, meaning new revelations about past situations and interations with people both personally and professionally. Light has been shed on old information and new understanding has come. This brings emotional growth which is both hard to push through and freeing at the same time.
During the pre-chorus we get the first glimpse of a large snake slithering across Billie, our character's lap. This snake also represents power, its actions, and the process by which it moves, very slow, steady and harmful over time. To look into this a little more I want to explain the nature of this kind of snake which may be a boa or python. They are called constricting snakes and when they find their prey they first attach themselves to them. A large snake moving in on its victim in the beginning does not seem as damaging, but as the snake continues, it coils around and around slowing restricting blood flow. The snakes knows how to detect if its prey is still breathing and with every heartbeat it squeezes tighter causing organs and the heart to receive less and less oxygen. The prey or victim eventually dies from suffocation, taking its last breath and when this happens the snake releases its hold.
The visuals for the second chorus renders a lovely, widened view of Billie on the mountain overlooking the valley in front of her. The rocking back and forth is quite heart wrenching for me. I see in this character a person who has recently been awakened by the revelations of past situations and has come to a wise conclusion that power is being abused everywhere and in every way. There is disappointment and hurt within the body language of the torso doubling over as if being punched in the stomach. Pain lives there in that moment. Within the valley, I see this character's past, upbringing, situations, and interaction with people she knew or still may know. I see this valley as a dumping ground for all of those experiences and she is overlooking them from new and higher ground. I am a person who goes out to catch sunsets nearly everyday and spends time in mountainous areas. The higher you go the more you can see in totality. When standing at an intersection on a street I can only see the traffic lights and cars within my immediate view, but if go high up into a mountain and look out over the city, I can see all of the city lights for miles and miles. The viewpoint is more vast. The shots we get of the sky are very lovely, meant for beauty first, and is what you generally see whenever you drive to a look out and observe the beauty above, whether it be sunrises, sunsets, or a dreamy cloudy day. Sometimes there are no clouds, but typically this is what you find. I, myself, am from California as well, so I am familiar with this location where the video was shot. Continuing on though. Most people who habitually skygaze or stargaze are doing just that, looking up at the sky. In doing so there are energies of peace and hope that takes over the mind offering the feeling that everything will be okay. I believe that these clips of the heavenly clouds and sun indicate a glimmer of hope, or that there is still hope in the midst of, perhaps after abuse.
During the second verse the snake, respresenting the actions of power, is becoming aggressive coiling itself around the victim more, moving up to the neck and wrapping itself around the throat. The lyrics, which I will address at the end, coincide with this visual perfectly. Here, we are talking about lies and deceit, someone claiming they didn't know something therefore not owning up to their part in the situation and placing the blame on someone else. This manipulation is now making the victim feel bound and unable to move or speak. But again, as I observe the third chorus I am taken to the heavelies again where there is a glimmer hope. This is the second reminder to not give up, but to push through and heal from past hurts. As the frames circle back down we get to our last line of the song that says, "...but power isn't pain" and with this lyric comes the visual of the character fully bound by the abuse of power and is completely paralyzed. From this point the camera zooms out just as it zoomed in in the beginning to bring me back to where I started. However, I should not be the same person as I was in the beginning. I should be a different person, of which I am. Billie the character is not even the same person as she was in the beginning. She goes from being free to being bound and what is crazy is the the "Mmm'ss" and "la la la la's" being sung at the end, ad libs usually associated with freedom and sunny days, shows that a person can be bound and not even know it. They can be bound and believe they are free. They can be bound and believe everything is all good until later they realize that they were being mistreated the whole time. Let's think very quickly. In the movies when a person is tied up to a chair being interrogated or tortured do they sing "mmms and la la las? No. They yell, scream, and call for help. I am moved as I just received a substantial message I can personally relate to and just as the zoom in was captivating, so is the zoom out when suddely there is a quick suction of breath and the picture goes black. Guys, that sudden breath is the last breath taken due to suffocation because of the abuse of power. In my final interpretation, the moral of the story is that those who abuse their power need to be shown what they are actually doing to people they prey on or victimize. While most abusers are self-centered and inward focused they are not aware that they are causing suffering, pain, hurt, and even physical, spiritual, or mental death, through the breaking of one's soul.
Let's look at the lyrics (Genius Lyrics)
Try not to abuse your power
I know we didn't choose to change
You might not wanna lose your power
But havin' it's so strange
I am finding the chorus of "Your Power" to be quite conversational. I see two people who have grown in power talking to each other with one saying, "Hey, you know, try not to abuse your power because if you abuse it you can lose it if not handled with care". This is a full blown command, period. A pointing of one's finger to Billie herself and to everyone else in positions of power or those who will eventually gain power of their own. LISTEN TO THIS MESSAGE. In the line "You know we didn't choose to change" says that change just is. It is inevitable. We did not choose to go from powerless to powerful, but we did and now we have to be responsible with what we have. No matter what things always change whether you want them to or not. The last line is clear, "...but having it's so strange" Billie has always talked about how strange it is to be in the position she is in and I believe this line is fully reflective of how she feels.
[Verse 1]
She said you were a hero
You played the part
But you ruined her in a year
Don't act like it was hard
And you swear you didn't know (Didn't know)
No wonder why you didn't ask
She was sleepin' in your clothes (In your clothes)
But now she's got to get to class
In the first and second verses we get a sneak peak into some specifics on how power is misused within the context of a relationship. While I am sure Billie has pulled from personal experiences and the experiences of others, the main idea here is that manipulation of power has everything to do with diverse forms of relationships. There are always two or more parties involved. "She said you were a hero, you played the part" says a lot about how one party can be completely innocent and naive seeing something that really is not there. Heroes are saviors, they are good people with superhuman strength whose mission is to stop all the bad guys. The other party steps into the role of what the other person perceives them to be but really, it's a smoking mirror. When the smoke clears, the true colors of the person is revealed. "But now she's got to get to class" is a powerful line. This is an outright statement against underage relationships which have been taking place for decades. When I was 16 I had a boyfriend who was 20 whom I met dancing on Soul Train okay! lol. I will give no details of that time, but will say that the key thought here is "underaged". This is addressing situations where adults abuse children as well, both girls and boys. In the second verse the lines, "Does it keep you in control? For you to keep her in a cage?" immediately makes me think of caged animals and while I know there are highly ill people who keep individuals locked up in basements, cages, and vaults, psychological manipulation puts people in mental cages as well. It puts the heart and soul in a cage and they feel as though they can not get out. This is why it is difficult for many women to leave abusive relationships.
[Pre-Chorus]
How dare you?
And how could you?
Will you only feel bad when they find out?
If you could take it all back
Would you?
[Chorus]
Try not to abuse your power
I know we didn't choose to change
You might not wanna lose your power
But havin' it's so strange
I thought that I was special
You made me feel
Like it was my fault, you were the devil
Lost your appeal
Does it keep you in control? (In control)
For you to keep her in a cage?
And you swear you didn't know (Didn't know)
You said you thought she was your age
[Pre-Chorus]
How dare you?
And how could you?
Will you only feel bad if it turns out
That they kill your contract?
Would you?
"How dare you? How could you?" Listen, if there is one person who can gently call out users, it is Billie Eilish. These two lines iterally are telling abusers they are scumbags, period! They put puppet masters in their place and if anyone is an abuser and gets approached with these questions they should feel convicted and then start the process of becoming less of an egotistical and power grabbing idiot. In both pre-choruses where the question is asked, "Will you only feel bad...", suggest secrecy and keeping things in the dark. If what was transpiring came to light a person's career, family, friends, their whole public life would be affected. Also, just about all manipulation and abuse of power is done undisclosed often times never to be revealed and this is why people commit suicided over the the untelling of souls.
[Chorus]
Try not to abuse your power
I know we didn't choose to change
You might not wanna lose your power
But power isn't pain
The last line in this song, "But power isn't pain", is one of the most sturdy. When I really thought about this lyric I said to myself, when has the word 'power' ever come up in culture and conversation and people not think of it in a negative way? When has anyone thought of power positively? The final thought here is that just because someone has power does not mean they have to use it to cause pain to others. Power can be positive, useful, and helpful to others if managed properly and it is that simple. Power does NOT have to hurt anyone.
Let's talk about the 22 seconds of silence. The video ends right at 4 minutes and there is 22 seconds of a black screen. Many are spectulating a few theories. I will let them have their theories. For me, I first understood something very simple, and guys, honestly, I mean seriously, it is not even that deep. The online world inundates us with an abundance of online advertisement. Most of us watch new videos on the YouTube platform and at the end of each video comes another video to click or advertisement immediately following. Billie does not want anything to distract you from the messege she has just given. There are no "next video to watch" ad overlaying her own. She knows she has just given a very strong message and visual and she wants you to take time to process it instead of being drawn to something else right away. I then thought about some of Billie's other self-directed films and recalled that she has always given a little space for processing with a few seconds of black screen, one being about 15 seconds. But why 22 seconds and not more or less? I decided to look into Biblical numbers, which I am not well versed in, to see if there was anything that made sense to me. By the way my assigned number is 44 and 444, but that is a whole different story.
What is certain is this:
Video ends at exactly 4 minutes: 4
Black screen is exactly 22 seconds: 22
Diving into the number 22 I am getting references to Biblical kings who ruled in an unpopular fashion. They were not liked by the people. Words that stand out relating to my short research are authority, rulers, power, unpopular, tyranny, relationships, and spirtual development. Studying numbers can be very time consuming, so this is just a surface information. For all I know the end of "Your Power" contains 22 seconds just because it wants to. I would suggest looking to the theory of 22 seconds on your own and seeing what you come up with.
Thank you so much for reading my article. I hope you found it informative, useful, and life-changing. I am a huge fan of Billie Eilish and if you would like to follow my fan page on Instagram just click the follow button at @billiexbrandy_vocalverse Adios!
