And the Bible said: “God did not spare the angels when they sinned” (2 Peter 2:9). Nor, it seems, did God spare Billie Eilish.
The 17-year-old pop star’s unsettling new video finds her a fallen angel, ejected from Heaven and landing on Earth to find it a deserted, fiery hellscape. “Peter’s on vacation, an open invitation,” she sings, against jaunty keys, suggesting that “even God herself … will want the Devil on her team”.
Tarred and feathered, Eilish eventually goes up in flames herself as, in the background, silhouetted women dance sexily, like the singers she has deliberately positioned herself against. The video for the single all the good girls go to hell (the insistently nonchalant lower-case formatting is hers) has amassed 37m views in just five days, reflective of the controversy the clip has caused in corners of the internet.
On the Q&A website Quora, a conflicted fan fretted: “Can I be a good Christian and like Billie Eilish’s new music?” On Twitter, a woman responded to Eilish’s share of the video, saying: “Prayers sent.” “Nobody asked for your prayers, Tina” came another fan’s retort.
Pop stars playing with religious iconography is hardly a new idea: in March, Madonna marked the 30th anniversary of the Like a Prayer video, wherein she danced in front of burning crosses, kissed a black saint and caused so much controversy she claims it cost her a multi-million-dollar deal with Pepsi.
More recently, Lady Gaga portrayed herself as Mary Magdalene in the video for Judas, released close to Holy Week and Easter 2011, though Gaga said it was not a purposeful attack on religion: “The only controversial thing about this video is that I’m wearing Christian Lacroix and Chanel in the same frame,” she joked to E!.
In July, the SoundCloud rapper Lil Uzi Vert invoked the Rapture during his set at Wireless festival in London, telling his fans that they were “going to Hell” with him and that his hit XO Tour Llif3 was “what it’s going to sound like for eternity”.
Far from becoming immune to the shock tactics, however, some Christians seem to find Eilish’s embrace of Satanic imagery especially concerning in light of her tender years. To quote from the Everyday Christian Parent blog: “Satan no longer hides, and kids think its [sic] cool. … Contrary to Billie Eilish’s songs of hopelessness, we have hope in Jesus.”
A closer reading of Eilish’s lyrics suggests the outrage is misplaced: hills are burning in California, sea levels are rising, the Pearly Gates are a picket fence – far from idolising the devil, Eilish has confirmed the song is largely about the threat from the climate crisis.
“The world’s being ruined by us, you know – it’s literally us,” she said of the song in an interview. And all the good girls will find themselves in Hell along with the bad girls when it eventually comes to Earth.
Those looking for hope after watching Eilish’s video on YouTube might have found it in the description, where she has posted a personal note urging fans to take part in the global climate strikes on 20 and 27 September. The top tag is #climatestrike.
And so Eilish’s glory is revealed – praise be to Billie.
Elle Hunt
