Lily Allen’s revealing and intimate new album, West End Girl, marked a moment of catharsis and healing from her divorce from actor David Harbour. While some think it might present a mature approach to infidelity and the end of a relationship, it feels more aligned with Allen’s debut single, “Smile”, than anything. Just grown up and polished a bit.
Since that 2006 debut, Lily Allen has become influential to a new generation of pop stars, even as she remains at the top of her game right now. In particular, “Smile” struck a chord with Billie Eilish, who appeared on the BBC’s Miss Me? podcast last year, hosted by Allen and Miquita Oliver. Speaking about friendships, Eilish revealed that having friends is one of the most important things to her.
“I reconnected with a bunch of old friends, and now I have so many friends,” she said. When Oliver prompted, “Oh my God, Billie, have you got a crew now?” Eilish proudly confirmed, “I have a crew now, I have friends.”
This is something Eilish clearly cherishes, as she had an emotional expression while explaining her newfound crew. She continued, “I could literally cry about it. It’s been, like, the greatest thing that’s happened to me. Friendship is like the best part of my life.”
Billie Eilish On How Lily Allen’s Song ‘Smile’ Impacted How She Views Friendship
“And what’s interesting, and it’s funny,” Billie Eilish continued, looking slyly over to Lily Allen sitting next to her, “It’s you.”
Eilish continued, “Literally in ‘Smile’ you have that line that’s, ‘With a little help from my friends, I found a light in the tunnel at the end.’” Meanwhile, Allen looked at Eilish, seemingly awed that her words had touched the young pop star so deeply. It’s anyone’s guess what actually was in her head when Eilish recited that line from memory, but her expression seemed genuine.
“I used to, like, want to cry hearing that line,” Eilish continued. “Because I didn’t feel that way, because I didn’t have friends. And I remember thinking, like, I want to feel that way, and I want to listen to this song that I relate to in every way, and hear that line about friends and be like, my friends got me through it. Instead,” she added, “I was, like, raw-dogging life.”
In the podcast video, Allen and Oliver look overcome with emotion as Eilish tells her story. Because who doesn’t know what it’s like to not have friends, really? Once again, Billie Eilish proves herself endlessly relatable to people of all ages, and she’s only 23.
Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for Live Nation
The post The Line in Lily Allen’s ‘Smile’ That Nearly Brought Billie Eilish to Tears, but Not for the Reason You Might Think appeared first on VICE.
