Some of the most ubiquitous songs in recent memory were nominated for Song of the Year at the 2024 Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 4.
Billie Eilish thought there was “not a chance” that she would take home the award, which recognizes the composition of a song and its songwriters, and her shock was clear when she won the trophy.
“I just want to say everyone in this category, like — that was a crazy list of incredible people, incredible artists, incredible music! I feel crazy right now,” Eilish, 22, said during her acceptance speech. “Damn, dude. I am shocked out of my balls.”
Lana Del Rey’s “A&W,” Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” Jon Batiste’s “Butterfly,” Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” SZA’s “Kill Bill” and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” also received nods in the category.
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“Thank you to the members of the Recording Academy. Thank you to my brother who is my best friend in the world and makes me the person I am today,” Ellish said on stage Thank you to Greta Gerwig for making the best movie of the year.”
Both Eilish and Lipa were both recognized for the songs they penned for the 2023 Barbie movie. The two already competed against each other for Best Original Song – Motion Picture at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards in January, with Eilish securing the win. Eilish also earned a nod for Best Original Song at the 2024 Academy Awards, which will take place in March, while Lipa was not nominated by the Oscars.
In January, Eilish shared the inspiration behind “What Was I Made For?” at the Palm Springs Film Awards, emphasizing that “any recognition that this song gets, I just want to dedicate to anyone who experiences hopelessness, the feeling of existential dread and feeling like, ‘What’s the point? Why am I here? And why am I doing this?’”
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“I think we all feel like that occasionally, but I think if somebody like me, with the amount of privilege that I have and the incredible things that I get to do and be and how I have really not wanted to be here,” she continued. “Sorry to be dark, damn. But I’ve spent a lot of time feeling that way.”
Eilish then encouraged those dealing with similar issues to “be patient” with themselves. “And know that it is, I think, worth it all,” she said. “And I think that it’s good to be alive now. I didn’t feel like that for a very long time.”
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As for Cyrus’ hit “Flowers,” the empowering anthem’s message was initially much bleaker.
“I wrote it in a really different way,” Cyrus, who won Best Pop Solo Performance earlier in the night, told British Vogue in her June 2023 cover story. “The chorus was originally: ‘I can buy myself flowers, write my name in the sand, but I can’t love me better than you can.’ It used to be more, like, 1950s. The saddest song. Like: ‘Sure, I can be my own lover, but you’re so much better.’”
Cyrus ultimately decided to take the lyrics in another direction, changing the line to “I can love me better than you can.” She explained to the outlet that the song is “a little fake it till you make it, which I’m a big fan of.”
