How Billie Eilish transformed ‘Spirited Away’ into a song
In Hayao Miyazaki’s fantasy anime film Spirited Away, ten-year-old Chihiro unexpectedly finds herself entering a spiritual realm that turns her parents into pigs. Her quest to find her way back to the human world is embroiled with themes of self-discovery, familial connectivity, environmentalism, and Western consumerism. Taking on one of the most challenging artistic ventures, Billie Eilish sought to condense this wondrous experience into ‘CHIHIRO’.
Most Studio Ghibli movies feel like a dream, which makes Eilish’s appreciation more understandable considering her love for drawing – “I have crazy fucking dreams”, the singer once said while explaining the appeal of drawing and getting her subconscious thoughts down on paper. “With every song that I make, I draw the song,” she added, detailing her approach whenever she starts to let the creativity flow.
Such a visceral approach is absolutely necessary when comparing Eilish’s interests to a film as beautiful as Spirited Away, as most of her songs have characters and narratives that each have layers upon layers of truth and meaning hidden within. Throughout her adventure in the movie, Chihiro comes across numerous characters; some turn out to be friends, some are dangerous, and some are threatening without even meaning to be.
Drawing may have led the singer to birth the beginnings of what would eventually become When We All Fall Asleep, but anime allowed her to access such creative outlets and push boundaries within her own work. “It’s so weirdly unrealistic,” the singer once told Noisey, recalling the moment her brother Finneas saw Spirited Away for the first time and was so scared that he “had to go to therapy for years”.
While her brother spiralled at the prospect of his parents becoming anthropomorphised versions of themselves, Eilish, on the other hand, “watched it over and over”, and not just because she had a crush on the dragon. Growing up with such an impactful visual story inspired her while creating her latest album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, resulting in the gorgeous track ‘CHIHIRO’.
A huge theme throughout the movie is our relationship with our names and how that alludes to self-identification. During one pivotal scene, Chihiro’s friend, Haku, explains that Yubaba controls people by taking their names. In Eilish’s song, it’s difficult to ignore the reference to this in the opening line: “When I come back around, will I know what to say? / Said you won’t forget my name / Not today, not tomorrow.”
Granted, the song could be easily interpreted any which way, but knowing the inspiration behind it, the meaning harks loud and clear, particularly when she uses language that connects with the movie’s underlayer of anguish and the fight to break free. “Open the door, can you open the door?” Eilish sings, the repeated question channelling urgency, as she sings about falling into a deeper pit of loss.
The lyrics aren’t the only thing to convey the theme of the movie. The arrangements also evoke a wistful, murky aura that matches the film’s visual aesthetic, complete with Eilish’s signature sonic tones, resulting in the perfect amalgamation of both the artist and the movie. According to the singer, this was deliberate: “It’s kind of from her point of view, mixed with mine,” Eilish told Rolling Stone. Adding: “The visuals in that movie are some of the best ever — all that Studio Ghibli shit is unbelievable.”
Noting one scene in particular that refuses to leave her mind, she also discussed the way the song came together, which incidentally happened after the singer had just finished watching the movie with her brother. “There’s all those visuals of the train in the water after the flood, and it literally looks like an ocean with a train track,” she revealed, “I had just watched Spirited Away, and Finneas had made that beat. I love that movie. I’ve seen it so many times.”
