Billie Eilish's 'Bury A Friend' Was Inspired By Sleep Paralysis

Billie Eilish's "Bury A Friend" specifics a bizarre and slightly horrifying relationship that the singer has with a monster that lurks beneath her bed, who also happens to be her. In its video, you could visualize her doppelganger, with soulless holes for eyes, threatening to swallow the singer whole. It's everyone's worst fear: a monster, near them, any time they're at their most susceptible while tucked closesly into fresh bedsheets. And according to Eilish in a new interview with Ok! Magazine, it's this fearful, sleep-related thought that inspired the song.

What's worse than a monster under your bed? Not being able to move. You've experienced the uneasy feeling at one point or another and, each time, you just aspire to hide under the covers. For each person, it's different. Nevertheless, often, people visualize, what they believe, are spirits, demons, or other denizens of the night that can keep you awake, and frozen, up until the morning comes.

Eilish elaborated on this feeling in her interview. "I have these terrifying dreams," she mentioned. "Sleep paralysis,  night terrors. It's like the entire night is terrifying and then I wake up." She continued on, tying it into "Bury A Friend." "I probably wouldn't have made that song the way it is if I hadn't had sleep paralysis and nightmares."


It turns out, in this case, that sleep paralysis is beneficial. "Bury A Friend" peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been certified platinum. The album it comes from, When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? has not only went double platinum, yet it's also won the trophies for Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year at the 2020 Grammy Awards.