Billie Eilish confirmed her attraction to women last year, rightfully presenting it as no big deal and nobody’s business. “I didn’t realize people didn’t know,” she told Variety. “I just don’t really believe in it. I’m just like, ‘Why can’t we just exist’? I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I just didn’t talk about it. Whoops.” Today, Eilish is back with the new album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, and the lead single, “LUNCH,” is very much a celebration of same-sex lust. It’s sitting at No. 1 on the Genius Top Songs chart.
“That song was actually part of what helped me become who I am, to be real,” Eilish said of “LUNCH” in an interview with Rolling Stone. “I wrote some of it before even doing anything with a girl, and then wrote the rest after. I’ve been in love with girls for my whole life, but I just didn’t understand—until, last year, I realized I wanted my face in a vagina. I was never planning on talking about my sexuality ever, in a million years. It’s really frustrating to me that it came up.”
Billie’s realization is basically what “LUNCH”—a ska-tinged pop groover co-written and produced by her brother, FINNEAS—is about. Here’s Eilish in the chorus that opens the song, hinting at where these lyrics are going.
I could eat that girl for lunch
Yeah, she dances on my tongue
Tastes like she might be the one
And I could never get enough
Eilish ends her first pass through the hook by leaving fancy gifts with the hotel concierge and dropping a none-too-subtle come-on.
It’s a craving, not a crush, huh
“Call me when you’re there”
Said, “I bought you somethin' rare
And I left it under ‘Claire’”
So now, she’s comin' up the stairs
So I’m pullin' up a chair
And I’m puttin' up my hair
In the first verse, Eilish is building up to the encounter. It’s all anticipation and innuendo.
Been tryin' hard not to overeat
You’re just so sweet
I’ll run a shower for you like you want
Clothes on the counter for you, try ‘em on
If I’m allowed, I’ll help you take 'em off
Huh
Things are a bit more explicit in the second verse, though there’s still a sense of sweet naiveté. For all the confidence she projects elsewhere in the song, Billie is admittedly hypnotized by this woman.
Tell her, “Bring that over here”
You need a seat? I’ll volunteer
Now she’s smilin' ear to ear
She’s the headlights, I’m the deer
You can read all the lyrics to “LUNCH” on Genius now.
