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"Bury a Friend"
Single by Billie Eilish
from the album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
ReleasedJanuary 30, 2019 (2019-01-30)
Genre
Length3:13
Label
Songwriters
ProducerFinneas O'Connell
Billie Eilish singles chronology
"When I Was Older"
(2019) 		"Bury a Friend"
(2019) 		"Wish You Were Gay"
(2019)
Music video
"Bury a Friend" on YouTube

"Bury a Friend" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish and the third single from her debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019), of which a line on the song inspired the album's title. It was released on January 30, 2019, and serviced to US alternative radio stations on February 19, 2019, through Darkroom and Interscope Records. The song was described as synth-pop, electronica, electropop and industrial in press reviews, for which hip hop beats, percussion, and a synthesizer provide minimalist instrumentation. Within the dark and violent lyrics, Eilish sings from the perspective of a monster under someone's bed. Her vocals are subtle and treated with layers of vocal effects. Eilish wrote the song with its producer, Finneas O'Connell.

"Bury a Friend" received generally positive reviews from music critics, several of whom praised its dark nature and lyrics. The song was also likened to the music of Marilyn Manson, Lorde and Kanye West. It attained commercial success, including reaching number one in Sweden and Latvia. The song further peaked within the top ten in New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awarded it a triple platinum certification.

Michael Chaves directed the music video for "Bury a Friend", which was uploaded to Eilish's YouTube channel at the same time as the song's first release. The video depicts Eilish singing under the bed of British rapper Mehki Raine (known as Crooks at the time), who provides uncredited vocals on the song, being pulled by black gloves, and walking through a rundown apartment. Critics noted the video's horror elements. Eilish promoted the song by performing it live at venues in 2019, including the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Glastonbury Festival and during her When We All Fall Asleep Tour. It was also included on the setlist of her 2020 Where Do We Go? World Tour, her 2022 Happier Than Ever, The World Tour, and her 2024 Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour.

Background and development

[edit]
An image of a blonde-haired man wearing a suit and sunglasses against a purple-red backdrop.
Eilish's brother Finneas O'Connell contributed to the song's writing and production.[1]

On January 29, 2019, Billie Eilish formally announced the release of When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and also revealed that she would release a single the next day at 9 am (PT). She further posted a 16-second teaser of the song, featuring her singing while being grabbed and pushed by gloved hands.[2][3] "Bury a Friend" was eventually released on the scheduled date,[1] having premiered on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show as the day's World Record.[4] Eilish further made an appearance on Annie Mac's Future Sounds show on BBC Radio 1 to discuss the track.[5] It was serviced to US alternative radio stations on February 19, 2019, by Darkroom and Interscope Records.[6] "Bury a Friend" was written by Eilish along with her brother Finneas O'Connell, while production was solely handled by the latter. The song was mastered by John Greenham and mixed by Rob Kinelski, with both also serving as studio personnel.[1]

The creation of the song took place in Chicago, where Eilish and her brother were visiting for a Lollapalooza performance. They attended a studio with a "shuffle beat" in mind, with Eilish drawing a black monster to show her brother what she wanted the song to sound like.[7] Eilish desired to hear her name at the beginning of the track, for which she texted rapper Calvin (known as Mehki Raine); he ultimately sent Eilish a phone recording for her to use.[7][8] The singer discovered the rapper on social media due to him repeatedly tagging pictures of himself with the caption "Where's Billie at?" on her Instagram comments. She decided to make him her acquaintance and the two soon became friends.[9]

Composition and lyrical interpretation

[edit]

Eilish credited the song for setting the tone for When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, stating: "I immediately knew what it was going to be about, what the visuals were going to be, and everything in terms of how I wanted it to be perceived".[10] "Bury a Friend" has been described as a synth-pop, electronica, electropop and industrial track in press reviews.[11][12][13][14] Suzy Exposito of Rolling Stone called it "goth-R&B" reminiscent of Marilyn Manson's Antichrist Superstar (1996).[15] The song is moderately fast at 120 beats per minute (BPM), and is written in the key of G harmonic minor.[16] Its minimalist instrumentation features a hip hop and "galloping" beat similar to Kanye West's "Black Skinhead" (2013).[8][17][18][19] "Rumbling" percussion, "scattered" synth melodies, screams, and a screeching recording of an orthodontist shaving off Eilish's dental brace attachments are also included.[20][21][22] Charlie Harding of Vox pointed out "a broken song form with strange alternate verses and a bridge placed untraditionally after a verse, rather than immediately following a penultimate chorus. The effect is destabilizing, and yet still accessible to the average listener".[23] The melody presented during the chorus has been likened to the Doors' "People Are Strange" (1967),[24] and sonically described as "innocuous as a childhood rhyme", contrasting the rest of the song.[25]

According to Eilish, the track's "dark" and "violent" lyrics[26] are written from the perspective of "the monster under your bed. Anything could be the monster — it could be someone you love so much that it’s taking over your life. I think love and terror and hatred are all the same thing".[27] Laura Dzubay of Consequence of Sound interpreted: "[Eilish] assumes the position of a monster there to haunt somebody (a lover or herself [...])."[25] The Michigan Daily's Samantha Cathie thought the fact that the singer was "hat[ing] herself" mirrored in the lines: "Like I wanna drown, like I wanna end me” and "Honestly I thought that I would be dead by now".[28] Eilish asks several questions during the song's refrain: "What do you want from me? Why don’t you run from me? Why aren’t you scared of me? Why do you care for me? When we all fall asleep, where do we go?".[23][25][29] Further lyrics include: "Step on the glass, staple your tongue/ Bury a friend, try to wake up/ Cannibal class, killing the son/ Bury a friend, I wanna end me".[11] The singer's "soft" vocals in "Bury a Friend" range between the notes of F#3 and B♭4.[16][30] They are treated with layers of vocal effects, and a "playful trickery [is used] in each hook".[8] Eilish described the track as a "near-whispered sing-song duet between [her] and a distorted version of herself".[26] It ends with an instrumental part of "Ilomilo", which follows on When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?; the latter in turn begins with a lyrical reference to "Bury a Friend". Elaborating on the matter in an interview with MTV, O'Connell stated that the two songs were only referencing each other for the purpose of making the album "cohesive", and that they were not linked in any other way.[31]

Critical reception

[edit]
An image of a man singing into a microphone against red light.
The song's production has been likened to that of Kanye West's (pictured) album Yeezus.[26][32]

Upon release, "Bury a Friend" received generally positive reviews from music critics. Several publications saw the song as her best single, as well as a highlight of When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?.[8][24][33][34][35] It was likened to Lorde's "Royals" (2013),[24] as well as its production to that on West's Yeezus (2013).[26][32][36][37] Thomas Smith of NME saw "Bury a Friend" as "a sizeable middle finger to anyone who expected a twinkly ballad befitting to her lone EP, 2017's Don't Smile at Me", as well as a "statement" for "vocalising the uncertainties and inquisitions of a generation ready to make their mark".[8] DIY's Lisa Wright labelled the song "intoxicating and intriguing – aka exactly what you want from a new star".[38] Chloe Gilke of Uproxx praised the "full of bizarre, screechy flourishes and dips into the nightmarish" and claimed that "somehow the song’s lyrics are just as specific and creepy".[33] Similarly, an editor for The Music Network commented on the song's "sinister [nature] in name and "lyric" and claimed that it is "unsettling", despite there being "something tranquil and thoughtful about it".[30] The Independent's Roisin O'Connor praised "Bury a Friend" as "excellent", and also noted its "imperious" and "anthemic quality". She further commented on the successful use of Eilish's "formula": "murmuring in cool low tones over a pulsing beat".[39] In a lukewarm review, Samantha Cantie of The Michigan Daily saw the song as "slightly disappointing". She wrote: "[A] letdown is her seeming embrace of making an abnormal creation because it’s cool, as opposed to creating something with the beauty of sound as a priority", and elaborated, stating: "The track is choppy, cutting from different melodies quite quickly – these melodies bump, but they’re fleeting".[28] Joe Coscarelli noted an "odd structure" and "nightmare lyrics".[40]

Commercial performance

[edit]

"Bury a Friend" attained commercial success. It debuted at number 74 on the US Billboard Hot 100 before moving 60 places to number 14 with 29.1 million streams and 18,000 downloads sold in its first full week of tracking, becoming Eilish's highest peak on the chart at the time, before being surpassed by "Bad Guy" (2019).[41][42] The song also became the singer's first number one on a Billboard radio airplay chart, topping the US Alternative Songs chart in May 2019. This made Eilish only the tenth solo woman in a lead role to reach number one in the chart's three-decade history.[43] In the United Kingdom, "Bury a Friend" reached number six, making it Eilish's first top ten in the country.[44] The song has further peaked at number one in Sweden and Latvia,[45][46] and within the top ten in countries such as New Zealand, Australia and Canada.[47][48][49] It has been awarded several certifications, most notably triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[50]

Music video

[edit]

An accompanying music video for "Bury a Friend" was uploaded to Eilish's official YouTube channel on January 30, 2019.[51] It was directed by Michael Chaves in the span of a day.[12][29] The clip contains horror elements, which have led to it being regarded by reviewers as "creepy" and "haunting".[8][10] Eilish explained: "I had this idea where I’m naked. Like an abduction-type thing, completely not in control, just a helpless body, and people putting syringes up my arms and in my neck. That’s one of people’s biggest fears—needles—and that’s what I’ve been doing recently: honing in on people’s fears".[27]

The video begins in a hotel at night. Mehki Raine awakens from a nightmare and goes back to sleep, while Eilish, hiding under his bed, slowly rises to watch him sleep. The singer then walks outside the room slowly before she is pulled and prodded by hands covered with black latex gloves. Eilish is then injected with syringes,[10] and she attempts to run.[21][52] Eilish's attempts don't work, and she is stabbed with more and more needles until she finally falls to her knees as black twitches under her skin and Eilish slinks back under the bed, her eyes turning all black. Critics have likened the visual to works released by Alice Glass,[38] Chris Cunningham and Floria Sigismondi.[26] Others compared it to the films Suspiria (2018) and Get Out (2017),[33][53] the television series The Haunting of Hill House,[53] and Stephen King's 1977 novel The Shining.[21]

Notable live performances

[edit]
Image of a woman singing into a microphone. She sports green-black hair and clothing and stands against a black backdrop.
Eilish performing "Bury a Friend" during Pukkelpop in August 2019.

Eilish performed the song on BBC Radio 1 in February 2019,[54] and on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in March. For the latter performance, the singer sang on a dark, smoke-filled stage and "summon[ed] a large cloth that swung behind her, casting a monster-like shadow while she bent over backwards". She wore a baggy black sweater and shorts, alongside a neon green frowny face print".[11] In April, May and June, Eilish performed the track at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival,[55] BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend,[56] and the Glastonbury Festival, respectively.[57] She later sang it during Pukkelpop in August,[58] and included "Bury a Friend" on the setlist of her When We All Fall Asleep Tour (2019) and Where Do We Go? World Tour (2020) tours.[59][60] "Bury a Friend" was further added to Eilish's Happier Than Ever, The World Tour (2022).[61]

[edit]

The song was featured in the television series The Society. Kaitlin Reilly writing for Refinery29 noted similarity between the lyrics and the series' plot.[62]

In October 2021, a remix of "Bury a Friend" by Chris Avantgarde was used in the Zombies reveal trailer for Call of Duty: Vanguard.[63] The track was further included in the pilot episode of Dickinson on Apple TV+, the fifth episode of the fourth season of Netflix's Big Mouth,[64] in the 2021 film Sing 2,[65] in the 2022 film Kimi,[66] the last scene of the fifth season of Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale,[67] and the fifth episode of the second season of the animated web series The Vampair by Daria Cohen.[68]

The song featured in the trailers for the American Amazon Prime Video original series Carnival Row, and trailers for the 2024 films Madame Web and Night Swim. It is also used as the theme song for True Detective: Night Country,[69] as well as serving as significant inspiration for the season as a whole. Showrunner Issa López wrote the season during COVID-19 lockdown while listening to Eilish's music.[70]

Cover versions

[edit]

Zeds Dead remixed "Bury a Friend" to acclaim from Billboard's Kat Bein, who included it in her 12 Best Billie Eilish Remixes list. She stated that the remix takes the original song and "runs it through a few sonic filters [while] [m]oody ambience gives way to fat bass synths [...] [,] old-school dubstep wub-dubs [and] [...] drums [which] kick up in a slow-down UK garage style in the later half".[71]

British pop group Duran Duran released a cover version of this song on their 2023 Halloween-themed album Danse Macabre.[72]

Credits and personnel

[edit]

Credits adapted from Tidal.[1]

Charts

[edit]

Certifications

[edit]
Certifications for "Bury a Friend"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[125] 6× Platinum 420,000‡
Austria (IFPI Austria)[126] Platinum 30,000‡
Belgium (BRMA)[127] Platinum 40,000‡
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[128] Diamond 160,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[129] 8× Platinum 640,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[130] Platinum 90,000‡
France (SNEP)[131] Platinum 200,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[132] Gold 200,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[133] Platinum 50,000‡
Mexico (AMPROFON)[134] 3× Platinum 180,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[135] 3× Platinum 90,000‡
Norway (IFPI Norway)[136] Platinum 60,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[137] 3× Platinum 150,000‡
Portugal (AFP)[138] Platinum 10,000‡
Spain (Promusicae)[139] Platinum 60,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[140] 2× Platinum 1,200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[50] 3× Platinum 3,000,000‡
Streaming
Sweden (GLF)[141] 2× Platinum 24,000,000†

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
† Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.

See also

[edit]

Note

[edit]

References

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Bury a Friend

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
"Bury a Friend" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish, serving as the third single from her debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, released on March 29, 2019, via Darkroom and Interscope Records.[1] The track, written and produced by Eilish alongside her brother Finneas O'Connell, was issued as a single on January 30, 2019.[2] It features a dark, industrial soundscape with distorted vocals, a trap-influenced beat, and themes exploring fear, self-destruction, and the perspective of an inner "monster."[3][4] The song's production incorporates unconventional elements, including samples from the TV show The Office and everyday sounds layered into its subterranean rumble and goth-jazz swing, creating a balance between terror and intimacy.[5][6] Eilish's vocoder-distorted delivery enhances the intimacy of the lyrics, which depict a confusing relationship with an internal entity, often interpreted as a metaphor for mental health struggles.[4] An accompanying music video, directed by Michael Chaves, portrays Eilish as a grotesque creature lurking under a bed in a dimly lit apartment, emphasizing the horror-themed narrative.[7][3] Commercially, "Bury a Friend" achieved significant success, peaking at number 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and topping the Alternative Songs airplay chart—Eilish's first number-one there—while accumulating over 16 weeks on the Hot 100.[8][9] It has been certified triple platinum by the RIAA in the United States for three million units sold, and double platinum by the BPI in the United Kingdom.[10] Critically, the song was praised for its innovative production, eerie atmosphere, and lyrical depth, with reviewers highlighting its role in establishing Eilish's signature style of blending pop accessibility with horror elements.[4][11] It later gained further cultural impact, featuring in the opening credits of HBO's True Detective Season 4.[12]

Background and production

Development

"Bury a Friend" originated as the tenth track on Billie Eilish's debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, which she conceived during collaborative recording sessions with her brother Finneas O'Connell spanning 2017 and 2018.[11][13] Eilish drew primary inspiration for the song from her personal experiences with lucid dreaming and night terrors, which also shaped the album's broader exploration of subconscious anxieties and surreal fears.[14] These recurring nightmares directly influenced the song's central monster persona, reflecting Eilish's encounters with sleep paralysis where she felt trapped and unable to escape terrifying visions.[15][16] Eilish and O'Connell developed early demos of the track in their home studio, building on these haunting personal elements to craft its eerie narrative. The song was later chosen as the third single from the album, with its release announced and premiered on January 30, 2019, through Darkroom and Interscope Records.[17][7]

Recording and personnel

"Bury a Friend" was recorded primarily at producer Finneas O'Connell's home studio in Los Angeles during 2018, utilizing a minimalist setup consisting of a laptop running Logic Pro, an audio interface, and microphones such as the Neumann TLM 103 for capturing Eilish's vocals.[18][19][20] Finneas O'Connell handled production duties, programming the bass, drums, and sound design elements, while Eilish recorded her lead vocals in the adjacent bedroom, often sitting on the floor to achieve an intimate, raw delivery with effects like distortion applied during tracking.[19][21] The stems were then sent to mixer Rob Kinelski's home studio in Los Angeles for final mixing in Pro Tools HD Native.[22] Key personnel included writers Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell, with O'Connell also serving as sole producer; mixing by Rob Kinelski, assisted by Jeremy Lertola; and mastering by John Greenham at Greenham Mastering in Los Angeles.[23][22] Innovative techniques featured extensive vocal layering, with the Pro Tools session containing 22 vocal tracks—including six leads, nine harmonies, and seven backings—processed subtly using tools like FabFilter Pro-Q 2 for EQ and Waves PuigChild 670 for compression to maintain Eilish's natural tone and whispery quality.[22] Additional atmospheric elements were created through seven Foley tracks, incorporating distorted and manipulated sounds such as screeches to evoke a nightmarish texture.[19]

Music and lyrics

Composition

"Bury a Friend" is classified as a dark pop and electropop track with trap-influenced alternative elements and horror-inspired aesthetics.[4] The song incorporates industrial sounds and synth-pop production, creating a sinister atmosphere through its minimalist arrangement.[22] The track follows a verse-chorus structure, featuring an intro, two verses, pre-choruses, choruses, a bridge, and an outro, with a length of 3:13.[24] It is composed in the key of G minor at a tempo of 120 beats per minute (BPM).[25][26] Eilish's vocals span a range from D4 to B♭5, delivered in a whispery, intimate style enhanced by vocoder-like distortion.[27] Instrumentation includes heavy sub-bass, glitchy synthesizers, muffled and blown-out drums influenced by trap beats, and ASMR-like whispers for textural depth.[19][28] The production employs lo-fi aesthetics, emphasizing sparse, eerie elements to heighten the song's unsettling mood.[22]

Lyrical themes

The lyrics of "bury a friend" are written from the perspective of a monster lurking under Billie Eilish's bed, embodying intrusive thoughts and self-sabotaging impulses that haunt the narrator.[7] This monstrous viewpoint transforms the song into a dialogue between the self and its darker aspects, where the entity expresses confusion and aggression toward the human it torments. Eilish has stated that the song is literally from the perspective of the monster under her bed, adding that she is her own worst enemy.[29] Central themes revolve around guilt, fear, and psychological horror, drawing directly from Eilish's personal encounters with sleep paralysis and night terrors, which inspired the track's unsettling atmosphere.[30] The monster's pleas and threats evoke a sense of inescapable dread, mirroring the paralysis of being awake yet immobilized by one's mind. These elements underscore an internal battle, where the fear is not external but a manifestation of self-inflicted torment.[31] Key lines in the chorus, such as "What do you want from me? Why don't you run from me?", capture the internal conflict and strained relationships, with the monster questioning the victim's lack of resistance as if pleading for escape from its own destructive cycle.[3] This refrain symbolizes the push-pull of toxic dynamics, whether romantic or self-directed, where proximity breeds both accusation and longing. The ambiguity amplifies the relational tension, blurring lines between victim and aggressor. Stylistic choices enhance the unease, including repetitive motifs in the questioning chorus that mimic obsessive rumination, all rendered in Eilish's signature lowercase lettering to evoke intimacy and vulnerability.[32] Ambiguous pronouns like "you" and "me" further disorient the listener, suggesting the monster and the bed's occupant are facets of the same fractured psyche, fostering a sense of psychological dissociation.

Release and promotion

Single release

"Bury a Friend" was released on January 30, 2019, as the third single from Billie Eilish's debut studio album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, issued through Darkroom and Interscope Records.[18] The track's rollout coincided with the reveal of the album's title, artwork, and pre-order options, positioning it as a key teaser for the March 29 album launch.[18] Eilish built anticipation through social media teasers, sharing snippets on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube on January 28.[32] The single premiered as the World Record on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio show before becoming available for digital download and streaming worldwide.[33] Promotion extended to Spotify playlists and targeted radio airplay, with it sent to US alternative stations on February 19. It was also included on the vinyl pressing of the parent album upon its release.

Music video

The music video for "bury a friend" was directed by Michael Chaves and premiered on January 30, 2019, via Billie Eilish's official YouTube channel, where it has garnered over 487 million views as of November 2025.[33] The production was handled by David Moore, Michelle An, and Chelsea Dodson, with cinematography by Tristan Nyby and editing by John Paul Horstmann, emphasizing a low-budget, contained shoot in a single dimly lit apartment set designed to evoke a haunted house.[33] Filmed primarily in one location to heighten tension, the video relies on practical effects and minimalistic staging to build unease without elaborate sets or CGI.[34] The concept centers on Eilish embodying a sleep paralysis demon, inspired by her personal experiences with night terrors and sleep paralysis, where she navigates shadowy, labyrinthine corridors as a predatory entity.[35][16] In the narrative, a seemingly helpless Eilish lies under a bed before transforming into the monster, crawling through tight spaces, contorting her body in unnatural poses, and emerging to terrorize victims with gloved hands grabbing at her form. Body horror elements are prominent, including distorted facial expressions and a climactic scene where Eilish violently removes her teeth to reveal a monstrous grin, symbolizing the invasive terror of the subconscious. This ties directly to the song's lyrical perspective of a bed-lurking monster, blurring the line between victim and predator in a single, disorienting sequence.[34][30] Cinematography employs claustrophobic close-ups and tracking shots through narrow hallways, lit with eerie green hues and flickering shadows to mimic the paralysis of fear, enhancing the practical effects like forced perspective and subtle prosthetics for the demon's grotesque features.[34] Chaves appears in a brief cameo as one of the video's victims, dragged into the darkness, adding a meta layer to the horror. The visuals pay homage to classic horror films like The Ring through motifs of crawling figures in wells-like voids and inescapable dread in confined spaces.[36] Critics lauded the video's atmospheric horror aesthetics, with Rolling Stone describing it as a "skin-crawling visual" evoking Marilyn Manson's fiendish style, while Billboard highlighted its innovative terror in a list of 2019's best music videos for amplifying the track's unsettling tone through visceral, nightmare-fueled imagery.[3][37]

Critical reception

Reviews

Critics praised "Bury a Friend" for its innovative sound design, particularly the vocoder-style distortion layered over deep, grisly bass that created a gothic pop atmosphere, while highlighting Billie Eilish's intimate vocal delivery that conveyed both menace and vulnerability.[4] In their album review, Pitchfork noted how Eilish's voice "feels even more intimate" amid the distortion, as she hisses lines like "Step on the glass, staple your tongue" in a farcical singsong, blending delicate intimacy with grotesque elements.[4] NME commended the track's creepy, horror-infused atmosphere, describing it as featuring "haunting yelps [that] lurk around every beat" and evoking a sense of possession through its tortured production.[38] The publication called it a "statement song" that tears up the rulebook of pop expectations, positioning Eilish as a bold innovator in young fan-oriented music.[38] Rolling Stone offered mixed perspectives on the song's accessibility, appreciating its role in elevating Eilish's profile through a unique, skin-crawling electronica style that boosted her mainstream recognition, yet noting its fiendish, non-traditional vibe reminiscent of Marilyn Manson's Nineties work.[3] The outlet described it as walking "the finest of fine lines between terror and intimacy," fusing subterranean industrial rumble, razor-eyed goth-jazz swing, and predatory mumble into a teen-pop dream that diabolically twists pop history.[39] The song contributed to the strong critical reception of Eilish's debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, which earned a Metascore of 82 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 21 reviews, with several emphasizing "Bury a Friend" as a standout for its dark compulsions.[40] In 2019 reviews, critics frequently lauded its genre-blending success; for instance, Rolling Stone highlighted the track's "mall-goth noir gem" quality over a "sinister, jump-rope-snapping pulse," while others noted its twisted fusion of pop beats with disturbing, enthralling elements that set it apart in alternative R&B.[41][42]

Accolades

"Bury a Friend" earned recognition from major music awards and publications shortly after its release. The track was praised for its dark, atmospheric production and included in Rolling Stone's list of the 50 best songs of 2019, where critics noted its "creepy-crawly" blend of unsettling themes and pop accessibility.[43] In retrospective assessments, "Bury a Friend" has been featured in decade-end compilations, including NBHAP's 100 Must Listen Songs of the 2010s, underscoring its influence on alternative pop and Billie Eilish's breakthrough sound. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked it as the top song in Eilish's catalog up to that point.[44][45]

Commercial performance

Chart performance

"Bury a Friend" debuted at number 74 on the US Billboard Hot 100 dated February 9, 2019, driven by strong streaming activity following its release. The track climbed steadily, reaching a peak position of number 14 the following week, bolstered by 29.1 million streams and 18,000 downloads. It also achieved number one on the Alternative Airplay chart in May 2019, marking Billie Eilish's first chart-topper on any Billboard radio ranking after 20 weeks of ascent. Additionally, the song topped the Dance/Electronic Songs chart, reflecting its appeal in electronic music formats. Internationally, "Bury a Friend" performed strongly across multiple territories. It peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart, entering the top 10 for the first time in Eilish's career. In Australia, the single reached number 6 on the ARIA Singles Chart, while it entered the top 10 in Canada (number 10 on the Canadian Hot 100), Ireland (number 9 on the Irish Singles Chart), and New Zealand (number 2 on the New Zealand Singles Chart). On year-end tallies, the song ranked number 73 on the 2019 Billboard Hot 100, underscoring its sustained popularity throughout the year amid Eilish's breakout success. By April 2024, "Bury a Friend" had accumulated over 1 billion streams on Spotify, joining eight other tracks by the artist in surpassing this milestone. In 2025, the song saw renewed chart activity on alternative formats, spurred by live performances during Eilish's Hit Me Hard and Soft World Tour, which contributed to broader surges in her catalog's visibility on Billboard charts.

Certifications

"Bury a Friend" has achieved numerous certifications worldwide, reflecting its substantial commercial success through sales and streaming equivalents. In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the song 3× Platinum, equivalent to 3 million units.[46] The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) awarded it 2× Platinum certification in the United Kingdom, signifying 1,200,000 units.[47] In Australia, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) certified it 2× Platinum. Music Canada granted 3× Platinum status in Canada, representing 240,000 units.[48] Pro-Música Brasil certified the single Diamond in Brazil, denoting 100,000 units.[49]
CountryCertifying BodyCertificationUnitsDate
United StatesRIAA3× Platinum3,000,000-
United KingdomBPI2× Platinum1,200,000-
AustraliaARIA2× Platinum140,000-
CanadaMusic Canada3× Platinum240,000-
BrazilPro-Música BrasilDiamond100,000-

Live performances

Debut and tours

"Bury a Friend" made its live debut on February 11, 2019, during the opening show of Billie Eilish's 2019 European tour at Kesselhaus in Berlin, Germany, where it was performed alongside the premiere of "When I Was Older."[29] The song received early live outings on the When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? Tour later that year, supporting Eilish's debut studio album, with performances integrated into the setlist following tracks like "all the good girls go to hell." The track became a staple in Eilish's subsequent tours, often serving as the set opener to build intensity. On the Where Do We Go? World Tour in 2020, it kicked off shows, as seen in the March 9 opening night at the Kaseya Center in Miami.[50] Similarly, it opened the Happier Than Ever, The World Tour in 2022, leading into a sequence of high-energy numbers.[51] By the Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour (2024–2025), its position shifted to mid-set for sustained momentum, following the "BITTERSUITE" interlude; for instance, it was performed this way at the Kaseya Center in Miami on October 9, 2025,[52] and at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on October 23, 2025.[53] Live renditions of "Bury a Friend" typically featured moody, dim lighting and fog effects to evoke the song's horror-inspired atmosphere, as observed in televised appearances and tour visuals.[54][55]

Notable renditions

One notable rendition of "bury a friend" occurred during Billie Eilish's appearance on BBC Radio 1's Future Sounds session on February 26, 2019, where she delivered a stripped-back live version accompanied by her brother Finneas O'Connell on guitar in a dimly lit studio setting.[56][57] This intimate performance highlighted the song's eerie atmosphere without the full production of the studio recording. At Coachella 2019 on April 13, Eilish performed the track as part of her debut set at the festival, incorporating floating stage elements and dark visuals that enhanced its haunting theme.[58][59] Eilish opened her headline set at Glastonbury Festival on June 24, 2022, with "bury a friend," captivating a crowd of over 100,000 through immersive bass-heavy production and direct engagement, as she later addressed social issues mid-set to foster a sense of unity.[60][61] During the Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour in 2025, Eilish incorporated horror-inspired visuals and dynamic stage effects into renditions of the song, such as during the May 9 show at Uber Arena in Berlin, creating a tense, immersive experience for audiences.[62]

Cultural impact

Use in media

"Bury a Friend" has been prominently featured in television, serving as the theme song for the fourth season of HBO's anthology series True Detective, subtitled Night Country, which premiered in 2024. The track's haunting industrial beat and lyrics evoking monsters and inner demons aligned with the season's horror-noir atmosphere set in a remote Alaskan town, where it underscored the opening credits and influenced showrunner Issa López's creative vision.[12][63] The song also appeared in Netflix's supernatural drama First Kill (2022), playing during a darkly comedic scene in the first episode where teenage vampires Juliette and Elinor engage in a blood-drinking game in an alley, with the lyrics "The way I'm drinking you down like I wanna drown" amplifying the ironic tone.[64] Additionally, "Bury a Friend" was used in the official teaser trailer for Amazon Prime Video's fantasy series Carnival Row (2019), heightening the promotional material's sense of mystery and danger in a world of mythical creatures and human prejudice.[65] In video games, the song was released as a playable Jam Track in Fortnite Festival, Epic Games' rhythm mode within Fortnite, debuting in Chapter 5: Season 4 in October 2024 and available for purchase in the Item Shop for 500 V-Bucks.[66] The track has secured sync licenses in advertising, notably featured in Billie Eilish's 2019 Calvin Klein #MYCALVINS campaign, where it accompanied visuals of the artist perched on a skyscraper ledge, emphasizing themes of vulnerability and edge-of-the-abyss introspection.[67]

Cover versions

The Vitamin String Quartet offered an orchestral reinterpretation in 2025, transforming the track's electronic elements into a string-based arrangement featured on their tribute album to contemporary hits.[68] Fan covers on TikTok gained significant virality in 2024, with numerous user-generated versions using creative visuals and a cappella styles amassing millions of views collectively. More recently, Beaula released an electronic cover on October 16, 2025, featuring a synth-heavy reinterpretation that emphasized atmospheric layers and vocal harmonies on their EP Gathering.[69]

Legacy

Influence

"Bury a Friend" played a pivotal role in pioneering the fusion of bedroom pop with horror elements, blending intimate, lo-fi production with unsettling soundscapes that evoked dread and introspection. The track's glitchy beats, whispered vocals, and nightmarish lyrics—written from the perspective of a monster under the bed—introduced a gothic edge to the genre, distinguishing it from traditional pop structures. This innovative approach influenced subsequent artists in dark alternative pop, such as Olivia Rodrigo, whose emotionally raw tracks like those on Sour echo Eilish's vulnerable yet haunting style, and Tate McRae, whose moody, melancholic singles draw parallels to the song's atmospheric tension.[70][71] The song significantly contributed to Billie Eilish's meteoric rise, solidifying her as a transformative force in 2019's music landscape by popularizing ASMR-like whispers, distorted glitches, and unconventional instrumentation that challenged mainstream pop norms. Its commercial success, peaking at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning multi-platinum certification, amplified these aesthetics, encouraging producers to experiment with eerie, minimalist sounds in youth-oriented music. This shift helped define the year's soundscape, where subtlety and sonic unease supplanted bombastic hooks.[72][73] On a broader cultural level, "Bury a Friend" contributed to the mainstream acceptance of mental health themes in pop music by confronting self-harm, inner demons, and suicidal ideation through its lyrics, such as "I wanna end me," thereby normalizing raw discussions in a genre often focused on escapism. Eilish's unflinching portrayal resonated with younger audiences, sparking conversations about psychological struggles and inspiring a wave of artists to integrate vulnerability into their work without stigma.[74][75] In 2025 retrospectives, the track continues to be cited in analyses of post-pandemic music for its enduring eeriness, reflecting ongoing societal anxieties through its timeless blend of horror-tinged introspection that mirrors isolation and unease in contemporary pop. Scholars highlight how its atmospheric dread has influenced the persistent "sad girl" pop subgenre, maintaining relevance amid evolving mental health dialogues.[76][77]

Retrospective views

Billie Eilish has reflected on "bury a friend" as a pivotal moment in her career, highlighting its role in embracing vulnerability by drawing from her personal experiences with sleep paralysis and night terrors, which she described as central to the song's unsettling narrative.[74] Similarly, in a January 2024 discussion referenced in music analyses, Eilish emphasized the track's breakthrough in portraying raw emotional exposure, noting how it captured the fear of being defenseless during sleep disturbances.[78] Her brother and collaborator Finneas O'Connell, in a December 2024 MusicRadar feature, praised the song's production for its deliberate simplicity, explaining that the minimalist home-studio approach—using sparse layers and unconventional sounds like a dentist's chair—allowed the track's eerie atmosphere to emerge without overcomplication, a technique that has since influenced their ongoing work.[79] Critics in 2025 have revisited "bury a friend" amid Eilish's promotion of her third album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, lauding its enduring relevance. A February 2025 Guardian review of her tour performance described the song as timeless, amplified by pyrotechnics that enhanced its nightmarish intensity while showcasing Eilish's artistic evolution from introspective debut to broader thematic explorations.[80] Likewise, a July 2025 Guardian concert critique noted how the track's intimate horror contrasted with the spectacle of her mature stage presence, affirming its lasting power in balancing personal dread with pop innovation during this phase of her career.[81] Academic and fan perspectives have increasingly examined "bury a friend" for its representation of sleep disorders in popular music. A 2020 scholarly analysis from Bryn Mawr College's scholarship repository linked the song's lyrics and video to Eilish's sleep paralysis episodes, portraying it as a feminist negotiation of embodiment and power through dissociated fear, a theme that continues to resonate in discussions of mental health stigma.[82] More recently, a May 2025 entry in York University's trauma-informed music blog analyzed the track's role in depicting sleep paralysis as mental anguish, highlighting how its monster-under-the-bed metaphor has fostered fan communities sharing similar experiences and contributing to broader conversations on nocturnal disorders in media.[83] During her 2025 "Hit Me Hard and Soft" tour, Eilish incorporated "bury a friend" into setlists across North America and Europe, with October 2025 performances in cities like Philadelphia drawing comments from reviewers on its emotional depth years after release, as Eilish delivered it with heightened intensity that reflected her growth as a performer. The tour continued into November 2025 with additional European dates, maintaining the song's place in her live repertoire.[84][85] In a related October 2025 Vanity Fair interview marking career milestones, she alluded to the song's ongoing personal significance, noting how revisiting early works like this one during live shows evokes a mix of nostalgia and reaffirmed vulnerability in her artistry.[86]

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