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Ocean Eyes (song)

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"Ocean Eyes"
Song

"Ocean Eyes" is a song by American singer and songwriter Billie Eilish. It was released on November 18, 2016, through Darkroom and Interscope Records.[1] The song was written and produced by Finneas O'Connell, who is the brother of Eilish.[2] The Astronomyy remix of the song peaked at number 25 on Billboard's Spotify Velocity chart.[3]

Background

When asked about how the song came about in an interview with Teen Vogue's Ariana Marsh, Eilish said

"Aside from singing, I'm also a dancer. I've been dancing since I was eight. Last year, one of my teachers asked if I would either write a song or have my brother write a song to choreograph a dance to. I was like, 'yes, that's such a cool thing to do!' Then, my brother came to me with 'Ocean Eyes', which he had originally written for his band. He told me he thought it would sound really good in my voice. He taught me the song and we sang it together along to his guitar and I loved it—it was stuck in my head for weeks. We kind of just decided that that was the song we were going to use for the dance. We put it on SoundCloud with a free download link next to it so my dance teacher could access it. We had no intentions for it, really. But basically overnight a ton of people started hearing it and sharing it. Hillydilly, a music discovery website, found it and posted it and it just got bigger and bigger. It was really surreal. Then, Danny Ruckasin, who is now my manager, reached out to my brother and was like, 'dude, this is going to get huge and I think you're going to need help along the way. I want to help you guys.' We were like, 'that's swag!'"[2]

Critical reception

Chris DeVille of Stereogum said "the song is pure pop, a ballad about longing for reconciliation with an ex. I can imagine it becoming a major hit, and director Megan Thompson's video will certainly help."[4] Idolator's Mike Wass labeled it a "dreamy ballad".[5] Mathias Rosenzweig of Vogue stated "On Billie Eilish's breakthrough track, 'Ocean Eyes', she compares love to falling off a cliff, surrounded by the warlike intensity of napalm skies. It's a profound description for a 14-year-old, and it's led to an enormous amount of interest in her debut song—as well as the singer herself. Like the title suggests, her airy falsetto vocals also conjure up thoughts of the ocean washing over the song's mellow percussion and minimalist synths. The song's maturity paired with a few childish ideals—she sings, for example, that love is 'no fair'—struck a chord with an audience much older than Eilish and has racked up a total of more than 71,000,000 streams on Spotify.[6] Billboard's Jason Lipshutz called it "understated and heartbreaking".[7]

Music video

A music video for the song, directed by Megan Thompson, was released on March 24, 2016.[8] A dance performance music video was released on November 22, 2016.[9]

Track listing

Digital download[1]
No.TitleLength
1."Ocean Eyes"3:20
Digital download – The Remixes EP[10]
No.TitleLength
1."Ocean Eyes" (Astronomyy Remix)4:56
2."Ocean Eyes" (blackbear Remix)3:15
3."Ocean Eyes" (Goldhouse Remix)3:33
4."Ocean Eyes" (Cautious Clay Remix)3:11

Charts

Chart (2018) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[11] 58
Ireland (IRMA)[12] 80

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[13] Gold 35,000‡
United States (RIAA)[14] Platinum 1,000,000‡

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various November 18, 2016 Digital download
[1]
January 13, 2017 Digital download
(The Remixes EP) 		[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c Worldwide digital release of "Ocean Eyes":
    • "Ocean Eyes - Single by Billie Eilish on Apple Music". iTunes Store (US). Retrieved April 14, 2017.
    • "Ocean Eyes - Single by Billie Eilish on Apple Music". iTunes Store (UK). Retrieved April 14, 2017.
    • "Ocean Eyes - Single av Billie Eilish på Apple Music" (in Swedish). iTunes Store (SE). Retrieved April 14, 2017.
    • "Ocean Eyes - Single by Billie Eilish on Apple Music". iTunes Store (ZA). Retrieved April 14, 2017.
    • "Ocean Eyes - Single by Billie Eilish on Apple Music". iTunes Store (AU). Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Ariana Marsh (February 24, 2017). "How Billie Eilish's 'Ocean Eyes' Turned Her Into an Overnight Sensation - Teen Vogue". Teen Vogue. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  3. ^ "Billie Eilish - Chart history (Spotify Velocity)". Billboard. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  4. ^ Chris DeVille (March 23, 2016). "Billie Eilish - 'Ocean Eyes' Video (Stereogum Premiere) - Stereogum". Stereogum. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  5. ^ Mike Wass (November 22, 2016). "Billie Eilish Drops 'Ocean Eyes' Dance Video - Idolator". Idolator. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  6. ^ Mathias Rosenzweig (August 9, 2016). "Meet Billie Eilish, Pop's Next It Girl - Vogue". Vogue. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  7. ^ Jason Lipshutz (March 23, 2017). "Billie Eilish Is Pop's Most Impressive 15-Year-Old". Billboard. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  8. ^ "Billie Eilish - Ocean Eyes (Official Music Video) - YouTube". March 24, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2017 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ "Billie Eilish - Ocean Eyes (Dance Performance Video) - YouTube". November 22, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2017 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ a b Worldwide digital release of "Ocean Eyes" (The Remixes) EP:
  11. ^ "ARIA Chart Watch #482". auspOp. July 21, 2018. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  12. ^ "IRMA – Irish Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
  13. ^ "ARIA Chart Watch #484". auspOp. August 4, 2018. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  14. ^ "American single certifications – Billie Eilish – Ocean Eyes". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
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