Wait, Is Billie's New Album All About Falling For Her Ex's Ex?
"Did I cross the line?"
On her latest album Hit Me Hard and Soft, Billie Eilish is more confessional than ever, revealing lusty urges and devastating heartbreak in equal measure. It’s easy to attribute a few breakup songs (like the reflective ballad “The Greatest”) to her most recent public relationship with Jesse Rutherford. But several choice lyrics seem to detail a situationship that Eilish has never been public about. It certainly sounds like Eilish may have fallen for Rutherford’s own ex-girlfriend, Devon Lee Carlson, at come point.
First, some much-needed background. Rutherford and Carlson were a pretty long-term couple, having dated from 2015 to 2021. After their breakup, Rutherford began dating Eilish, but the relationship only lasted for about a year before they confirmed their breakup in the summer of 2023. As for Carlson, she’s now dating Jack Nicholson’s grandson (and Lana Del Rey muse) Duke Nicholson.
After Eilish and Rutherford’s breakup, fans began to notice Eilish growing close with Carlson — the two were spotted holding hands at a Halloween party and Eilish posted of photo of them embracing at Coachella recently. And now that Hit Me Hard and Soft has dropped, it sounds like Eilish is shedding a light on her complicated relationship with Carlson.
The track that stands out the most in this regard is “Wildflower.” The song is about Eilish comforting a woman with whom she shares an ex after a bad breakup. “She was cryin’ on my shoulder / All I could do was hold her,” Eilish sings, before confessing she sees this woman in her mind “all the time.” As she developed feelings for this person, Eilish wonders: “Did I cross the line?”
Not only does the situation seem similar to Eilish’s friendship with Carlson, the song’s title also serves as a big clue. Interestingly, the word “wildflower” isn’t in the lyrics at all, so what’s behind that name? Well, Carlson owns an iPhone case company called Wildflower Cases.
While “Wildflower” makes the most direct references to Carlson, other songs on the album also detail a forbidden romance that Eilish tries to resist. In “Bittersuite,” Eilish sings: “I can’t fall in love with you / No matter how bad I want to.” In “Blue,” Eilish reveals her muse “grew up famous too,” which would match with Carlson becoming an influencer as a teenager after being born and raised in Los Angeles, like Eilish.
There’s a lot to unpack in Eilish’s emotional new album, but one key takeaway seems to be her recent breakup was a lot more complicated than her fans realized.
