Starting the Research
I sat down at my messy desk yesterday morning wondering how to explain the “Ocean Eyes” brother-sister songwriting duo thing. Grabbed my phone, searched old Billie Eilish interviews first. Watched like ten YouTube clips back-to-back until my eyes burned.
Took crappy notes on a pizza-stained napkin about how Finneas wrote it originally for his band. Kept confusing facts though – thought maybe he asked his actual sister for permission? That sounded dumb after rereading. Trashed that napkin.
Untangling the Song’s Origin Story
Dug deeper into studio session stories. Found that one podcast episode where Finneas cracks up saying Billie would just holler from the shower “HEY PLAY THAT OCEAN THING AGAIN!” when he was composing. Almost spilled coffee laughing at the visual.
Key parts I verified:
- The beat was made in their parents’ tiny bedroom studio
- Billie recorded vocals in under an hour
- Zero formal “asking” happened – just siblings being weird together
Making Dumb Mistakes
Nearly fell for fake lyrics sites claiming hidden romantic meanings between siblings. Had to triple-check original songwriting credits on Spotify desktop version since my phone display sucked. Felt like a detective squinting at metadata.
Googled “Finneas interviews ocean eyes” for like 45 minutes straight. Got sidetracked watching cat videos twice. Bookmarks tab looked like a rainbow explosion.
Recording the Breakdown
Tried recording audio notes while pacing around my kitchen. Sounded like a manic squirrel explaining sibling dynamics. Re-recorded three times after my neighbor started vacuuming through the wall.
Final takeaways I included:
- How their childhood room setup made the song possible
- Why informal collaboration beats formal processes
- That creepy brother-sister rumor is totally false
Slapped the script together after midnight. Felt awesome when I finally understood how organic their creative process was. No fancy asking, just Finneas saying “yo check this beat” and Billie going “ugh fine I’ll sing it.” Left the pizza napkin in the trash where it belongs.
