After documenting her interest in working with Rosalía, it’s no surprise that Billie Eilish “manifested” (via the boon of white girl privilege) working with the ever-rising Spanish singer for a dramatic and unique track called “Lo Vas a Olvidar.” Made for the Euphoria Soundtrack, the song’s level of intensity is expected, and could also just as easily double as the theme for a telenovela.
The first few seconds of the video (directed by Nabil) are silent, with an opening shot on Eilish crouched on her knees with a flood of “natural light” shining above her in the darkness (something about it harkens back to the initial scene in Madonna’s 2019 “Medellín” video). We then cut to Rosalía lying prostrate on the ground (composed of “black” sand), looking similarly defeated. From this moment on, we’ll never see the duo together in the same frame, apart from the numerous superimpositions Nabil sees fit to incorporate.
As the two very different women meld their vocal stylings and aesthetics, it’s obvious that the song’s subtle yet bombastic production is part of why the collaboration works so well. With both singers combining their go-to producers, El Guincho and Finneas O’Connell, the fusion of sound is apparent yet seamless. Yet it is El Guincho’s sound that seems to take hold the most, with his past credit as a producer on Björk’s Biophilia album evidently lingering in effect here. After working as her sole producer on her 2018 sophomore record, El Mal Querer, it’s clear Rosalía saw the value of bringing him back into the studio for this delicate composition in need of just the right tone in order to bridge the gap between both musicians’ usual style.
Ah, and speaking of style, at least some of the pain both women are expressing surely has to come from the nails they’re sporting, designed by Sojin Oh with custom glass pieces by Grace Wardlaw. The painstaking process of getting these on might have helped both singers channel a bit of frustration in the visuals by thinking about the process they endured to secure these claws.
Rosalía is the one to give us the opening line before Eilish joins in, both forming the opening verse together as they croon, “Dime si me echas de meno’ aún/Dime si no me perdonas aún/¿Qué harás con to’ este veneno?/Na’ bueno/Dime si me echas de meno’ aún,” in Eilish’s language, this translates to, “Tell me if you miss me yet/Tell me if you don’t forgive me yet/What will you do with all this poison?/No good/Tell me if you miss me yet.” The harmonization they accomplish together is part of what makes the song so affecting, and, for the first time in awhile, one gets the sense that this is the true definition of a right proper duet. Not merely a “featuring” where one artist throws in a single verse (sort of like what happened with Dua Lipa featuring Madonna and Missy Elliott on “Levitating”).
Eilish’s only lines in English are spoken in a softer tone, as though they’re almost too difficult for her to utter. This includes, “I needed to go ’cause I needed to know you don’t need me/You reap what you sow, but it seems like you don’t even see me” and “You say it to me like it’s something I have any choice in/If I wasn’t important, then why would you waste all your poison?” A fair point, for we only seem to waste our venom on the people we care about the most (who mangled that care from love to hate).
Concluding with Eilish leaving off in the same position she started in (down on her knees), it’s evident that she cannot let it go–just as none of her listeners will be able to that she not only achieved her long talked about duet with Rosalía, but that she also got it up to learn enough Spanish to carry off the best version of an accent that a white girl can. But that shouldn’t be so impressive considering every blanco in L.A. ought to know Spanish by the time their Eilish’s age anyway.
