BIRDS OF A FEATHER

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Birds of a Feather (Billie Eilish song) Article Talk Read Edit View history Tools From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Birds of a Feather" In a grainy image, Eilish in a blue short sleeve polo stands in a meadow of flowers, with a forest and mountain behind her. Her face is turned away from the camera and she is holding a white flower in her arms, raised towards the camera. Single by Billie Eilish from the album Hit Me Hard and Soft Written February 16, 2023 – January 2024[1] Released July 2, 2024 Recorded 2023–2024 Studio Finneas's home studio (Los Angeles) Genre Baroque popindie popnew wavesynth-pop Length 3:30 Label DarkroomInterscope Songwriters Billie EilishFinneas O'Connell Producer Finneas O'Connell Billie Eilish singles chronology "Lunch" (2024) "Birds of a Feather" (2024) "Guess" (2024) Music video "Birds of a Feather" on YouTube "Birds of a Feather" is a song by American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish from her third studio album, Hit Me Hard and Soft (2024). It was released with the album on May 17, 2024, and was made the second official single on July 2, 2024, through Darkroom and Interscope Records. Eilish wrote the song with her brother, Finneas O'Connell, who recorded and produced it at his home studio in Los Angeles. A baroque pop, indie pop, new wave, and synth-pop song, "Birds of a Feather" explores themes of deep love and a desire for lasting connection. "Birds of a Feather" topped the Billboard Global 200 and the national charts of nine countries, including Australia, Croatia, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Singapore. The song additionally peaked at number two in nine other countries. It has been certified Diamond in France and multi-platinum in Australia, Canada, Greece, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It was the fourth best-selling song of 2024 globally according to the IFPI. "Birds of a Feather" was nominated for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards in 2025. "Birds of a Feather" is the most-streamed solo female song on Spotify, the most-streamed song released in 2024, the second-most globally streamed song in 2025, and the most-streamed song released by a female artist in the 2020s.[2] Background and release Billie Eilish first previewed "Birds of a Feather" on May 13, 2024, through a teaser trailer for the third season of the Netflix series Heartstopper.[3] The song was one of three teased ahead of the album's release.[4] In an interview with Apple Music, Eilish revealed that the song contains the highest belt of her career.[5] It was released as a single on July 2, 2024, the second from Hit Me Hard and Soft.[6] Composition A pop,[7] baroque pop,[8] indie pop,[9] new wave,[10] and synth-pop song,[11] "Birds of a Feather" borrows its title from the English idiom "birds of a feather flock together". In an "emotionally vulnerable" tone, Eilish sings about falling in love with a person that she wants to "stick together" with. The love for her significant other brings her to tears, and she begs her lover to stay and never end their relationship.[5] The song is composed in the key of D major in a common time and features a tempo of 105 beats per minute. Critical reception Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times described "Birds of a Feather" as a "breezy neo-new-wave jam",[10] Alisa Ali of NPR wrote of the song that "poignant lyricism hides amid the dark humor and [Eilish's] clever cadence makes for one of the singer's most memorable vocal performances".[12] Tom Taylor of Far Out classifies it as "a classic pop chorus with Eilish burst out in a blushing '80s pop vocal", adding that it "has a sort of hook that would have old-fashioned music bigwigs screaming, 'It's a hit', but cleverly, the song doesn't give itself up to that and heads back to nuanced verses, layering in a touch more sincerity to undercut the bubblegum synth whistle".[13] Critics' year-end rankings of "Birds of a Feather" Publication List Rank Ref. Billboard The 100 Best Songs of 2024 4 [14] Complex The 50 Best Songs of 2024 4 [15] Coup De Main The Best Songs of 2024 3 [16] ELLE The 42 Best Songs of 2024 —N/a [17] Exclaim! 20 Best Songs of 2024 20 [18] Los Angeles Times The 30 Best Songs of 2024 9 [19] NME 50 Best Songs of 2024 12 [20] NPR 124 Best Songs of 2024 —N/a [12] Pitchfork The 100 Best Songs of 2024 27 [21] Rolling Stone The 100 Best Songs of 2024 5 [22] Slant Magazine The 50 Best Songs of 2024 1 [23] The Guardian The 20 Best Songs of 2024 5 [24] The New York Times Lindsay Zoladz's Best Songs of 2024 4 [25] The Ringer The 11 Best Songs of 2024 7 [26] Time Out The Best Songs of 2024 2 [27] Uproxx The Best Songs of 2024 —N/a [28] USA Today The 10 Best Songs of 2024 3 [29] Commercial performance Following the release of Hit Me Hard and Soft, "Birds of a Feather" debuted at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart issue dated June 1, 2024, the highest-placing track from the album after "Chihiro" at number twelve and the lead single "Lunch" at number five.[30] In its fourth week, the then-album cut rose from number eleven to number nine on the chart, its peak position as a non-single track.[31] In its thirteenth week on the Hot 100, "Birds of a Feather" reached a new peak of number five,[32] while rising to the top of the multimetric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Alternative Songs charts in its twelfth week.[33] It surpassed 30 weeks atop both charts, becoming the first song by a female artist to achieve the feat on the former, and the first song by a lead female artist to do so on the latter.[34] "Birds of a Feather" was the ninth most-streamed song of 2024 in US on-demand audio with 660.7 million streams,[35] and the tenth most-streamed song in 2025, with 511.8 million streams.[36] Following its music video release, the song reached a new peak of number two on the Hot 100, becoming her highest placement since "Therefore I Am" in 2020 and the highest-charting song from Hit Me Hard and Soft. The single was certified 5× Platinum by the RIAA on March 14, 2025.[37] "Birds of a Feather" became Eilish's first song to chart for over a year (52 weeks) inside the Billboard Hot 100, surpassing "Bad Guy"'s 49 weeks.[38] The song accumulated 50 weeks on the Pop Airplay chart after topping it for eight weeks, making it the longest-charting solo song by a female artist in the chart's history and the sixth overall, tied with The Weeknd's "Die for You".[39] In the United Kingdom, "Birds of a Feather" debuted at number nine on the UK Singles Chart during the week of the album's release. The song was the third best after "Chihiro" at number seven and "Lunch" at number two.[40] Following its increase in popularity, the song reached its peak of number two on the UK Singles Chart.[41] The single was certified 4× Platinum by the BPI on April 24, 2026.[42] In Australia, "Birds of a Feather" debuted at number nine on the ARIA Singles Chart during the album's release week. It later topped the chart for two weeks, marking Eilish's fourth number one in the country.[43] The song remained inside the top ten for 54 weeks, becoming the female song with the most weeks spent in the top ten in the chart's history and the third overall. The single was certified 9× Platinum by the ARIA.[44] Elsewhere, the song topped the charts in various countries, including New Zealand and Iceland, and peaked within the top ten of the charts in Canada, the Czech Republic, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Philippines, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Switzerland. It also topped the Billboard Global 200 chart. "Birds of a Feather" became the most-streamed song in a calendar year on Spotify in 2024, surpassing Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso".[45] It also became the fastest song, at the time, to surpass both 2 billion and 3 billion streams on the platform.[46] The song was also the ninth most-streamed song globally on Apple Music in 2024[47] and fifth in 2025.[48] In 2025, "Birds of a Feather" was Spotify's second most-streamed song worldwide.[49] Music video Teased a day prior, an accompanying music video for "Birds of a Feather", directed by Aidan Zamiri, was released on September 27, 2024, and was filmed at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles. In the video, Eilish is shown singing in an abandoned office building while being dragged around by the arm by an invisible force; Sarah Kearns of Hypebeast interpreted this as "a symbol that seems to relay the feeling of being pulled in different directions by someone who isn't actually present

Notes

Chart History (67 weeks)