Songfacts®:

• "Chihro" is named after the main character, Chihiro Ogino, from the Studio Ghibli animated film Spirited Away, directed by Hayao Miyazaki. This song dives into the dark underbelly of the movie's fantastical world.
• Here's the gist: When 10-year-old Chihiro stumbles upon a mysterious abandoned amusement park with her parents, they unknowingly enter the spirit world. Chihiro's parents are transformed into pigs for indulging in food meant for spirits. To save them, Chihiro works in a bathhouse for supernatural beings. With the help of a boy named Haku, she overcomes challenges and discovers her own courage to break the spell and return home.
  
  "The visuals in that movie are some of the best ever - all that Studio Ghibli s--t is unbelievable," Billie Eilish told Rolling Stone. "There's all those visuals of the train in the water after the flood, and it literally looks like an ocean with a train track. I had just watched Spirited Away and Finneas had made that beat. I love that movie. I've seen it so many times."
• The song itself is a cryptic mix of Chihiro's experience and classic Eilish vibes. We hear her plead with someone to "open the door," which could be from the perspective of No Face, a lonely spirit who becomes unhealthily obsessed with Chihiro, wanting her to let him into the bathhouse.
  
  Or maybe it's simply a metaphor for Eilish facing her fears. Then there's the whole "take my love away" bit, hinting at the bittersweet ending of Spirited Away where Chihiro escapes but forgets everything about the spirit world – including Haku.
• Hayao Miyazaki)'s filmography, especially Spirited Away, has been an influence on Eilish since her 2019 debut album.
  
  "Just the way that all that animation is, like No Face... it's like so 'spirit away,'" she told Noisey. "It is so weirdly unrealistic but realistic. It was so dope."
• With its shimmering synths and dark undercurrents, "Chihiro" ditches the typical pop format, opting for a vibe more akin to exploring a video game world. No wonder a snippet of the song got sucked into a Fortnite trailer a week before the release of Hit Me Hard and Soft.
• The video was directed by Billie Eilish, who envisioned a dreamlike narrative. According to a press release, "the long, dark hallways and shutting of doors symbolize the different corners of the mind."
  
  Eilish tumbles into an inescapable connection with actor Nat Wolff. They chase each other and wrestle in a grassy field.
  
  "The external expression of an internal push and pull, as our deepest feelings of fear, love, or desire inevitably catch up to us, no matter how hard we try to run away."
  
  "Not only is she a genius singer and songwriter but also an amazing director and editor," said Wolff of Eilish. "By take (three) of this running shot, both of our childhood asthmas were acting up."
• Billie Eilish launched her Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour at the Centre Vidéotron Arena in Quebec, Canada, on September 29, 2024, with the debut live performance of "Chihiro." Fans were also treated to the live debuts of "The Diner" and "Blue."
• Because Finneas is a better pianist than bassist, he loaded a synth bass patch on piano and played the song's meandering bassline that way. He chose not to re-record it because he felt the tone was already perfect.