When I Was Older

Album: Music Inspired by Roma (2019)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This sparse atmospheric track was inspired by the Alfonso Cuarón-directed Netflix movie Roma. The film, set in 1970s Mexico, follows the life of a live-in housekeeper for a middle-class family in Mexico City's Colonia Roma neighborhood. The song appears on an album titled Music Inspired by Roma, curated by Alfonso Cuarón.
  • When I was older
    I was a sailor on an open sea
    But now I'm underwater
    And my skin is paler than it should ever be
    Hmm


    The chorus illustrates a scene from Roma set at Tuxpan beach. Two of the middle class children are swimming in the sea but get caught by the strong current. As one of them struggles underwater, he remembers his past lives.
  • Eilish penned "When I Was Older" with her longtime collaborator and older brother, Finneas O'Connell. They set out to write a song about the strain of a relationship "from within the narrative" of Roma and the scenes that struck them most from the movie. The siblings used sound effects from the film in order to convey this.

    "Lines like 'memories burn like a forest fire' are accompanied by the sounds of the trees burning in the woods outside the house," explained the duo. "The chorus, has the ocean sounds overplayed on it. We were also able to take sounds like the student protest shouts and Borras barking and turn them into rhythmic percussive elements to help drive the song."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Which Songs are About Drugs?

Which Songs are About Drugs?Fact or Fiction

"25 or 6 to 4" to "Semi-Charmed Life" - see if you can spot the songs that are really about drugs.

Dwight Twilley

Dwight TwilleySongwriter Interviews

Since his debut single "I'm On Fire" in 1975, Dwight has been providing Spinal-Tap moments and misadventure.

Al Kooper

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.

Randy Newman

Randy NewmanSongwriting Legends

Newman makes it look easy these days, but in this 1974 interview, he reveals the paranoia and pressures that made him yearn for his old 9-5 job.

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.

Song Cities

Song CitiesMusic Quiz

Nirvana, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen are among those who wrote songs with cities that show up in this quiz.