Meaning of “Hostage” by Billie Eilish

“Hostage” is a love song by American singer and songwriter Billie Eilish. In “Hostage”, the narrator (Eilish) does nothing but express her immense love for her lover. She starts the song by telling her significant other about how much she wants to be alone with him. She goes as far as saying she wants to steal his soul and hide him in her treasure chest.

According to her, her sole aim in life is to keep him hostage. Here, she obviously is not using the word “hostage” in its literal sense. She uses it as a metaphor to describe how much she wants to keep her lover to herself.

While on the surface, the narrator’s love might appear normal, some analysts believe it just might have some dark aspects to it. According to them, the intense love the narrator displays for her partner has traces of obsession. Her obsessive desire to have total possession of her partner fits perfectly into obsessive love and psychopathy.

It is important to mention that dangerous obsession and psychopathy are themes that run throughout the album on which this track appears.

Facts about “Hostage”

• Billie Eilish co-wrote this tune with American actor and musician Finneas O’Connell. FYI, Billie and Finneas are siblings. Finneas is Eilish’s older brother.
• Besides co-writing this tune, Finneas also handled its production.
• The song’s official release date was August 11, 2017. It is the eight track from Eilish’s debut EP titled Don’t Smile at Me.

Did Eilish make a video for “Hostage”?

Yes, she did. The video was first released on July 11, 2018 via Apple Music. Few months later (on October 8), it was published on YouTube. You can watch the song’s dramatic video below:

Who sings the background vocals on this song?

The song’s additional vocals were sung by its co-writer and producer Finneas.