"Watch" was released on June 30, 2017, as the third single on Eilish's debut EP Don't Smile at Me. The track was written and produced by Eilish's brother, Finneas O'Connell. Mastering and mixing was handled by the studio personnel, John Greenham and Rob Kinelski, respectively. When Eilish and Finneas were recording the song, the track title was titled "Watch & Burn". The track later became two separate songs. One being "Watch" and the other being "&Burn". According to sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, "Watch" has a moderately fast tempo of 80-84 beats per minute and is played in the key of C Major. Eilish's vocals span a range of G3 to C5. Critical commentary described "Watch" as a electropop and popballad. The song starts with the strike of a match and continues throughout the song as its main beat. In the lyrics, Eilish writes a missive to her former lover, saying she is leaving their toxic relationship behind: "My heart skips eight beats at once/If we were meant to be, we would have been by now/See what you wanna see, but all I see is him right now." As the chorus comes in, Eilish croons that her former lover has changed: "I'll sit and watch your car burn/With the fire that you started in me/But you never came back to ask it out/Go ahead and watch my heart burn/With the fire that you started in me." Finneas later explained in an interview with Pitchfork saying: "This is me just lighting a bunch of matches in the bathroom. It became the snare essentially for song. The hook is like, “I’ll sit and watch your car burn”, and so there were all these references to starting a fire, and so I was like, “Well let me try starting some matches and whatever” and that’s a more inventive way to use a sound than to just be like, “Yeah, we’re gonna start with the sound of the waves rolling in or something.”
Reception
"Watch" was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. Insider Claudia Willen placed the song at number 22 on their Every Billie Eilish song, ranked list, Willen saying that the song "provided a mere glimpse of the greatness to come in Eilish's career." Nicole Almeida of Atwood Magazine commended the production, which she described as "meticulous" and "amazing". Avery Stone of Vice described the song's chorus as "sweeping". The track has been awarded several certifications; most notably being certified platinum in Australia, Canada, and the United States by the Australian Recording Industry Association, Music Canada, and the Recording Industry Association of America, respectively.
Promotion
An official music video was released on September 18, 2017, directed by actress Megan Park. In the video, Eilish sets the remnants of a toxic relationship on fire and dumps her former lover. The singer stated in an interview with Vice, Eilish states Park came up with Eilish sitting in a bedroom during the video: "You see that room is right across from the ladder where I'm burning. And I get up and I walk over to the other "ladder". who represents the old me, who's hurt and heartbroken by this boy, and can't do anything without thinking about this person. And the new me is kind of over it. So I go up to the old me like, "Screw you, I'm going to light you on fire now." In March 2018, Eilish and Finneas performed an acoustic version of "Watch". The track was also performed live during Eilish's North American 1 by 1 tour. "Watch" was also included on the setlist of her When We All Fall Asleep Tour.
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Don't Smile at Me.
