"my future" by Billie Eilish // 5 year anniversary song review + limited edition store exclusive vinyl picture disc

- July 30, 2025

"my future" was released as the first single off of Billie Eilish's sophomore album, Happier Than Ever. Released exactly a year prior to the rest of the album, this song signaled a transitional period for Billie as an artist. Coming off of her record-breaking debut album the year prior, with this song, Billie and Finneas set out to prove that they weren't interested in doing the same thing twice. They experimented with a wide range of influences across the album, but "my future" was definitely a more understated and simplistic sound than what they had went with on much of her debut.

"'Cause I, I'm in love with my future, can't wait to meet her," she sings in the chorus. "And I, I'm in love, but not with anybody else, just wanna get to know myself". With this song, she embraces change and growth above all else. The dreamy jazz-inspired melodies reflected her growing maturity, willingness to experiment and expansion of her sound beyond everything we had heard from her up to that point. It has a much more optimistic tone for what the future holds than what parts of WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP WHERE DO WE GO? conveyed at the time, and especially considering where she left off with the 2019 single "everything i wanted".

It is overall a beautiful reflection on her journey to self-love and looking forward to meeting the woman she is becoming, with an emphasis on self-love instead of seeking validation from romantic relationships. "I spent years and years relying on having someone, I could never be alone," Billie said in an interview with Apple Music. "It's not something you'd think about being hard. But when you're in that alone zone, it's a new feeling. I feel like people - everything is about love. There's nothing that talks about how being alone is really powerful."

She and Finneas recorded it at home during the early days of quarantine in 2020, which was also representative of a broader message of staying optimistic during uncertain times. It was such an introspective and timely release that encouraged the listener to look ahead with clarity and hope. "When we wrote this song, it was exactly where my head was at – hopeful, excited and a craaaazy amount of self reflection and self growth. But recently it has also taken on a lot of new meaning in the context of what's happening in the world now ... the future feels uncertain and crazy right now," Billie wrote in an email newsletter to fans in 2020. "But I think we need to be ready to put the work in, and if we do that, we should be hopeful and excited for our future. I have to keep reminding myself that the future is ours, and I know we want to do everything we can to make it better for everyone in the world. and for the world itself… it's up to us to change things now. Not only for us, but for future generations. Stay hopeful."

It is such a stunning introduction to the rest of what Happier Than Ever would go on to represent the following year. Even though the album as a whole often feels overlooked because it was released between two masterpieces - her 2019 debut and 2024's HIT ME HARD AND SOFT - Happier Than Ever stands out as such a special body of work in it's own right. It features several of my personal favorite songs she has ever released and was an important stepping stone in her artistic evolution. "my future" in particular feels like an emotional turning point in her journey.

The final verse is such a powerful note to end on, beautifully capturing the time in which it was written. "But I, I'm in love with my future, and you don't know her," she sings in the final verse. "And I, I'm in love, but not with anybody here, I'll see you in a couple years".

To celebrate the five year anniversary of this song's release and also the four year anniversary of the rest of the Happier Than Ever album, it felt like the perfect time to share one of my favorite 7" vinyl pressings. I have such a big collection of Billie's music on vinyl and always love sharing some of the history and details behind each pressing, especially when it comes to the special singles I have.

The limited edition picture disc vinyl single for "my future" was sold exclusively on Billie's website in the summer of 2020. On Side A, it features a beautiful illustrated image of Billie looking out at the moon on a starry night. Side B is completely blank and there is no image or song pressed in it, which does feel like a wasted opportunity to include an alternate version of the song, like an instrumental or live performance, or at least another still from the music video.

The image on Side A is the same as the opening frame of the song's animated music video, which perfectly captures the vibe of the song. I have always loved the art style of that video and love having a physical piece of that in my record collection.