The Meaning of Ilomilo: What It Is and How To Use It

This article will provide you all of the necessary information on the word Ilomilo, including its meaning, usage, sentence examples, and more!

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What is Ilomilo?

“Ilomilo” is a song on Billie Eilish’s full-length studio debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? The record was released on March 29, 2019 according to Fandom. The album is roughly 43 minutes in length and was published under the labels Darkroom and Interscope Records. Billie Eilish executive produced the album with her brother, Finneas O’Connell. The song’s title is usually written in all lowercase, as “ilomilo.” The title is pronounced “ee-low mee-low.” The song was put on YouTube in March of 2019 and currently has nearly 29 million views and 345,000 likes. Eilish’s YouTube channel has upwards of 37 million subscribers.

Genius states that, fitting in with the theme of the rest of the album, “ilomilo” is also based on a fear. Eilish told a fan on Instagram that “ilomilo” is about the fear of separation from loved ones. In her episode of First We Feast’s Hot Ones, Eilish confirmed the song’s connection to the computer game of the same title. She stated that the idea of the song was inspired by the game, in which one is separated from the person they love over and over again. 

According to Genius, Finneas, Eilish’s brother and executive producer on the album, also confirmed that the name of the song “ilomilo” is a reference to the 2010 puzzle game of the same name when he replied to a fan on Instagram.

In ilomilo’ lyrics, Eilish makes many references to death and loss, including “friends I’ve had to bury” and “can’t lose another life.” The “can’t lose another life” lyrics also tie into the reference to the ilomilo video game. Some speculate that these are lyrics meaning she fears losing more people around her, like her friend and rapper XXXTentacion, who passed in 2018, according to Song Meanings and Facts.   

Billie Eilish dives deeper into the song’s meaning in her interview on Hot Ones, according to Pop Buzz. She states that the game used to be ove of her favorites, and that in the anti-gravity world of the game, there is no prize for reuniting the friends – the friendship and the hug are the prize. She not only incorporated the video game into the lyrics and concept, but the production of the song. Eilish and O’Connell used sound effects inspired by the game on the track itself. She says it is one of her favorite songs she has ever written, per Radio Energy.

Who is Billie Eilish?

Singer Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell, born December 18, 2001, is an American singer, songwriter, and music producer from Highland Park, Los Angeles, California, according to Pop Buzz. She rose to popularity from her song “ocean eyes” which was written by her brother and frequent collaborator Finneas O’Connell. The song was uploaded to SoundCloud in 2016 and quickly went viral. From there, Eilish was signed to Interscope Records and Darkroom, and released “ocean eyes” as her debut single.

Eilish is a vegan animal lover who is passionate about animal rights. While her natural hair is blonde, Eilish is known for experimenting with a variety of colors – notable, her lime green and highlighter yellow roots with black lengths. She has a net worth of roughly $53 million dollars, according to Forbes in 2020. She landed a $25 million dollar documentary deal with Apple about her life and career. 

She has also written and sang songs for numerous films and television shows, including tracks for 13 Reasons Why and the James Bond theme song “No Time to Die.” Eilish and O’Connell were pegged as favorites to win the 2021 Best Original Song Oscar, but due to the delayed release of the James Bond film, their eligibility was revoked.

Her first EP was released in August of 2017, entitled “don’t smile at me.” Eilish frequently releases her song titles in all lowercase. This record contained numerous hit songs, including singles “idontwannabeyouanymore” and “bellyache.”

 In 2019, she released her first full-length album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? which included tracks “bury a friend,” “xanny,” and “wish you were gay.” With this album, Eilish won five Grammy awards at the 2020 Grammys. She won Record of the Year and Song of the Year for her track “bad guy.” She also won Best New Artist and Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

What is the origin of the word Ilomilo?

According to Microsoft Game Studios and Giant Bomb, ilomilo is a puzzle game in which the player controls two little creatures, friends named Ilo and Milo. In the game, the two friends get separated and the player must complete three-dimensional puzzles to reunite them. 

This game is considered a 3D puzzle platformer, and was developed by SouthEnd Interactive. This game is available on Xbox 360, Windows Phone 7, and Windows 8. The game was released in November of 2010. 

Overall, the word “ilomilo” is the title of a very popular Billie Eilish song as well as a video game developed by SouthEnd Interactive for Microsoft platforms. Eilish was inspired by the game when writing and producing the song, and uses the game as a metaphor for being separated from loved ones literally and figuratively. The song was released on Eilish’s 2019 debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

Sources:

  1. https://billieeilish.fandom.com/wiki/When_We_All_Fall_Asleep,_Where_Do_We_Go%3F
  2. https://www.giantbomb.com/ilomilo/3030-31090/
  3. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/ilomilo/9wzdncrfhwd6?activetab=pivot:overviewtab
  4. https://genius.com/Billie-eilish-ilomilo-lyrics
  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDr4ITrp7YI
  6. https://www.songmeaningsandfacts.com/meaning-of-ilomilo-by-billie-eilish/
  7. https://www.popbuzz.com/music/news/billie-eilish-ilomilo-lyrics-meaning/
  8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTMKHn4EeEM
  9. https://www.popbuzz.com/music/features/billie-eilish/real-name/
  10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH1F6m3slrQ