“She’s incredibly talented, I think, and her brother as well”: Hear Paul Weller covering Billie Eilish’s What Was I Made For?

Having recently revealed that he thinks Billie Eilish is “fucking great”, Paul Weller has now paid her the ultimate compliment and performed one of her songs, What Was I Made For?

Asked to play a cover by Jo Whiley for one of her Sofa Sessions on BBC Radio 2 (skip to 1:21:00 for the performance), Weller chose the track that Eilish contributed to the soundtrack to the smash-hit 2023 movie, Barbie.

“Everyone’s going to know this… I heard it through my youngest daughter, Nova,” he says by way of introduction. “She’s a big fan of this next artist, and it’s a Billie Eilish tune and it’s called What Was I Made For?”

Weller’s version is pretty faithful to the original, but hearing it sung by one of rock’s elder statesmen lends it an even greater sense of pathos.

Paul Weller - What Was I Made For? (Sofa Session, 12 June 2024) - YouTube

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“She’s incredibly talented, I think, and her brother as well,” Weller says after his performance. “That’s such a beautiful song and the melody’s incredible - and the words. I think it’s just a great tune.”

This isn’t the first time Weller has expressed his liking for the song. In an interview with Mojo last month, he said: “I’ve got to say, man, Billie Eilish is fucking great. What Was I Made For? is an incredible tune. It’s lovely to see my little girl playing the record on vinyl and singing along to the words because I’m thinking: that was me and The Beatles. Those early inspirations stay with you for the rest of your life.”