Saudade is a Portuguese word that can be roughly defined as a feeling of melancholy, nostalgia or yearning for something that is beloved but not present. There's no perfect translation, but one of the closest English expressions of the word I've ever seen is Billie Eilish's Tiny Desk performance.
You'd think the Los Angeles-born singer invented the term. Every breath is so full of indulgent melancholy, hopeful regret, at 22 years old she's become a captivating fixture of what it means, or rather what it feels, to love and lose simultaneously.
Trading belting vocals and rocking guitar for gentle piano and almost-breaking falsetto, she reimagines tracks like "THE GREATEST" in their most raw and honest form. In Eilish's world, love's purest forms are inherently terrifying. Therein lies her star power — she effortlessly, relentlessly brings to the fore the trickier emotions many of us tuck away for fear of what the world might think.
"I don't know what I'm crying for, I don't think I could love you more," she sings on "BIRDS OF A FEATHER." Turns out the world is made up of a lot of people who just want to be seen, and this stripped down set is the perfect space for Eilish to give listeners just that.
SET LIST
- "THE GREATEST"
- "L'AMOUR DE MA VIE"
- "i love you"
- "BIRDS OF A FEATHER"
MUSICIANS
- Billie Eilish: vocals
- Finneas: guitar
- Andrew Marshall: drums
- Solo Smith: bass
- Abe Nouri: piano
TINY DESK TEAM
- Producer: Bobby Carter
- Director/Editor: Maia Stern
- Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
- Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Alanté Serene
- Audio Engineer: Neil Tevault
- Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
- Photographer: Zayrha Rodriguez
- Tiny Desk Copy Editor: Hazel Cills
- Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
- VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
Copyright 2025 Smack Campus Magazine: Contributor Anamaria Artemisa Sayre npr.org
