Let’s listen to a haunting song about depression that is also filled with metaphors. Okay, let’s just give up and listen to Bea Miller’s “this call is coming from inside the house” instead because it plays on how depression can catch up with someone when they’re alone. One minute in and you realize it’s the answer to what you’ve been seeking in the first place.
Written by Miller, Cara Salimando, and Colin Brittain and produced by Brittain, the 24-year-old perfectly captured the spirit of the pop-rock track with her ethereal voice.
“Sittin’ in my underwear / Just me and my reclinin’ chair / Nothing’s wrong with me, I’m doing fine / Something changes in the air / I start to feel like someone’s there / Hiding in my closet with a knife,” she sings, before going on to realize that the threat is all in her head. The song grows darker when Miller acknowledges that she’s a danger to herself.
The second verse sees a now self-aware Miller sing about the relief crying would grant her, if only she could pour out her sorrows in tears.
The song did not fail to hit its mark, as fans deeply related to the message, with one fan writing: “pov: depression calls at 3 am to see how you’re doing.”
Reflecting on the reason she penned the powerful track, Miller said: “I’ve struggled with anxiety for all of my adult life. ‘this call is coming from inside the house’ is about the intense desire I feel to scream out for help each time I experience a panic attack, knowing that there’s nothing anyone can really do to help me. Sometimes my anxiety feels like a monster, something I want to run away from. But ultimately the monster is my own mind.”
“this call is coming from inside the house” is accompanied by a music video that sees several versions of Miller singing about her insecurities on or by the stairs. To Miller, they represent the repetitive thoughts that can disturb us when we’re emotionally imbalanced. “In these visuals we were inspired by the idea and theme of rumination and being stuck in a pattern, the way our mind works in circles against us sometimes. It’s the look of anxiety, overthinking, self-doubt, repeating mistakes — the box we put our thoughts in. The moments before we can release that feel like we’ll never get out of.”
The “this call is coming from inside the house” visualizer serves as the fourth installment of “BEA MILLER’S CABINET,” a twelve-part visual compendium.