Halsey has long been one of my favorite artists, not just because she has an incredibly unique and beautiful voice, but also because her lyrics are clever formations that speak to the realities of life and tend to resonate long after the end of the song. There is no doubt that Halsey has an advanced skill in crafting her lyrics. Here are 5 times that her lyrics beautifully smacked us with realness.
1. “I’m standing in the ashes of who I used to be and I’m faded away, you know, I used to be on fire.”
In this song called, Angel On Fire, Halsey discusses the good and bad parts of fame, including her feelings of anxiety as, she feels, people start to forget about her. I feel these lyrics could be in interpreted in many ways. We can all relate to a time in life that we felt as if the fire of the person we used to be was turned to ash and from it, a new start.
2. “I don’t wanna wake it up, the devil in me.”
I honestly love the depth of this song because we all have parts of ourselves that we don’t like and even try to suppress. Devil In Me, begins repeating this line but ends with, “Now I gotta wake it up, the devil in me.” This juxtaposition, to me, reveals that we cannot change who we are, even though we may want to, and it is better to learn to accept/deal with the less satisfactory parts of ourselves. In this, we can be who we are instead of trying to be someone that we are not.
3. “I’ve got a lover, a love like religion. I’m such a fool for sacrifice.”
Love is such a complicated part of life and I love the way Halsey describes the oh-so-frequently-made, mistake of too much compromising for a relationship. It’s not a rarity in today’s society that we get involved with someone who doesn’t share the same feelings for us as we do for them. If I had a dollar for all the times I cared more for someone that they cared for me, I’d be rich and Halsey captures the feelings of a relationship like this so beautifully in her references to religion juxtaposed with references to sex.
4. “I always make the same mistakes 'cause I'm bad at love, but you can't blame me for tryin'.”
I feel like love f***s everybody up, especially in today’s society. We all have scars and issues. We’ve had our hearts broken and have promised ourselves never to fall in love again. Until we do and immediately we’re addicted to love all over again like it is a euphoric drug in the world.
5. “I'm headed straight for the castle. They wanna make me their queen and there's an old man sitting on the throne that's saying that I probably shouldn't be so mean.”
This is definitely my favorite song by Halsey and this chorus is, ugh YAS QUEEN. The world is always trying to tell us who we should be, what we can and can’t do, we’re never allowed to just be ourselves and do what we want. This lyric represents Halsey owning herself and her actions and not giving a flying potato what other people say or think. I repeat, YAS QUEEN.
Halsey is an incredible artist. Her music is creatively and intricately designed to relay her messages, which are all really up to interpretation. I love her music and I 10/10 recommend giving her a listen.
