There is only one opinion that no one can convince me to change: Halsey is the most underrated artist of the last decade. Whether its songs that deserved to be nominated for a Grammy (“Without Me”), songs that blared on the radio (“Bad at Love”), songs that were overplayed (“Closer”), or songs that only true fans know of (“Wipe Your Tears”), Halsey has played a pivotal role in the music industry. They hold the title of being one of the most underrated artists of the last decade all due to one thing — relatability. Regardless of your music preferences, they have your emotions gripped to lyrics that seem tailored to every listener. Here are my top five song picks for relatability:
1. “I HATE EVERYBODY”
This masterpiece of a song has off the charts relatability for each line of raw emotion. It conveys someone who claims to hate everyone around them, but secretly is longing for salvation through love. They are so desperate for companionship that they take one good moment with a potential partner and tell themselves that this is their soulmate. They then move the relationship at hyper speed and embellish the feelings they have for each other to make a future happen right then. This is obviously toxic, yet very human, and Halsey admits that it is. They admit to being their own biggest enemy in the first line of the song, and that all of their friends are getting fed up with this process. Regardless of their friends’ thoughts on the situation, the toxic cycle continues. It continues because Halsey wants someone to love them so they can love themself, and if this doesn’t work, they can still hold the front that they hate everybody. All these raw emotions are familiar to anyone who has been in toxic relationships.
2. “3am”
Have you ever been awake at 3am and drunk dialing all of your contacts? What about keeping relationships only over the phone in order to not be as heartbroken as if the relationship were a physical one? What about pretending you have a different personality to each potential partner so you don’t end up alone? Or have you had such horrible relationships or luck with relationships to the point where you don’t even know what to do with yourself? If you answered yes to any or all of these, then this song will put those emotions into lyrical perspective in a song covering all those bases.
3. “Gasoline”
A perfect song about what it is like to be a pawn in society. People who pay you get to have opinions on how you present yourself, behave, and feel. No matter how much passion and good intentions you go into a job with, you are someone else’s puppet. No one was made to do exactly what others say and work in a robotic, systematic fashion day in and day out to earn a living. This causes bouts of instability and negative thoughts about oneself due to the lack of desire to perform the way society deems fit. They bring up feeling insane, drinking, dealing with bipolar disorder, and calling themselves derogatory epithets. The American Dream is dead, self-esteem is gone, sanity has left, and self-control is out of one’s hands. This bleak yet relatable song pulls at the disturbing reality people face in today’s capitalist society. Any worker or citizen who isn’t at the top can see themselves in these lyrics.
4. “Forever…(is a long time)”
If self-sabotage had a perfect definition, this song would be plastered in its place in the dictionary. The story starts with a person who worked hard to find someone to love them and was furious when they couldn’t find it but others could. Then, the perfect someone comes along to get rid of all the negativity in their life and the relationship is nothing short of a bonafide fairytale. The tone of the song changes to get darker and darker as the person starts doubting the relationship due to waiting for the other shoe to drop. They get in their head and believe that no one can love them. They decide to tear down this perfect relationship as the accumulation of self-doubting thoughts has a malignant hold on their thoughts. Many people can relate to self-doubt being a driving force to end a seemingly ideal relationship.
5. “You Should be Sad”
There have been many songs written to tell off an ex-boyfriend, but none of them give the same venomous stab that Halsey’s words articulate. The whole song is about closure at its finest while knocking their ex (deservedly) down a few pegs. They call him selfish, empty, fake, angry, broken, and not worth anyone’s time. At the end of the day, they are glad they made it out of the toxic relationship, and regret ever being in it in the first place. No matter how much they loved him and tried to help him, he was still the same toxic partner. They feel sorry for him and believe that he should feel the sadness they felt through the abuse he caused them. Anyone who has a toxic ex can relate to the feelings of sadness, regret, escape, relief, and vengeance that cut through the lyrical stages of bereavement.
Whether it be engaging in toxic behaviors due to a desperation for love, keeping potential partners at a digital distance, being society’s puppet, self-sabotaging a perfect relationship, or calling out a toxic ex, Halsey’s lyrics ensnare emotions and capture the experiences to their listeners, and we are here for it!