Analysis Of Halsey's 'Colors'

Blue

Ashley Frangipane, also known by her stage name Halsey, is a modern day indie pop singer/songwriter. Halsey grew up with a musical background, playing the cello, viola, and violin; however, Halsey took a step in a new direction at the age of 14 by buying an acoustic guitar. After purchasing her guitar she began posting covers on YouTube and creating a fan base on MySpace. Halsey started performing in at the age of 18, when she needed a source of income to pay her rent. In 2014 Halsey released her first EP, which became popular quickly. Halsey’s first album Badlands released on August 28th, 2015. Halsey’s musical ambience is hypnotic and ethereal, while her lyrics are emotionally-rich and cleverly-written. Halsey’s musical style, unmistakably

The first verse of the song goes directly into supporting this idea. The song starts out with the lyrics, “Your little brother never tells you but he loves you so”. Matthew Healy has said that he feels guilty for leaving his family to go on tour, for the fact that he leaves his little brother. Matthew, worrisome of his little brother having no one to watch him, so he felt that he needed to spend more time with him (Hann). The verse shows Halsey giving Matthew reassurance. The lyrics in the second line state, “Your mother only smiled on her TV show”. Matthew Healy’s Mother, Denise Welch, made several appearances on a British talk show, Loose Women (Denise Welch). Denise, is known to have struggled with depression since the birth of her first child, Matthew (Denise Welch, In Her Own Words). The lyrics in the third line reads, “You’re only happy when your sorry head is filled with dope”, Matthew Healy known as a former cocaine addict (Trendbell). The last line of the first verse conveys, “I hope you make it till the day your 28 years old”. The verse makes reference to the 27 Club, the group of musicians who have died at the age of 27 from drug addictions. This analogy Halsey refers to derives from Matthew’s background of

In the chorus Halsey describes everything as the color “blue.” The color blue itself represents freedom and an unexplored territory within the world and heavens; blue represents the color of the sky and the seas. At the start of the chorus Halsey writes, “Everything is blue His pills, his hands, his jeans,” this shows her emotions toward Matthew and how within him she finds innocence and feels at peace. Although she feels at peace when with Matthew she writes, “And now I’m covered in the colors pull apart at the seams,” this demonstrates how Halsey’s deep infatuation with Matthew grows and his “colors” cover and fill her life causing her self-destruction, or having her soul pulled apart at the seams. Halsey uses representation of colors throughout her song describing Matthew and her emotions using the color blue through most of the chorus, then she switches to describing him as grey, “Everything is grey His hair, his smoke, his dreams And now he 's so devoid of color He don’t know what it means.” At this point she realizes how Matthew’s life and all its aspects, including his band, have a sad demeanor; although, “devoid of color,” she still finds innocence within Matthew. Halsey and Matthew’s “relationship” carried on through an infatuation of Halsey wanting love with someone who just did not have a loving demeanor, causing her own self destruction through his destructive