Don’t fear. It’ll never be ‘The End’ of our love for Halsey. The heartbreaking ballad accompanying a half-cartoonish, half-throwing it back to the sepia days cover art slipped into their Spotify discography only a few days ago. Us, alongside a monthly 43 million party crashes—that’s if Spotify artist profiles were akin to peering into their house windows. Which, you know, is kinda true! We are brisking through the pages of their diary. So, get with our metaphor here in time for you to join all of us by clicking on the last track on the first page of Halsey’s fifth studio album. It’s an emotional affair, touching on their recent experiences with Leukemia and Lupus, of which we’re sending them bundles of care and appreciation!
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But it’s not the only newest addition to their “house,” if you will! Nope, a new poster is hung on a feature wall. It follows the lightly exposed sepia tone, one Halsey (yes, there’s a ringer syndrome effect happening here!) tuning a dial that seems to belong to an appliance. They’re looking just off-frame. 60s-inspired bangs sweepingly cover their left eye with their right in view. Seeing they’re in the light, we could say this is ‘Halsey.’ Whereas, if you looked closer into the appliance’s screen, you would find a darker contrasted version of them.
Interestingly, both eyes are displayed here. They’re looking in the same direction as Halsey #1. Some would say this is Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, or just ‘Ashley’ for short. They’re what remains once you strip away the pseudonym.
Hasley Vs. Ashley
Halsey has a strong interest in duality. For most of their eras, there’s always some sort of promotional shoot like this. For BADLANDS, she appeared in a neon blue wig, leaning up against the glass, away from us, while Ashley looked back. Then, the location for the next shoot was a childhood-decored room. Ashley reads in pink stencils, a cutout butterfly sprouting its wings next to the last letter. Halsey looks at themselves in a mirror on the table, with the star of the room looking back.
These elements are not mere coincidences. They are deliberate, as seen in the Manic era. The scrunchie-adorned curly updo and light blue clothing worn in the nostalgic bedroom harken back to their outfit in the ‘Graveyard’ music video. Even a specific lyric on ‘Ashley,’ the opening track on Manic, is a testament to this. The track, dedicated to their birthname, features the lyric, “Standin now, in the mirror that I built myself,” delivered just after a computerized voice that almost sounds baby-like, adding a layer of complexity to the duality theme.
We wanted to, therefore, further examine this prevalent theme in Halsey’s work and why precisely promotional shoots such as these keep popping up at the start of every era. Are there further clues in the tracks themselves? Whether it’s the lyrics or the other visual components, such as music videos. Cleverly, it’s a great way to showcase both sides to Halsey. So, for that reason, we’re digging deeper into these three tracks off of BADLANDS, Manic, and the currently nameless album. Can you hear us in the background? That’s us walking up to our own mirrors, excited at the “revelations” (as Halsey tweets out what their current chapter’s theme is) we’ll get from this analysis and the upcoming, further gutwrenching tracks.
‘Ghost’
Scrawled in Japanese, the hiragana for ‘Ghost’ isn’t the only taste in the opening. Instead, there’s a quote in the foreign-sounding language: “If you look back to the past with her, she had started disappearing before you knew it. Maybe she never existed.” It’s true that it barbwires the toxicity Halsey is portraying in the music video. But as with most things she does, there’s always a double meaning (or double wig, eh). That sort of does lean into it.
The couple are wearing identical fringe-bob wigs, the only difference being their hair color. One’s hair color is a pale pink, and Halsey’s is that neon blue. From that perspective, it almost hints at yin-yang, needing two sides of the same coin to come together to form a union. Eventually, there’s a shot of a pink wig ‘Ashley,’ leaving in a taxi (this is 2015, after all). Then, eerily enough, a scene unfolds similar to the promotional photo shoot we discussed earlier of Ashley being in the mirror reflection Halsey is staring at.
Interestingly, between all of this, there are shots flickered in of Hasley in a longer wig with the same blue dye. The fact that it’s longer could suggest that Halsey’s persona has become more prominent than the “soul you used to be?” The last shot of Ashley, in this context, looking out at the vast stretch of the city, a ‘Ghost’ to who the world now knows them to be.
‘Graveyard’
There is no need to check your web browser tabs, and this isn’t a whimsically in-distress fanfic insert of Euphoria. However, we have similar psychedelic carnival lights and popping in of Sydney Sweeney, aka Cassie Howard. Also, the music video is just a few months off from the show’s premiere, airing on June 16, whereas the ‘Graveyard’ music video came out in October of that year. But we swear we’re on YouTube and not Netflix! Additionally, remember the location for the Halsey and Ashley photoshoot? We’re back in that same bedroom during the opening shots, just before we head down to the carnival. She’s just like us, wanting to be in our bedrooms for as long as possible before we actually need to go somewhere.
While ‘Ghost’ focused primarily on Halsey already being well Halsey, this is a bit different wherein we almost see Ashley on their bed drawing up their rockstar persona. We’re not being metaphorical here, either—quite literal. There’s paper and pens. In this scenario, Ashley draws a presumed magical outline of Halsey, who really is Sydney. And then boom, there is the blonde starlet, truly putting scripting into action here.
‘The End’
Devastating may have eleven letters, but they aren’t enough to illustrate how tragically breathtaking ‘The End’ is. Hushed, Halsey’s quiet whisperings are so soft over its simple quartet instrumental that one perhaps wouldn’t quite hear them if something else was playing. But that’s the point in a way, isn’t it? Their experiences with life-altering medical conditions have only become known on a big stage. Millions of fractured lights that are no match to the dull rattlings of a corner hospital room.
Everything is so subtle. The “Von Circus” ticket stub references ‘Graveyard.’ While this time around, they have a platinum bob that makes them stylized like a graceful sixties icon. The diary collage was done by Hasley and edited by Adam Kudeimati, a perfectly intimate accompanying piece for this track. Spotted, too, are photographs of Halsey in front of the television (and now, we know what appliance it is.) We first saw it with visuals of Ashley inside of it.
Even Mirrors Shatter
So “Mirror, mirror, on the wall,” and such—what’s that reflection looking back at us? Most likely, the cartoonish spiral of the giant red question mark on the cover artwork for Halsey’s ‘The End.’ Thereby sucking us into a timeless binge over the various times in their career where they’ve contrasted their inner selves to their public persona, the vibrant colored hair and black winged eyeliner of it all. While we adore both, what’s been your favorite introspective moment from them thus far? It could be one of these three or something else entirely. Let us know on our Twitter/X account @thehoneypop, Instagram, or Facebook!
Additionally, Halsey is donating to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Lupus Research Alliance. We hope they’re sheltered in blankets, a warm cup of tea in their hands, and infinite prayers are sent their way.
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