by Halsey has established herself as one of the most introspective and raw voices in pop music today.
While her catchy melodies and pop hooks attract mainstream attention, her lyrics reveal a depth that resonates with many fans. Beyond just telling personal stories, Halsey’s lyrics are rich with symbolism, metaphor, and other literary devices. Analyzing her work through a literary lens provides new insight into the influences that have shaped her as an artist and storyteller. From themes of coming of age to mental health and identity, Halsey explores many topics that have been mainstays of literature for decades. Her songs unfold like mini-narratives or stream-of-consciousness poems, employing structures and techniques found in classic and contemporary novels, short stories, and poems. Halsey’s music proves that pop can carry the complexity and thought-provoking nature of literature when crafted by an artist so clearly influenced by the written word.
Coming of Age Themes
One of the most prominent themes throughout Halsey’s discography is coming of age. Songs like “Gasoline,” “Colors,” and “Finally // beautiful stranger” delve into self-discovery, navigating relationships, and grappling with mental health issues as a young adult. These topics align with seminal coming-of-age novels that have explored similar journeys of identity development. J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye follows Holden Caulfield as he reckons with loss and questions the world around him during his final days before college. Halsey’s raw lyrics about feeling lost and disillusioned with society channel similar themes of disaffection with the world that Caulfield experiences. Sylvia Plath’s poetry also dealt heavily with coming of age amid mental anguish. Poems like “Mad Girl’s Love Song” convey the inner turmoil of a young woman struggling with her place in the world, much like themes found in Halsey’s music. By addressing relatable rites of passage into adulthood through an emotionally honest lens, Halsey taps into universal literary themes of self-discovery that have endured for generations.
Mental Health as Muse
Halsey openly discusses her own mental health struggles, making her music profoundly moving for those who face similar issues. Songs like “Control” and “Castle” unveil anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder with bracing vulnerability. This confessional approach connects her work to memoirs and novels that have helped push social conversations around mental health forward. Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel was a seminal work detailing the author’s battles with depression and propelled discussions of mental illness into the late 90s mainstream. Halsey’s unflinching examinations of her internal world continue this legacy into a new era. Works like Matt Haig’s Reasons to Stay Alive and Notes on a Nervous Planet have also brought discussions of conditions like anxiety and depression to a wide audience in recent years. By blending pop melodies with raw portrayals of her mental health highs and lows, Halsey bridges the gap between music and literature in a way that helps reduce stigma through art.
Exploring Identity
Halsey challenges assumptions of gender, sexuality and society through songs investigating identity. “Nightmare,” “Strangers,” and “You Should Be Sad” confront expectations, double standards, and what it means to be a bisexual woman in today’s world. These topics align with influential feminist works that have shaped cultural conversations. Virginia Woolf’s novels Mrs. Dalloway and Orlando examined fluid concepts of gender identity decades before the terms we use today. Roxane Gay’s writings, including her memoir Hunger, explore sexuality, body image, and what it means to be a woman of color through candid prose. In contemporary young adult novels like The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, protagonists grapple with navigating personal identity within political and social systems not built for them. Halsey taps into these literary lineages with lyrics that challenge oppressive roles to claim agency over her own identity on her own terms.
Poetic Lyrical Styles
Beyond universal themes, Halsey’s lyrics exhibit artistry through vivid imagery, symbolism, allusions and other poetic devices that add layers of nuance to her storytelling. Songs like “Graveyard” paint pictures through evocative similes to convey raw emotions in a way that echoes poetry. In the opening verse, she sings “My hands, they’re strong but my knees were far too weak/ To stand in your arms without falling to your feet.” The sensory language creates a moment both beautiful and heartbreaking. Flowers often symbolize love in literature, so roses take on deeper significance in the lyrics of “Without Me:” “I’m sorry, but I fell in love tonight/ I didn’t mean to fall in love tonight.” Subtle references to works like Romeo and Juliet add further resonance. Stream-of-consciousness storytelling in “Haunting” mimics experimental styles seen in modern poetry. Through these techniques that bring literature to life, Halsey elevates her songwriting into a visceral art form.
Narrative Arcs and Structure
Beyond singular songs, Halsey constructs albums as overarching narrative journeys. Her 2015 debut Badlands presents a cohesive dystopian concept exploring darkness and redemption. Songs flow together to tell the story of a young woman navigating a troubled world, evoking the immersive storytelling of novels. Opening track “Castle” establishes the protagonist’s disillusionment before “New Americana” critiques society and “Colors” depicts an LSD trip-fueled epiphany. The climax and resolution come on “Hurricane” and “Roman Holiday” as she finds empowerment. This narrative arc mirrors structured storytelling seen in acclaimed fiction and shows Halsey’s skill in world-building. Even more introspective albums like Hopeless Fountain Kingdom present a throughline as songs unfold like chapters capturing raw emotions and mental states in a stream-of-consciousness style. Halsey wields structure purposefully to pull listeners deep into her lyrical worlds like the most skilled novelists.
Art in Dialogue with Literature
Through lyrical devices, themes, and artistic styles influenced by literature, Halsey engages music and the written word in mutually enriching dialogue. Songs like “New Americana” critique superficial standards of beauty and consumerism through the lens of second-wave feminism. “Hurricane” channels Plath’s raw emotion through confessional poetry about a destructive relationship. “Control” examines power dynamics and gender roles in a way that brings to mind Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. By alluding to these influential works, Halsey invites deeper analysis that enhances appreciation of both her art and its literary roots. While top 40 radio plays her inescapable hits, a more studied listen reveals unexpected depth that has resonated with listeners and critics alike. Halsey marries pop accessibility with literary complexity, expanding the potential of both mediums and cultivating thoughtful discussion through art. She proves that even the most commercially viable songs can carry profound cultural impact when crafted by an artist so clearly influenced by the rich landscape of literature.
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