Halsey recently released her third album, Manic, where she highlights various artist collabs to represent different relationships in her life that impacted her. In Alanis’ Interlude, Halsey invited Alanis to sing with her, an artist that Halsey noted as having an “irrevocable impact” on her life. [1]
When you listen to the track, it may take a few replays to catch onto the storyline. It refers to innocence, sex, and power. Ultimately you discover the lyrics reference a relationship in Halsey’s teen years. In an interview with Billboard[2] , Halsey mentions that she discovered she was bisexual while working at a sleepaway camp, hooking up with “a redhead” every night of the summer.
The lyrics “'Cause he and she is her. And her and he are love. And I have never felt the difference.” I interpret as Halsey’s reference to her discovering her sexuality and accepting herself for loving a man or a woman just the same. Through this realization, the song then morphs from a short pop hit to a sort of coming-of-age story, expressing the experience of adolescence and self discovery.
Halsey wraps up the song with the lyric, “A child in all these labels.” Undoubtedly, this short and blunt ending to an emotional and sexual song is meant to jab at the idea of the labels of “straight,” “gay,” “bisexual,” etc. Being so young and impressionable at the time of her sexual awakening, Halsey uses this final lyric to, what I can only assume, say that labels are what makes it so difficult for adolescents (and adults) to feel safe and loved in their own self discovery; unable to explore parts of themselves that they may be curious of out of fear of the label it would give them.
Halsey recently released her third album, Manic, where she highlights various artist collabs to represent different relationships in her life that impacted her. In Alanis’ Interlude, Halsey invited Alanis to sing with her, an artist that Halsey noted as having an “irrevocable impact” on her life. [1]
When you listen to the track, it may take a few replays to catch onto the storyline. It refers to innocence, sex, and power. Ultimately you discover the lyrics reference a relationship in Halsey’s teen years. In an interview with Billboard[2] , Halsey mentions that she discovered she was bisexual while working at a sleepaway camp, hooking up with “a redhead” every night of the summer.
The lyrics “'Cause he and she is her. And her and he are love. And I have never felt the difference.” I interpret as Halsey’s reference to her discovering her sexuality and accepting herself for loving a man or a woman just the same. Through this realization, the song then morphs from a short pop hit to a sort of coming-of-age story, expressing the experience of adolescence and self discovery.
Halsey wraps up the song with the lyric, “A child in all these labels.” Undoubtedly, this short and blunt ending to an emotional and sexual song is meant to jab at the idea of the labels of “straight,” “gay,” “bisexual,” etc. Being so young and impressionable at the time of her sexual awakening, Halsey uses this final lyric to, what I can only assume, say that labels are what makes it so difficult for adolescents (and adults) to feel safe and loved in their own self discovery; unable to explore parts of themselves that they may be curious of out of fear of the label it would give them.
1- https://halsey.fandom.com/wiki/Alanis%27_Interlude 2- https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/cover-story/7940978/halsey-charli-xcx-interview-billboard-cover-story-2017