At its opening, I was immediately thrown off by this song. “You Should Be Sad” by
Halsey is unlike any of her other pieces, as the beat and tone of voice is a pop/
country style music combination. While listening, I was completely turned off by
this style switch; I often find that when artists try to make a shift like this, it
interrupts the entire tone of the album. However, after a bit of research, I found
that Halsey gave reasoning for the country angle on this song specifically, writing
on Twitter that “The most petty and heartbreaking songs all come from
country.” [1]
Re-listening to the track with Halseyʼs perception in mind, the track becomes an
almost humorous yet deeply emotional dig at her ex. Halsey repeatedly sings “I
feel so sad” before ending the song with “You should be sad. You should be.” I
interpret this as Halsey trying to push away the sadness that this guy left her with
and make him experience that same pain. Petty and heartbreaking, indeed.
At its opening, I was immediately thrown off by this song. “You Should Be Sad” by Halsey is unlike any of her other pieces, as the beat and tone of voice is a pop/ country style music combination. While listening, I was completely turned off by this style switch; I often find that when artists try to make a shift like this, it interrupts the entire tone of the album. However, after a bit of research, I found that Halsey gave reasoning for the country angle on this song specifically, writing on Twitter that “The most petty and heartbreaking songs all come from country.” [1]
Re-listening to the track with Halseyʼs perception in mind, the track becomes an almost humorous yet deeply emotional dig at her ex. Halsey repeatedly sings “I feel so sad” before ending the song with “You should be sad. You should be.” I interpret this as Halsey trying to push away the sadness that this guy left her with and make him experience that same pain. Petty and heartbreaking, indeed.
[1] https://twitter.com/halsey/status/1215506670551330816?s=21