Halsey's Badlands is her first album and features two of her three
top singles; "Ghost", and "New Americana". This album
has contributed to Halsey's recent fame that began with her debut EP Room
93. This album is the true showcase of Halsey's talent, through
the inventive lyrics and the hypnotizing background music. There is a
haunting feel to this album, through the eerie melodies and the torturous
emotion behind the lyrics in the songs. Just like Bastille's VS.
Other People's Heartache, Halsey gets out this intense emotion in an almost aggressive
manner, making dark topics enjoyable. There's an underlying theme of
overthrowing the system that has already been established, and breaking free of
the chains of such an outdated system of gender roles. Halsey's bold
choice to make her first album conceptual on this idea of change could have
ended her career before it began but her uncanny ability to manipulate her
voice made this one for the books.
Within
the past five years major political issues have been brought up and have led to
major change in U.S. politics but as Halsey points out, there’s a long way to
go. The use of legal marijuana and gay
marriage are the most major political changes that have been brought up
recently. Through years of fighting the
battle for recognition, same-sex marriage was legalized in June of this
year. Halsey’s themes of rebellion and
escaping the ties of societal standards perfectly expresses the rebellion
required to make such an impact. And
with all of that change, the Federal Government in the U.S. has established that
if a state wishes to legalize the use of marijuana, they can. Alaska, Oregon, Colorado, and Washington have
legalized the use of marijuana recreationally and medically. With all of these advances, there are still
setbacks that were established many decades ago. States can legalize marijuana but they can’t
sell it legally for recreational use. So
even though it isn’t illegal to consume it, it is illegal to obtain it in a
regulated and controlled way. Halsey’s
album expresses this theme of attempting to take one step forward and realizing
that it didn’t result in any progression.
How can anyone take a step in the right direction when there are
societal boundaries preventing anything from changing?
A
very similar issue that is always addressed but makes very slow strides toward
change, is the issue of gender roles. Decades of the perpetuated idea of female
and male, social and economic roles has led to one of the largest issues in
America. Women have fought for their
right to vote and to work but they still are treated as lesser
individuals. The idea of defying these
established gender roles and starting a new culture is very prevalent through Badlands.
Halsey tries to establish how difficult it is to be oneself, if they
are always being controlled by pre-existing standards. Men have been the domineering figures
restricting women’s choices, and Halsey can’t stand it. Women have gained more freedom in the
workplace, and in traditional roles but there is still a lingering tone of
inferiority. Now it has become more
acceptable for couples to have the woman making more income than her male
counterpart. This
issue impacts every aspect of human interaction from popularity in the music
industry to household expectations. Halsey, even as young as she is,
recognized that and addressed it in her album. This issue impacts every aspect
of human interaction from popularity in the music industry to household
expectations. Halsey, even as young as she is, recognized that and
addressed it in her album.
The opening number "Castle" sets the tone for the whole album.
It opens with the skin crawling sound of buzzing and a faint ringing and
then the beat is established. The lyrics open by bashing the requirements
of being poised and peaceful and expressing how the journey to the top is gonna
be a fight. She opens herself up by saying that she's already a target, so
why should she waste her time crying about it. Instead "[She's] heading
straight for the castle." "Castle" gives the listener a
taste of the musical style of the album, with a dark and upbeat musical style
and vocals that are flawless. Halsey's vocal range is unbelievable but
she mostly displays her vocal control in this album; through riffs and her
ability to put her emotion into her singing.
Next the song "Hold me Down"
expresses how Halsey's “demons” led her to speak her mind and become
belligerent. These voices tearing her down, convince her to open her
mouth and speak up for herself but then they take her too far. In a way,
her “demons” give her the push to assert herself, to try to defy the social
expectations. But the down side is that it can go too far. She even
talks about how she gave herself to someone and they put her down through
praising her. Giving her condescending compliments that slowly tear down
self esteem. Then she realized that it
wasn't her want to stay down, it was the "devil" that was holding her
down. She defies gender roles at every turn of this album and this song
shows another defining rebellion. This
song holds a more upbeat tempo with eerie background sounds of wooshing and
backup vocals, but stays on brand to Halsey's vocals. In a way, this song
is a song of revelation, showing how she gets up even though someone is holding
her down.
Halsey then sings "New Americana" which
is a song about escaping the old and becoming the new. This song is the
climax of the album musically. The tempo and bass for this song give it
an addictive quality, being one of the songs that gets played over and over
because just once isn't enough. Through listening closely, small but
significant sound effects are added throughout the songs like a group of people
echoing a phrase or yells of agreement in the background can be noticed.
This song in particular is artfully created and all of the little details
seamlessly fit together. This song is the one that has the most effort in
it and is definitely the most important in establishing the theme of the album.
The entire song is about how Halsey's group is defying the culture of our
time and they will leave their legacy. They were raised on "Biggie
and Nirvana" and together they will be the change society needs.
The rest of the album mostly speaks upon Halsey's
experiences of being put down by a significant other and getting back up from
them. She references being used and manipulated by a man in
"Colors". In the song he makes her change to suit his lifestyle
and then once she has conformed, he leaves her. It's as if in that song,
the male followed the stereotypical gender roles but when he tried to change
Halsey to fit them too, she wasn't good enough. The songs transition into
describing his aftermath by saying that his dominance still haunts her.
This idea of being haunted by a domineering, gender role conforming man,
is expressed through "Haunting" and then carried out into the final
song "Ghost".
Between those two songs, the tone changes from
being put down to sticking up for oneself. Defying gender roles, and
fighting for individuality is the major theme expressed through
"Control" and "Young God" and this concludes the album
perfectly. "Control" continues the dark and eerie vibe of the
album while establishing the change in tone. The lyrics speak of demons
and children crying out of fear, but it's all a manifest of Halsey's fear in defying
social standards. Halfway through the song, the music slows down and the
piano chimes in a high pitched, creepy tempo. During this time, the tone
changes and Halsey accepts her fear and establishes that she's become familiar
with her demons. She ends the song by saying "God Damn Right, you
should be scared of me" because she is coming into her own and standing up
for herself. "Young God" perpetuates the idea of growing
strength and getting people to join the cause. At the end
"Ghost" establishes how no matter what Halsey is searching for
someone to fill a void but now she isn't look to be subservient to anyone.
This song states that she's looking for someone to love and leave, to not
get attached and move on. This song was Halsey's top single before the
album came out but it has a very sad undertone to it. It's about finally
being free of the gender roles of relationships but along the way she closed
her heart to people. She conquered the gender stereotype even at the
expense of her relationship. That's a very brave move on her part and it
shows how dedicated she is to her cause. The album chronologically tells a
story of conquering the stereotypes of the world and creating a new system/
generation.
This album overall establishes that our society is
flawed and someone needs to fix it. Whether or not that someone is Halsey
and her followers is yet to be determined but through this album, she's made it
very clear that she is trying. For an opening album this makes a bold
statement but, with the perfect musicality and the vocal expertise of Halsey,
it's not overpowering. Halsey's voice is not entirely unique like Bad
Suns or Bastille, but her ability to control it makes it so powerful.
With a message like this on her first album, we definitely have more to
come. Hopefully someone will truly make an impact on gender roles and
change the lopsidedness of our social standards.
Have you experienced
something that made you want to rebel and fight for a better outcome?
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