HFK-"Devil in Me"
Added 2023-04-27 23:01:48 +0000 UTCI discuss Halsey's use of diction, imagery, alliteration, allusion and more. I also discuss the themes and motifs developed throughout the album.
Comments
Moriah! The tarot card information here just BLEW MY MIND! OMG-- I can totally see how this interpretation would magnify the meaning for you!
English Teacher KP
2023-05-03 20:21:36 +0000 UTCThat's ok! I just have a lot of practice "talking through it", but you guys always help me find even more meaning in the comments!
English Teacher KP
2023-05-03 20:19:30 +0000 UTCOMG, yesss! I love your description of the "Coming to Jesus" moment; that's a perfect way to describe that bit! I also agree that our speaker is finally accepting those parts of herself that they may have previously thought were "bad". Ahhhh- this is so layered! I love it!
English Teacher KP
2023-05-03 20:18:32 +0000 UTCOh no! This makes me sad 😭😭😭
English Teacher KP
2023-05-03 20:16:37 +0000 UTCOMG!! This is such a great point!!!
English Teacher KP
2023-05-03 20:16:09 +0000 UTCIt just dawned on me that the end of this album is going down in flames so to speak with allusions to icarus and the beginning of Manic we hear " some day when I burst into flames, I'll leave you the dust my love" and I really enjoy the full circle moment they give us lyrically!
Moriah
2023-05-03 00:26:15 +0000 UTCSadly Halsey and their partner Alev broke up and Halsey filed for custody of their child Ender so she can take him on tour with her this summer. My Heart hurts for them during this tough time and wish the best for them.
Nikki S
2023-05-02 17:56:20 +0000 UTCPersonally when I hear the song the image that comes to my brain is Halsey standing there with an Angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. One is saying don’t wake it up and the devil on her shoulder is saying gotta wake it up lol
Nikki S
2023-05-02 15:14:35 +0000 UTCHalsey talking about this song in interviews in 2017, Zach Sang Show: “I let everyone down when I changed in size” is about me adjusting myself trying to fit this person and realizing I’m letting everyone around me down so it says “I won’t let anyone down if I crawl tonight.” Trying to get low, trying to make myself smaller, trying to be the size that this person probably wanted me to be.” Halsey told The Zach Sang Show, that the “devil ” in them was “what the person I was with used to call my real personality…(Not actually) That person would probably think of my real personality as like the bad parts of me, the parts that are loud, the parts that are obnoxious.” Something from genius: This could also allude back to their 2015 track, “Hold Me Down” and the previous track, “Angel on Fire.” In HMD, Halsey sings about how this man told Halsey that she was holy, which could be connected to him calling them an angel, and in AOF, Halsey is singing about how she is no longer this angel that she used to be in this relationship now, that he’s gone and she doesn’t know who she is now that he’s gone. She also talks in badlands and hold me down and control about their bipolar being the demons in her.
Nikki S
2023-05-02 15:13:53 +0000 UTCThe singer/songwriter Sia wrote the music for this song (and of course Halsey writes all the lyrics herself) This was actually a poem in Halsey’s poetry book I Would Leave Me If I Could. Same title and it is the same as the Prechorus besides one word is changed. “I went tumbling down trying to reach your height” instead of “reach your high” in the song.
Nikki S
2023-05-02 15:11:34 +0000 UTCIts always been interesting to me that "the devil" in this scenario is dehumanized so to speak. "I don't wanna wake 'it' up" like our speaker has this part of them that is not human because they shine too much, have big feelings, etc... like the qualities they have that are enhanced by their mania or depression maybe make them able to create art, and music and throw parties and fall in love less worthy to the "you". The "Gotta wake up" repetition sounds like when my mom had to wake me up 400 times for school 😅 ALSO Angel on Fire could also be The Devil. Viewing people through different lenses in this scenario our speaker is an angel on fire to the people around them on the outside, but struggling internally. There alot of Tarot cards imagery wise during this album cycle. In tarot The Devil card can represent the shadows and monsters that mentally hold you back from being the best, healthy version of yourself. This is not inherently negative though. It can also be a signifyer of having been tricked into believing you have no control over things you can change, as well as shining a light on the detrimental cycles we may experience. Interpreting the song in this way magnifys the lyrics to me.
Moriah
2023-04-29 02:01:44 +0000 UTCIt's so impressive to watch you figure out the complete meaning of a song in one try! Takes me so many listens/ interviews to understand what someone means sometimes
Camila Dejesus
2023-04-28 01:35:54 +0000 UTCTell me why I’ve listened to this album 100 times and never realized Angel and Devil were next to each other on the track list 🤦♀️ I was thinking the “oh” part sounded like a choir too! I took that as Halsey having a “coming to Jesus” moment when she realized unleashing her inner devil isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes to be true to yourself or to do the right thing, you have to make a hard decision and put yourself in an uncomfortable spot. I feel like her unleashing her inner devil, isn’t her being bad, but her accepting all parts of her and sticking up for herself. Also, the last track “Hopeless” I love so much! If I’m in my feelings, it can make me cry haha so I’m interested to see if it hits you or not.
Gabrielle Tecklenburg
2023-04-28 01:04:02 +0000 UTC
