Halsey chose music to be her messenger when it came to the singer’s health crisis journey.
Just months after expressing gratitude for being “lucky to be alive” following their lupus and bone marrow disorder diagnoses, Halsey, born Ashley Frangipane, seems to reflect on their emotional health journey in their fifth studio album, The Great Impersonator, which was released on Oct. 25.
The singer’s personal experiences with illness appear to have influenced the album’s themes, adding a deeply self-reflective layer to their latest work.
On the track Panic Attack, the pop star reflected on the toll a romantic relationship has taken on their physical well-being.
“My spirit has been broken / My optimism’s getting sore,” they sing, adding, “And I would love to love you / But my body’s keepin’ score.”
However, not all the lyrics on the album remain abstract.
A trio of songs titled Letter to God features a recurring chorus with varying lyrics, each addressing the painful experience of battling illness.
In Letter to God (1983), Halsey poignantly sings, “Please, God, I don’t wanna be sick / And I don’t wanna hurt, so get it over with quick.”
One of the most raw and vulnerable moments on the album comes in the track Life of the Spider, where Halsey recalls a difficult memory from their health struggles.
The song opens with, “It’s four in the morning and I’m layin’ with my head against the toilet seat / For several days now I’ve been livin’ here, too tired to sleep, too sick to eat.”
The lyrics describe feeling monstrous, compounded by the way they are treated, “I feel like a monster and it doesn’t help that you will treat me like / I’ve got the venom in my teeth.”
In the ballad Darwinism, Halsey contemplates mortality and the vastness of existence.
“What if I’m just cosmic dust / Put me in a metal box that’s bound to rust,” they reflect, continuing with, “Shoot me into space and leave me to combust / Return to earth and just dissolve into its crust.”
Throughout the album, Halsey’s lyrics candidly explore the emotional and physical battles they’ve faced, creating a deeply personal and reflective body of work.
