BADLANDS [halsey] // Lyric Analysis

6. Colors

Considering the remarks about  addictions, it is evident that "Colors" is about The 1975's frontman, Matty Healy.

In October of 2015, Halsey mentioned Matty , noting how it was the same venue that they met at, but that  She has also mentioned him as an   brought him up in an interview, questioning the nature of their relationship, to which she responded: "We're both attracted to characters, and we saw that in each other. I spent a lot of time watching him and he spent a lot of time loving being watched. But if you think he's the first red-wine-drinking, pretty-boy rocker in skinny jeans I've... been associated with, you're out of your fucking mind."

Halsey posted an  on her Instagram account of what appears to be Healy emerging from a bed. She also made a post on her personal Tumblr in July of 2014 (deleted but viewable), describing her adventures with him and how he made her feel.

Despite the depth of information provided, the two are not explicitly confirmed to have been a legitimate couple. Halsey's latest relationship was with Norwegian hip-hop artist and producer Lido, who worked extensively on many tracks from her album.

VERSE 1:

"Your little brother never tells you but he loves you so /
You said your mother only smiled on her TV show"

This song is about Matty Healy, lead singer of . This line could refer to Louis, Matty's little brother, who he wrote "Is There Somebody Who Can Watch You?" about. In that song, Matty expresses his guilt about not spending enough time with his little brother. Ashley is reassuring him.

Matt's mother, Denise, used to be a regular panellist on Loose Women, a chat show. She has battled with  following Matt's birth.

"You're only happy when your sorry head is filled with dope /
I hope you make it to the day you're 28 years old"

The 27 Club is a group of popular musicians who died at the age of 27, often due to drug abuse. Members include Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, and more.

In 2013, Matty Healy  to having been a user, "losing it" to coke but not to heroin. Halsey points out how his addiction has guided him down a dark road because the only happiness he knew was only found when high off these substances, which also jabs at his deteriorating mental and physical health.

Although, it's also used to refer to marijuana or a general group of drugs, "dope" was first applied as slang for heroin because in its black tar form, the dark, waxy substance resembles the lubricants of the same name. It is also a play off the word , a compound found in the brain that produces good feelings and is manipulated when one is on a heroin high, making it even more addicting.

PRE-CHORUS:

"You're dripping like a saturated sunrise /
You're spilling like an overflowing sink"

An excerpt from Halsey's personal blog post dated July 2014 (currently deactivated):
"[We] talk rapidly and vigorously and trip over each other's sentences like a sidewalk crack. [...] He speaks like a pastor and trips over his words, his tongue struggles to meet his brain. That's how a prodigy thinks. (Or it's the drugs)."

As we know from  and the remainder of her post, she's retained a lot about him, regarding his family and overall personal life. Halsey uses a sink spilling over to represent his mannerisms in conversation, where he allows deep, dark things out into the open for her to learn. She isn't digging it out of him, but no one's turning the handle off, and so he continues.