Musical Poetics
Graveyard: Halsey's disillusionment and self-love
What does Halsey's "Graveyard" suggest about self-love? An interpretation of the lyrics and music videos based on the cover I recorded in 2019.
In this article
In Graveyard, Halsey sings about the line between following someone and getting lost in that relationship. I go back to the lyrics, the videos, and the cover I recorded to understand how the song transforms disillusionment into a question about self-love.
The artist's words offer a starting point; the readings of the images and sounds that follow are my own interpretations, open to other listening experiences.
A tight hug
I recorded a cover of Graveyard in October 2019, a few weeks after its release. The song hadn't captivated me at first listen, but as I began to understand the sound elements and the reasons behind the lyrics, I identified with it.
Today, it sounds to me like a tight hug. While preparing the cover, I began to listen more attentively to the contrast between the comforting melody and the weariness narrated in the lyrics. This analysis stems from that contrast.
The narrative of illusion and chaos
I first heard Halsey in New Americana, in 2015. The mix of delicacy and tension led me to follow his music. Years later, Without Me It is Graveyard They made me pay attention to a recurring theme in this listening: the moment when affection and self-preservation come into conflict. Graveyard It is part of the album. Manic.
In my reading, Graveyard The song speaks to the difficulty of recognizing that following someone can harm us. It doesn't resolve this conflict all at once; its strength lies in the tension between the impulse to stay and the need to set a boundary. Halsey's comments about the song help contextualize this interpretation.
In the singer's own words:
“The song is about loving someone who's in a bad place, and because you love them so much, you don't realize that you're getting into a bad place with them... It's also about learning to care for yourself enough to not follow them until there."
Free translation of Halsey's speech, in interview with Billboard.
This isn't the first time Halsey has addressed this subject in her songs. In the music video for Without Me, she already presents us with the melancholic narrative of letting someone go so as not to go off the deep end with them:
The present looks to the past
What interests me most in Graveyard It's the distance between realizing a relationship is draining and being able to leave it. The song makes me think about how memories, habits, and expectations can make that boundary less clear. This is an interpretation of the work, not a diagnosis of the life of the listener.
“My mother told me a story a long time ago. She told me: 'Don't fall in love with a person who gives you butterflies in your stomach. If you feel nervous when you're around her, that's a bad sign. Fall in love with a person who makes you feel safe, calm. Because if your heart jumps out of your chest every time you get a little affection or love from her, it means she's tying you down. This is not a person to be with. Be the person who makes you feel safe.'”
Free translation of Halsey's speech, during a performance of Graveyard at the Grammy Museum.
A song can help to name experiences without offering a single answer. In this case, the voice, the lyrics, and the images create space to acknowledge disappointment and think about what we do afterward.
The music videos
Talking about Halsey's music videos always gets me excited. She usually goes deep into this issue and likes to work on the drama in a very present way. In Graveyard, she continued to enchant us with a succession of works.
Before talking about the official music video, I want to talk about the time-lapse with which Halsey released the song for the first time:
This is a video about growing up, building yourself, in line with the construction of Halsey's own image in the painting she makes. It's as if knowing who you are depends only on yourself. And for me, this video strongly shows what the Manic, despite having a conceptual relationship with Graveyard.
After the video time-lapse, Halsey released the vertical music video for the song on Spotify, in partnership with the South Korean artist Dain Yoon. The concept is the same: painting, construction and the symbolism of maturity – in this case, flowers already in bloom.
After the video in time-lapse And from the vertical clip, the official music video presents another image for the song. I see in it a character who draws an idealized companion and lives this relationship in an amusement park. The luminous setting makes the subsequent rupture even stronger:
In the music video, the illusion disappears, and after a literal cold shower, Halsey's world becomes apathetic, colorless. Here, the metaphor of a person in love is clear, who cannot see the flaws of the person on their side – no matter how terrible they are – until disappointment hits them in the chest and they have to deal with reality.
I really liked this work because it differs from the approach taken in Without Me, by conceptually focusing on the illusion rather than telling a more literal story, since Graveyard There is a depth of innocence in the song itself (I feel it in the chorus, in the higher notes) and the music video talks a lot about this.
There may be more interpretations of these works, this was just my view after watching them a few times. If you've had any other views of the music videos of Graveyard, just leave it in the comments, I’ll love reading and debating about it!
The other face of Graveyard
The acoustic version puts the voice and composition in the foreground. Listening to it after the music videos helps to understand what remains of the song when the visual staging fades from view:
This version surprised me because of the close connection it creates with the voice. It also allows one to return to the lyrics without the images that guide the interpretation in music videos.
The blank sheet
For me, Graveyard It gains strength when it avoids an easy conclusion about love and breakup. The song embraces the ambivalence of wanting to stay and, at the same time, needing to take care of oneself. It was this tension that I brought to my cover.
Read more Musical analyses and creation stories on the blog.
Listen also my covers on YouTube.