In "More", Halsey sings about loss and heartbreak. Not from losing a lover but an unborn child. Halsey explains, "This was the most personal song to write. I wrote the lyrics to this one in less than 5 minutes. It’s a love song, but not to a romantic partner. To someone in the universe who doesn’t exist yet. But will one day".
Award Snub: Despite her popularity and critical acclaim, especially with her third album MANIC, she gets no love from the Grammys. Her only nomination is for "Best Duo/Group Performance" for "Closer," which didn't win. After MANIC failed to garner any nominations, even she wondered on Twitter if she did something to piss off someone from the Recording Academy once upon a time.
Many Sky Ferreira fans see Halsey as a rip-off, noting similarities between the videos of Halsey's "Ghost" and Sky's "Night Time My Time". Doesn't help that the now-deleted tweets Sky made about someone copying her speculated to be about Halsey.
In fact, fans of other indie pop girls such as Lana Del Rey and Marina Diamandis in particular have accused Halsey of the same things.
Harsher in Hindsight: When Halsey performed her medley of songs at the 2015 Vevo LIFT concert, fans had no idea that the artist had miscarried just hours before the concert until she revealed it in her interview with Rolling Stone Magazine later that year, making repeated views of the performances heart-wrenching.
Heartwarming Moments: Her January 2021 announcement that she is pregnant with her first child with current boyfriend Alev Aydin and six months later, her son Ender Ridley Aydin was born.
Hype Backlash: While Badlands was warmly received by fans and got some good reviews, there was a vocal contingent who thought it was not at all worthy of the hype it (and she in particular) was amassing for quite some time since her debut single dropped nearly three years prior, either finding it too derivative of other similar, "edgy" synthpop acts and/or full of narm-y, self-glorifying anthems ("New Americana" seemed to be particularly polarizing).
It's Popular, Now It Sucks!: Many of her fans' opinions of the success of "Closer", and her songs becoming more public to the mainstream in general.
Memetic Mutation: "Young God" sounds SFW and romantic until after the first chorus, where its Intercourse with You elements come through. Many YouTube comments for the song take note of this sudden tone shift.
Misaimed Fandom: "New Americana" got hit with this a considerable amount. It was written to be "as pop culture-y as possible" and a self-aware satire...only for the song to receive criticism for being a vapid pop song with pretentious lyrics. She has gone on record stating that she found this backlash highly irritating, and it may have been a factor in her all but explicitly disowning the song later in her career.
"It's so frustrating when people don't understand the satire of 'New Americana'. They think it's this insane basic pop song, but that's the point. I wrote a song critiquing pop culture and I made it sound like a huge pop song. People are writing angry think pieces about how they don't appreciate me rhyming 'legal marijuana' with 'Biggie and Nirvana'. The whole point is for it to be a buzzworthy song. I'm making fun of current pop culture. Has anyone heard the bridge? I say: 'What kind of bubble gum have you been blowing lately?' In my other songs, I'd never say something like that. But the whole point of that lyric is me saying, 'What kind of bullshit have you been talking? What kind of vapid things have you been obsessed with lately?' Honestly though, the fact people miss the point of the song is driving me fucking insane."
Nightmare Retardant: The lyrics to "Nightmare", just for being a little too edgy:
Stared in the mirror and punched it to shatters
Collected the pieces and picked out a dagger
I've pinched my skin in between my two fingers
And wished I could cut some parts off with some scissors
...
No, I won't smile, but I'll show you my teeth
And I'ma let you speak if you just let me breathe
...
'Cause kindness is weakness, or worse, you're complacent
I could play nice or I could be a bully
I'm tired and angry, but somebody should be
Though one should keep in mind that she was going through a Creator Breakdown at the time.
"Closer", even though it's The Chainsmokers' song first. For her own songs, contenders include "New Americana", "Hold Me Down", "Colors", "Castle", "Gasoline", and "You Should Be Sad".
"Now or Never" and "Bad at Love" could also contend for this, with "Now or Never" being her first solo top 20 Billboard hit and "Bad at Love" peaking in the top 5.
Squick: The ending to the music video for "Colors" has elicited this reaction for some people. Halsey's character isn't in love with her classmate — she's in love with her classmate's ''father. Who seems to be flirting back. Her classmate is understandably grossed out.
that she is pregnant with her first child with current boyfriend Alev Aydin and six months later, her son Ender Ridley Aydin was born.