"Ghost" by Halsey

Something about this song has been haunting me for the last week, i.e., it's been stuck in my head almost non-stop. I added it to one of my Spotify playlists based on song recommendations that I found on some random website when I searched for "sexy dance music." I'm not sure it really fits the description, but I like it. I've been listening to that particular playlist a lot because Spotify added a shit ton of U2 to my favorite playlist for some reason. I wanted to add one song and Spotify was like "Here! You obviously like U2 so you should have all three of their latest albums on this playlist!" I'm still mad about it, if you couldn't tell. Anyway, I've been listening to a lot of Halsey lately and I'm gradually falling in love with her debut album, "Badlands." Expect more Halsey songs in the future.

"Ghost" has bouncy moments but the general vibe is kind of heartbreaking and wistful. Halsey is longing for something that was lost - someone who seems lost, someone who she feels like she lost. Just so you're up on all the slang the young'uns have been using, "ghosting" is when you're dating a person and they just disappear on you instead of saying they'd rather not anymore. It's a cowardly thing to do, really. It doesn't seem like the guy in the song actually "ghosted" Halsey, because he floats in and out of her life when he wants. Which, obviously, tears her up inside but she lets him, because at least it's something. I suppose that's why he says that he's no good for her (he's right....he's a fucking asshole) - so maybe he cares for her a little bit if he realizes that what he does hurts her. But she's always "tugging at his sleeve," meaning she's always trying to get his attention (and he's giving it to her). He's also a ghost because, at least from Halsey's perspective, he's changed dramatically since she's known him. Maybe that's it. He's not the same person, but she still loves him and that's what haunts her.

I don't like them innocent

I don't want no face fresh

Want them wearing leather

Begging, let me be your taste test

I like the sad eyes, bad guys

Mouth full of white lies

Kiss me in the corridor

But quick to tell me goodbye

You say that you're no good for me

'Cause I'm always tugging at your sleeve

And I swear I hate you when you leave

I like it anyway

At least in my interpretation of the song (which could be wrong but lines up with the discussion boards), he's sleeping around a lot and, to deal with it, Halsey turns to various "Mr. Wrongs" as well. To some extent, she's being even worse, because she's telling whoever she's sleeping with that she loves them, even though she has no intention to stay with them. I think she's hoping to find whatever feelings she has for her "ghost" with these other guys. But, as she repeats, she's "searching for something [she] can't reach."

The video shows Halsey in Japan, having a fun weekend with a pretty Japanese girl. Halsey is very open about her bisexuality, so even though the song hints that she's yearning for a guy, the video depicts the object of her affection as this girl. After their fling ends and she sends the girl off in a cab, Halsey just wanders around Tokyo, looking sad, wishing the girl was still there. Just from an analytical point of view, that's the whole video - the sexy parts are her memories. All those beautiful moments just exist in her head now and she's wishing it was still happening. The translation of the Japanese at the beginning of the video is as follows - "Looking back to the past with her, she may have disappeared. It may have disappeared. Perhaps it did not even exist."

"Ghost" Video