The video for the song Colors is not related to the content of the song, it tells a separate story. But the song deserves as much attention as the video, so I’ll start with it. Those who are only interested in the meaning of the Colors clip can look at the end of the article.
The song Halsey – Colors is dedicated to Matty Healy, the vocalist of The 1975. Matty and Ashley did not officially admit that they were dating, but fans have several photos of the couple together and a post from Ashley’s personal blog describing rather intimate details of their relationship (the blog has now been deleted, but the post itself survived).
The key metaphor of the song is color. The relationship of two people is presented as a mixture of two bright colors, an exchange of colors. Ashley’s color is blue, Matty’s color is red. Halsey sings about how much Matty has influenced her. But when she changed under his influence, she ceased to be interesting to him. The singer put her perception of their relationship and parting into the lyrics of the song Colors.
Line by line analysis of the song Halsey — Colors
Your little brother never tells you but he loves you so // You said your mother only smiled on her TV show show”).
These lines mention Matty Healy’s family. Matty has a younger brother, Louis, to whom he dedicated the song Is There Somebody Who Can Watch You. In this song, Matty admits that he was a bad brother: when his parents divorced Louis, he spent little time at home and did not take enough care of his younger brother. Halsey seems to be comforting Matty with this line – everything is in order, Louis still loves you.
Matty’s mom’s name is Denise Welch and she has been on Loose Women for several years . After Matty was born, she began having panic attacks, which escalated into a long-term depression. According to Denise , she will have to take antidepressants for the rest of her life. That’s why Halsey says that she “only smiled at her show” – ostentatious fun is needed so as not to lose her career. In reality, Matty’s family has gone through many hard days.
Denise Welch is Matta Hyla’s mother
You’re only happy when your sorry head is filled with dope // I hope you’ll make it to the day you’re 28 years old twenty-eight”).
When the song came out, Matty was 26 years old. Halsey refers to the 27 Club, musicians who died at the age of 27, including Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Amy Winehouse and others. In one of the interviews, the singer admitted that she is very afraid when one of her friends turns 27. It is known that Matty Healy was on cocaine, and Halsey hopes that his lifestyle will not bring the musician to the grave.
“Initially, Colors is dedicated to one person, but I think the text concerns many of my acquaintances. I grew up around a lot of people who were on drugs, so I’m not a big fan of the sad girl aesthetic, heroin chic, and the 27 Club. I know it sounds romantic to a lot of people, but I’ve seen my teenage friends die. There’s nothing cool about it.”
— From an interview with Oyster magazine
You’re dripping like a saturated sunrise // You’re spilling like an overflowing sink .
The verbs to drip, to spill are associated with spreading paints. For Ashley, Matty is so filled with bright colors that they overflow, she drowns in the sea of his colors. In these lines, you can see the color scheme: the dawn is pink or reddish, the water in the sink is blue or blue. In the chorus, these colors will repeat again.
Temperatures fluctuate here too: the sun is hot, and the water is cool. This may be a hint at the internal inconsistency of Matty’s character. Compare these lines with excerpts from Ashley’s post about her relationship with Matty: His eyes burn wild with a fire of passion (“In his eyes burning wild fire of passion”), His eyes glimmer like a lake catching the glare of the moonlight (“His eyes twinkle like moonlight on a lake.
A frame from the video Halsey — Colors
You’ re ripped at every edge but you’ re a masterpiece // And now you’ re tearing through the pages and the ink
Everything is quite simple here: Matty seems perfect to the girl, despite his turbulent past, addictions and other shortcomings. To tear through pages is a phraseological unit meaning “to read voraciously”. I think it’s a metaphor for Matty’s irrepressible energy or his passion for Ashley – he seems to be trying to read it faster, like an interesting book.
Everything is blue // His pills, his hands , his jeans // And now I’m covered in the colors // Pull apart at the seams // And it ‘s blue jeans // And I’m all painted in his colors // Tear me at the seams – everything is blue there”).
The blue color in the song means everything related to the singer herself. In the chorus, Halsey makes it clear that not only Matty influenced her, but she also influenced him. She also dyed it her own color.
“Blue is the color of my creativity. It is bright but calm. And airy. In my opinion, this is some kind of unearthly color. The sky is blue, the sea is blue… For me, blue symbolizes uncharted territory.”
— From an interview with Complex magazine
Blue hands are from touching her, exuding blue. Blue jeans – well, nothing out of the ordinary here. Blue pills – what is it? Most likely Xanax, a popular tranquilizer. Usually Xanax tablets are white, but there is also a blue variety, the so-called Blue football Xanax. In addition, Ashley mentions exactly these pills in a post about Matty: He thinks Xanax makes the sex last longer and I do n’t argue (“He thinks Xanax makes sex last longer, and I don’t mind”).
“Tear me at the seams – everything is blue there”: despite external changes, deep inside Halsey remained true to herself, her color.
Everything is gray // His hair, his smoke , his dreams // And now he’s so devoid of color // He do n’t know what it means // And he ‘s blue from his cigarettes, his dreams // And he’s so colorless that he no longer understands what’s what // And he’s blue”).
Halsey explained the meaning of this metaphor in an interview with SiriusXM :
“… You meet someone and see that the person seems to be losing its brightness, discoloring. Because he was a victim of drugs, or his job, or went to the other extreme. And he looks less and less like the bright, lively person he used to be. You see how it turns gray and you wish that its bright colors would return to it. ”
In addition, gray hair means “gray hair”. In a post about Matty, there is a mention of gray hair: A glint of silver is growing up the side of his hairline. He thinks it makes him look distinguished .
You were a vision in the morning when the light came through // I know I ‘ve only felt religion when I ‘ve lied with you with you”).
The first line echoes Ashley’s blog post again: I always wake up first. I sit at the desk and work quietly and glance at him in the sheets. Vulnerable and quiet. soft face. Soft sounds (“I always wake up first. I sit quietly at the table, work and look at how he lies on the bed. Quiet and defenseless. Serene face, gentle rustles”).
In the second line, Halsey draws a parallel between physical passion and religious feeling. This is a fairly common technique: Hozier has a similar comparison in the song Take Me to Church , the meaning of which I also wrote about.
A frame from the video Halsey — Colors
You said you ‘ll never be forgiven ‘ til your boys are too // And I ‘m still waking every morning but it ‘s not with you I still wake up in the morning, but no longer with you.
Your boys are most likely other members of The 1975. It means that they lead the same lifestyle as Matty, so it is impossible to break out of this vicious circle.
In the last line, Ashley expresses seemingly ordinary feelings after the breakup, but it is interesting how she talks about them: “I still wake up in the morning,” as if she could not imagine life without Matty.
You were red, and you liked me because I was blue // But you touched me, and suddenly I was a lilac sky // Then you decided purple just wasn’ t for you — blue // But you touched me and I became a purple sky // And you decided that purple was not your color.
Halsey herself believes that these are the best lines she has ever written – and one of the most personal. She has changed a lot under the influence of Matty, but he did not like this new Ashley – the one he turned her into. These lines are the key to understanding the rest of the lyrics of Colors.
The meaning of the video Halsey — Colors
There are four main characters in the video for the song Colors: the heroine played by Ashley, her boyfriend played by actor Tyler Posey, her mother and her boyfriend’s father.
The families of the characters spend a lot of time together. The heroine’s mother is in love with the young man’s father and has an affair with him. One of the frames shows how she writes on a napkin: “At 8 o’clock at the fountain” and quietly passes it to a man.
A charming adult man is liked not only by the mother of the heroine, but also by the girl herself. She goes everywhere with a Polaroid and stealthily photographs the object of her passion, and at home she pastes the pictures in a blue notebook. She carries a notebook with her and often admires the photographs.
At the end of the video, the secret ceases to be a secret. First, the girl confesses to her friends – they are amused by her falling in love with an adult man. Then her boyfriend finds out about everything. The girl’s lock from the locker with things jams. She pulls on the door and, with a sudden movement, drops the notebook tucked under her arm. Pictures are scattered on the floor exactly at the second when Tyler Posey’s character is next to him. The guy wants to collect photos, but he sees his father on one of them, understands everything and leaves in horror.
As you can see, the plot of the video is completely unrelated to the lyrics of the song, although some viewers joked in the comments to the YouTube video: they say that the appearance of a mature man in the video perfectly explains the chorus lines about gray hair (“gray hair”) and blue pills (“blue pills ”). “- Viagra).
Halsey by Colors Lyrics
(Halsey):
Your little brother never tells you but he loves you so
You said your mother only smiled on her TV show
You’re only happy when your sorry head is filled with d*pe
I’ll hope you make it to the day you’re 28 years old
(Halsey):
You’re drippin’ like a saturated sunrise
You’re spilling like an overflowin’ sink
You’re ripped at every edge but you’re a masterpiece
And now you’re tearin’ through the pages and the ink
(Halsey):
Everything is blue
His pills, his hands, his jeans
And now I’m covered in the colors
Pull apart at the seams
And it’s blue
And it’s blue
(Halsey):
Everything is grey
His hair, his smoke, his dreams
And now he’s so devoid of color
He don’t know what it means
And he’s blue
And he’s blue
(Halsey):
You were a vision in the morning when the light came through
I know I’ve only felt religion when I’ve lied with you
He said, “You’ll never be forgiven ’til your boys are too”
And I’m still waking every morning but it’s not with you
(Halsey):
You’re drippin’ like a saturated sunrise
You’re spilling like an overflowin’ sink
You’re ripped at every edge but you’re a masterpiece
And now you’re tearin’ through the pages and the ink
(Halsey):
Everything is blue
His pills, his hands, his jeans
And now I’m covered in the colors
Pull apart at the seams
And it’s blue
And it’s blue
(Halsey):
Everything is grey
His hair, his smoke, his dreams
And now he’s so devoid of color
He don’t know what it means
And he’s blue
And he’s blue
(Halsey):
You were red, and you liked me because I was blue
But you touched me, and suddenly I was a lilac sky
Then you decided purple just wasn’t for you
(Halsey):
Everything is blue
His pills, his hands, his jeans
And now I’m covered in the colors
Pull apart at the seams
And it’s blue
And it’s blue
(Halsey):
Everything is grey
His hair, his smoke, his dreams
And now he’s so devoid of color
He don’t know what it means
And he’s blue
And he’s blue
(Halsey):
Everything is blue
Everything is blue
Everything is blue
Everything is blue
Lyrics Halsey by Colors Alternate
(Halsey):
Your little brother never tells you, but he loves you very much
You say your mother only smiles when she’s watching her favorite show
You’re only happy in those moments when your miserable head is filled with a dose
I hope you can live to be 28
(Halsey):
You’re spreading out like a color-saturated dawn.
You spill over the edge like an overflowing sink
There’s not a living thing on you, but you’re a masterpiece.
And now I’m bursting through pages and ink
(Halsey):
It’s all blue.
His pills, his hands, his jeans.
And now I’m covered in colors myself.
Torn at the seams
And everything’s blue
And all blue
(Halsey):
All gray.
His hair, the smoke from his cigarette, his dreams.
And now he’s devoid of color.
He doesn’t know what it means
And he’s sad
And he’s sad
(Halsey):
You were so beautiful in the morning when the sunlight came into the room
I know I felt something religious when I lay with you
You said you’d never be forgiven while your boys were sinning too
And I still wake up every morning, but not with you.
(Halsey):
You’re spreading like a saturated color of dawn.
You spill over the edge like an overflowing sink
There’s not a living thing on you, but you’re a masterpiece.
And now I’m bursting through pages and ink
(Halsey):
It’s all blue.
His pills, his hands, his jeans.
And now I’m covered in colors myself.
Torn at the seams
And everything’s blue
And all blue
(Halsey):
All gray.
His hair, the smoke from his cigarette, his dreams.
And now he’s devoid of color.
He doesn’t know what it means
And he’s sad
And he’s sad
(Halsey):
You were blazing red, and you liked me because my color was blue
But you touched me, and suddenly I turned into purple sky.
And then you decided purple wasn’t your color.
(Halsey):
Everything is blue.
His pills, his arms, his jeans.
And now I’m covered in colors myself.
Torn at the seams
And everything’s blue
And all blue
(Halsey):
All gray.
His hair, the smoke from his cigarette, his dreams.
And now he’s devoid of color.
He doesn’t know what it means
And he’s sad
And he’s sad
(Halsey):
All blue
All blue
All blue
All blue
