Manic Analysis- "Ashley"

Came straight from YouTube after watching the reaction and breakdown of “Ashley”❤️❤️

Nikki S

Thank you so much for sharing this! This 100% makes so much sense and adds another very nuanced layer of meaning!

English Teacher KP

I am so glad you enjoyed it! I am doing well, and I hope things are going great your way also ❤❤❤

English Teacher KP

Amazing breakdown! I am amazed on how you picked up on the story so easily after one listen. I personally do think it is about the Halsey/Ashley duality and it’s almost like a letter to her fans. I am so excited to see your thoughts on the other songs! There’s one in particular that I have not been able to decipher but it has a lot of references to her book, “I Would Leave Me If I Could”. Hope everything is going great!

I couldn’t not join on patreon for Halsey content, especially when it’s this album. In their song “Control” from the album Badlands, she says “I’m bigger than my body/I’m colder than this home/I’m meaner than my demons/I’m bigger than these bones.” To me, “Ashley” harkens back to this description of what it feels like to be manic (which I heavily relate to, being that I have bipolar disorder like she does). Halsey said in their interview with Zane Lowe that this album, while not meant to be an album about mental health, provoked them to sit down and reckon with the negative view society and media take towards mania, and instead they realized that even though there are definite downsides, mania also brings out the loving, passionate, purely emotional side of them, which they realized are their favorite parts of themself. She said after having that realization, “I learned I could forgive her” (“her” being her manic self, and I cried when she said that cuz I have definitely hated my manic self, too). So to me this song has a double meaning of the duality of Ashley/Halsey you talked about as well as the push-pull of manic/euthymic/depressed/mixed that is part of life with bipolar.

I'm so glad you enjoyed this video! I agree with you about the push and pull! Yes, the "seem"/seam pun was EVERYTHING! Also, that is VERY cool that you have a signed album, and how interesting that she signed it "Ashley"!

English Teacher KP

I love your thoughts! And I loved watching you piece it together slowly over the course of the song. I've listened to this album so many times that I forgot those first few confusing hours right after hearing it lol. I think this is about the duality between Halsey/Ashley and how the persona she created around herself has become limiting, to the point they're "bursting out of myself/seams." (Side note, I knew you'd love that play on words!) And it's the idea that people rely on Halsey, and what happens if Ashley wants to step back in and live their life? What if she can no longer fulfill the needs of her audience? Also, I have a signed version of this album where she signed "Ashley" instead of "Halsey!" The push-pull between the two parts of herself will feature heavily throughout the rest of the album.

I also like the usage of "dust" versus ashes. Dust here seems much more appropriate because it avoids giving off Phoenix vibes (which would be entirely too positive here, I think). And I also thought of "Mirrorball when I went back and listened to the song after this video! Great minds...😉😉😉

English Teacher KP

Omg! I'm so glad you enjoyed this video! I really like the theory you presented here about Halsey/Ashley! I don't think it's confusing at all! It makes a lot of sense, but it is terribly heartbreaking! That must be so much pressure for Ashley 😭😭😭

English Teacher KP

"Confessional poetry" is a great way to characterize this! I absolutely love it!

English Teacher KP

Experiences like that would absolutely make me think twice about sharing anything with the world. That is utterly terrifying, and I hate that she had to endure that! They have obviously been through a lot, and it all comes through in this song in the most beautiful, poetic and heartbreaking way!

English Teacher KP

You are so welcome! Thank YOU for being here! I'm very excited for the rest of the album!

English Teacher KP

I really liked it!

English Teacher KP

One of my favorite songs and favorite albums!! As always, I loved your analysis of it and seeing your reaction to the song! It’s so fun seeing you react to my favorite lyrics and getting your thoughts on them ❤️ So happy to see you analyze the rest of the album! It’s my favorite from Halsey

Thank you so so much for this analysis!! This was incredible and I can't wait to continue listening and learning with you through this album 🤍🤍

Kimberly Cook

This is probably my favorite Halsey album. So glad you’re doing it! I love the emotion Halsey conveys with their voice from the intimate, reflective verses to the desperate, almost fearful chorus. I think the song really hits on the idea of giving so much of yourself to the world that you have nothing left for yourself or the ones you love. I think the singular person referenced at some points in the song does refer to some sort of significant other who Halsey is constantly leaving to “clean up the dust” (side note: love the unconventional diction of “dust” versus “ashes”). But Halsey is really honest in this song about how unsustainable that is. I love the quote at the end too (although I’ve never seen that movie… even though I’m the same age as Halsey). It puts a new perspective on the theme of the song by playing with the idea of a woman being treated as an object of a man’s self-actualization (which happens all the time in movies). And that connects with the idea of a musician becoming almost an object of an audience’s catharsis. This song really reminds me of “mirrorball” off Folklore. It has a similar theme of giving so much of yourself to be what the audience needs.

Sav Miller

This is one of my favorite analysis videos from you, I think you did an amazing job dissecting this song (as the writing can swallow you up and make it difficult to comprehend), especially without a PLETHORA of background on Halsey’s past albums which were mostly conceptual facades that played into the “Halsey” persona. One theory I have is that the speaker of the song is “Halsey” and the subject of the song is “Ashley,” I hope that’s not confusing. But essentially I feel like “Halsey” was the idea that was created at the beginning of their interest in pursuing music as a career, but that persona is pushing Ashley aside. And with fame comes public scrutiny, heartbreak, and other mental and emotional challenges that are public (like tabloids or rumors) — but “Halsey” the stage character doesn’t have to deal with those problems, Ashley the human being with emotions at home in the mirror does. So some of the lines like “I’ll spill my guts, and leave you to clean them up” are “Halsey” telling “Ashley” that she’s going to keep putting on a show for the public until she can’t anymore, and Ashley will have to clean up the dust/mess/ashes that are left behind. Let me know if that theory makes sense to you lol!

Edward Ramirez

I love the honesty in this song, it's really just confessional poetry about how it feels to have so many people looking up to you. When fans of an artist tell them that artist is their reason for staying alive and similar comments, that must weigh on the artist themself, thinking that if they were to go away, all these other people might as well. Halsey knows they've chosen to become "Halsey" and live in the public eye like this, but it's also slowly and insidiously becoming too much for them to handle. But they have to do it anyway, because there's no backing out now. It's a very powerful sentiment.

I’m glad you noticed the significance of the title even though you don’t even know her previous work! this is actually the first project she released that wasn’t a concept album/EP, so no hiding behind grandiose metaphors or ambiguous ideas it’s all very literal - she’s calling herself by her real name. Sonically this song is inspired by a lot of the emo music they listened to in their youth so also something that very close and personal to them :-) Halsey has always been super honest in her music and this song is kind of about her wondering how much longer she’ll be able to keep that level of authenticity up with her mental health etc. so you were completely right with your interpretation. They have been in a public relationship that was abusive (which a lot of this album is about) that people had a lot of things to say about and they have publicly talked about their miscarriage, after which people in the crowd of a gig they were playing at brought bloody baby dolls with them and held them up during their set. Also hacking their whatsapp and sending gory pictures of fetus parts to them etc.. i’m sure experiences like that will make you think twice about what you want to share with the world looking forward.. Especially after gaining so much fame in recent years and the recipients of her art not just being her fans anymore.

j

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing a little bit of context for me! And I need to re-watch that movie! It's so interesting that Halsey connected so much with the character of Clementine!

English Teacher KP

I definitely picked up on how personal the lyrics are to Halsey. I agree with you that their music is super poetic and beautiful! I'm really excited to listen to the rest of the album!

English Teacher KP

So, this album's tagline is, "An Album made by Ashley for Halsey". The entire thing (like Sour and Melodrama) is autobiographical, in interviews, they explained they felt as if growing up, there were a lot of internal issues they pushed to the side in order to be "Halsey". Now, they wanted to fully address who they were, and how they felt dealing with these heavier topics. A lot of the songs on this album are more straight forward but I absolutely LOVED this video, it is so impressive seeing you expertly dissect such an abstract song on one listen <3 Oh! And Kate Winslet's character is called Clemintine, the title of the next song in direct reference to her and how Ashley growing up sort of idolized being the manic pixie dream girl

Camila Dejesus

Halsey has said before that this whole album is very autobiographical for them, she has bipolar disorder and a lot of this album was inspired by a very messy public breakup which took a big toll on her mental health. For me, this song has always been about the dichotomy of Ashley versus Halsey and who they are versus how they’re perceived, but also the pressures of going through those very strong emotions very publicly while also feeling responsible for the well-being of their fans and almost prioritizing that over her own mental health. Most of this album reads like a diary, so it’s really personal but it is VERY poetic, so I’m so excited to progress through the album and see your thoughts!! Loved the video, can’t wait for the rest of them 😁