How Halsey Faces Death on Their Ambitious New Album The Great Impersonator

• Halsey’s new album The Great Impersonator, which was released on Friday, Oct. 25, is a meditation on mortality
• The topic is a prominent force throughout the 18-track record
• Here, we dive into how Halsey confronts their own mortality in the lyrics of the LP

Three years since their defiant statement album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, Halsey has returned with The Great Impersonator, their most ambitious — and vulnerable — effort yet.

Her latest album, which was released on Friday, Oct. 25, is an 18-track foray into the dichotomy between celebrity and human and her quest for survival as she battles chronic illness (she revealed earlier this year that she was diagnosed with Lupus SLE and a rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder in 2022) and the possibility of death. It’s an album that pairs Halsey’s penchant for sinister humor with candid moments of self-preservation, reflection on aging parents and finding love amid ailment.

In the lead-up to the release, Halsey, 30, impersonated the artists who inspired the tacks for the album — everyone from Stevie Nicks to Dolly Parton to Bruce Springsteen and Kate Bush. The Great Impersonator is Halsey’s most somber effort and also their most sprawling. She plays with genre (pop-punk, experimental, hard rock, classic rock, ’90s R&B) and time in a way that reminds listeners why she’s a pop innovator at the top of her game.

Below, we dive into how Halsey confronts their own mortality in the lyrics of the album.

“The Only Living Girl in LA”

Album opener “The Only Living Girl in LA” is a wistful ballad that showcases Halsey’s dark sense of humor, but also unearths the pitfalls of fame that she’s grappling with as her priorities have shifted when it comes to her health. “I wonder if I ever left behind my body (Ooh) / Do you think they’d laugh at how I die? Or take a photo of my family in the lobby / The ceremony’s small inside /’Cause I don’t know if I could sell out my own funeral (Ah-ah) / At least, not at this point in time,” they wonder.

“Ego”

On the ’90s grunge-meets-pop-punk single “Ego,” Halsey struggles with their public and private personas. The pop star essentially worries that if she doesn’t keep her mental and physical health in check, it will consume her: “Walking down a razor-thin edge / And I wake up tired, think I’m better off dead.”

“Dog Years”

Inspired by PJ Harvey and evoking the throaty vocals of Fiona Apple, the gripping and gritty “Dog Years” showcases Halsey trying to maintain a sense of optimism and control amid their sickness. “You know a mercy kill is what I seek / I didn’t ask to live, but dying’s up to me,” she snarls.

“Letter to God (1974)”

On the first of Halsey’s decades-spanning tapestry of interludes, they recall wishing they were sick when they were a kid so that their parents would pay attention to them. “Please, God, I wanna be sick / I don’t wanna hurt so get it over with quick / Please, God, I wanna be loved,” they warble in a voicemail-like track.

“The End”

On the sparse first offering of The Great Impersonator, Halsey airs their frustrations about the medical system while yearning for someone to love them while they’re sick. “When I met you, I said I would never die / But the joke was always mine ’cause I’m racing against time,” she whisper-sings on the track.

“Letter to God (1983)”

With “Letter to God (1983),” Halsey channels Bruce Springsteen in a gruff plea for salvation as they contemplate if their childhood prayer to be sick has backfired at this stage in their life. “I’m making jokes about the blood tests, and I’m plannin’ my estate / And I don’t wanna blame the child, but I have to speculate / If this could all just be an answer to thosе prayers that came delayеd,” she wonders.

“Hometown”

On the country-tinged “Hometown,” Halsey evokes Dolly Parton as they reminisce about the death of a high school classmate — and how they don’t want to be just a memory: “Like the others from my high school, all those sad suburban ghosts / Trapped in a cross next to a highway, while the rest of us get old.”

“I Never Loved You”

On “I Never Loved You,” Halsey narrates the aftermath of a devastating accident and compares it to the abandonment they experienced during the demise of a toxic relationship: “So now you can take the money, you can get on a plane / To a beautiful island, build a house in my name / You can donate all the money to somebody in pain / And you can rest your head down and not feel any shame.”

“Darwinism”

“Darwinism” is a somber meditation on existentialism and reflects Halsey’s innate fear of dying alone. “What if I’m just cosmic dust? / Put me in a metal box that’s bound to rust /Shoot me into space and leave me to combust / Return to earth and just dissolve into its crust / Well, I was born all by myself It’s not unlikely that I’ll die that way as well,” she sings with a haunting lilt.

“Life of a Spider (Draft)”

In what is one of Halsey’s most harrowing tracks, they use the death of a spider as a metaphor for being trapped in a toxic relationship with someone who can’t handle their illness. “I’m only small, I’m only weak / And you jump at the sight of me / You’ll kill me when I least expect it / God, how could I even think of daring to exist? / Looking just like this, I’m hideous,” she laments.

“Lucky”

In Halsey’s interpolation of Britney Spears’ 2000 classic, they contemplate the paradoxical nature of fame and share the loneliness they’ve experienced as they privately battled being sick. Ultimately, she just wants to be seen. “When I die, I won’t have time to spend my money /
But I hope that you still love me,” Halsey sings with velvety vocals.

“Letter to God (1998)”

On the sparkly final act of the “letter” tapestry, Halsey’s desperate plea for survival becomes an ode to her son, Ender, confronting the sick joke that her childhood wish has come true years later. “Please, God, oh, you’ve gotta be sick / Why do you make it hurt, and why’s it over so quick? / Please, God, I’m finally loved /I finally found somebody I don’t wanna get rid of,” they sing.

“The Great Impersonator”

On the title track and album closer, Halsey’s playful — and dark — sense of humor resurfaces as they contemplate their legacy and how the public will remember them. “Does a story die with its narrator? / Ah-ah / Surely it’s forgotten soon or later / Ah-ah / Hope they spell my name right in the paper?” she quips.