Halsey Rages Against Self on “Ego”

Halsey describes The Great Impersonator as a record made “in the space between life and death.” It follows her (Halsey uses she/they pronouns) 2021 album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power.

On “Ego,” the singer rages against self over an upbeat pop-punk track.

Faking Smiles

The opening verse follows a fatigued Halsey faking smiles and drinking the pain away. It’s the daily ritual that normalizes how one has locked themselves inside a self-made emotional prison.

I’m caught up in the everyday trend
Tied up by invisible thread
Walking down a razor-thin edge
And I wake up tired, think I’m better off dead
Been a few months since I crossed over state lines
Talk to my mom, fake smiles over FaceTime
Drink all night till I can’t walk a straight line
Feel so low but I’m high at the same time

The chorus arrives with the sound of a Vans Warped Tour, and Halsey realizes the ego must go. Consciousness makes one sense of something steering the ship through life—the internal observer. The ego places importance on the self in life’s everyday plot. So it won’t be enough for Halsey to kill her ego. Something will have to replace it.

I think that I should try to kill my ego
’Cause if I don’t, my ego might kill me

The taut production layers Halsey’s voice, echoing The Cranberries’ late vocalist Dolores O’Riordan. Using a driving bass line and jangly chords, “Ego” finds its architecture in the Irish band’s post-punk ethereal hits.

In statements about the new album, Halsey has mentioned a range of influences for The Great Impersonator. So when the chorus drops, the ’90s merge into early 2000s Avril Lavigne territory.

Inner Assassin

Halsey directed the internal battle in a music video borrowing from the 2005 film Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Two versions of Halsey appear on screen: One with long red hair, wearing a black dress, and the other, with short hair, wearing a tuxedo.

A three-minute clip ensues where the two Halsey’s attempt to kill each other. It’s not entirely clear which one is good or bad, which fits the messiness of life’s complexities.

An ego is a necessary evil for things like confidence. It’s tough to be a pop star without one, though the self can take control as it gains self-assurance. However, Halsey has had enough, and the bloody struggle ends with long-haired Halsey in the back seat of a car, choking short-haired Halsey in the front seat. The tuxedoed version had climbed into the car thinking the conflict ended. But these things metastasize, which is probably what led Halsey to write the song in the first place.

Nothing as It Seems

Dealing with lupus and a T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder shaped Halsey’s writing. In a promotional video for the new album, she said, “I really thought this album might be the last one I ever made.”

A revealing line concludes the bridge in “Ego”: I’m doing way worse than I’m admitting. It’s the struggle to balance the person presented publicly with a private individual fighting to be healthy.

Though the clash with ego goes on, the point of the hopeful anthem is that Halsey is a fighter.

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Photo by Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images for MTV