Halsey’s "Ego" Lyrics, Explained

Halsey is living up to the title of The Great Impersonator on her reflective new single “Ego,” a pop-punk confessional about the inner struggles she’s kept hidden for so long.

“Ego” continues the tone of previous singles “The End” and “Lucky,” detailing how Halsey hid her lupus and rare T-cell disorder from the public for two years. The song’s intro focuses on how sick the singer and actor feels on a day-to-day basis: “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.”

At the end of the bridge, Halsey reflects on how they disguised their illness: “Who am I kidding? / I'm doing way worse than I'm admitting.”

But her health isn’t the only thing Halsey is grappling with on the revealing song. The singer also expresses their discomfort with fame, admitting that they worry that everything they’ve worked for could be taken away in an instant if they don’t put on the happy face.

Still a little kid that can't make friends / Wanna be invited, but I won't attend / I've been having bad dreams my career could end / 'Cause I slip up when I should've played pretend.

As illustrated in the Mr. & Mrs. Smith-coded music video, the crux of the song is Halsey’s internal battle with herself. “I think that I should try to kill my ego / 'Cause if I don't, my ego might kill me.”

The song ends with a somber admission: “I’m really not that happy being me.” That depressing mantra seems to tease what’s at the heart of The Great Impersonator, as the album title alludes to the masks we wear to hide our pain. The album will be released Oct. 25.