Not many musicians can take a small part they sang in a song, turn it into an entire song, and still do a mighty fine job with it. You probably might remember when Rihanna famously did it with Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie.”
Well, as it turns out, Halsey was not able to say all that needs to be said about the lover who expertly promises that they’re capable of loving you the right way, only for you to discover that they’re just full of beautiful words and only beautiful words.
When Halsey shared the news that they would be releasing a version of “Die 4 Me” that’s supposed to be a fuller version of their cut on Post Malone’s 2019 single “Die For Me,” fans were thrilled, but I doubt anyone was expecting a masterpiece.
The original song was already packed full of emotionally charged, and often angry, lines like “Remember when you got my ass arrested (wow) / At least when I was in jail, I got some rest in,” and “Got a bad girl, I was treating her too nice,” you’d rarely imagine Halsey could top that. But uh… when are we planning to give Halsey the glory they deserve by giving a new life to a song that’s four years old couldn’t have been easy.
But if someone could manage to do that, it’s the “Without Me” and “So Good” hitmaker. Screeching her way through some of the lyrics, we hear her sing about the pain an unfaithful relationship can cause. “I hope you think about me every time you touch it / I hope your new girl hears it and she loves it / Devil’s front door and I’m bangin’ on the line / If I said I want an answer, I’d be lyin’, I’d be lyin’, yeah / They say what the devil can’t do / He’s gonna send a woman to / You seek to hide, you’re dead inside, won’t see me cry,” Halsey sings in the first verse.
As if they’re clueing us into the change they’ve been through since the original song dropped, they sing, “I sold forty million copies of our break-up note” – a notable increase from the “fifteen million copies” line from the original version.
Of course, the famous “break-up note” that simply cannot be ignored is Halsey’s 2018 single “Without Me,” which many, arguably, will say is their breakout single.
Last week, Halsey teased “Die 4 Me” on social media, writing: “It’s been long known in my fanbase that there’s a demo of ‘Die For Me’ with just me on it. I performed my verse on the tour all summer long and since so many people have asked for it, I decided to put my full version out as ‘Die 4 Me’…Big big thanks to @postmalone @louisbell and @future for having me on the original release and co-signing this version finally seeing daylight.” To accompany the track, she released a visualizer.
While this extended version of “Die For Me” does away with much of the anger, Halsey still kept the line that promised consequences for one’s actions: “Brought some strangers in our bed, so now you’ve lost your right to privacy.” Boom! That’s twice the burn.