Romeo and Juliet

Heaven in Hiding by. Halsey

Music, A Review by Christopher McArdle Poetry

Hello, and welcome to Wednesdays edition of my music blog. In today's blog I will be covering a track off of Halsey's June 2nd album "Hopeless Fountain Kingdom". The track is titled "Heaven in Hiding". The album is her second album, coming two years after her debut album "Badlands". Having recently encountered her work earlier this year (After hearing her on the track "Closer", yes, that track), I can say that I am going to be a fan for some time to come. Her music is solid, she brings personal experience into her writing, also bringing in real world topics. Such as the one discussed in this song. Which one is that? Keep reading to find out. So let's break it down and discover the theme of the song through it's lyrics, instrumentals, and overall composition.

Verse One

Starting right odd the bat we get a modern telling of Romeo and Juliet's party scene. A scene where the two star-crossed lovers encounter each other in "Love at First Sight". And also we get or first inkling of a theme being a sexual encounter between the two main protagonist that the narrator is setting up. In the scene is also Tybalt coming across the two and immediately wants to fight Romeo. But the fight that is later portrayed in the verse is more of a metaphorical one, referring to the two protagonist's sexually charged interaction.

"Sitting' on the counter in your kitchen

Can you hear my heartbeat f****** kickin'?

Your eyes light up 'cause you best believe that I got something up my sleeve

I walk my talk, no time for wishful thinking

I push up on my toes, you call me "sweet thing"

And breathing down your neck, your body screaming

And you thought that you were the boss tonight, but I can put up one good fight

I flip the script like I can take a beating"

“If you talk the talk, you’d better walk the walk” is an idiom meaning you have to back up your claims with actions—Solis the male partner of the protagonist's, doesn’t just say he’ll take control, he gets physical and asserts his dominance. But “flip the script” means to reverse expectations, and Solis being willing to “take a beating” in this context means he’s not afraid to take a submissive role either.

Verse Two

This is a rather short verse, compared to the first verse. But it continues with the drive of a Romeo and Juliet style forbidden love. Only with a flipped script. Usually in modern culture, especially the pornography world. There we tend to see the females in a more submissive role. But in this song we see the script flipped and the female has taken on a more dominant role. The narrator taking on a more empowered persona, owning herself and using it to her advantage.

"Sitting on the concrete in your basement

But I don't have no time for conversation

Said, "This ain't what you usually do, and a girl like me is new for you"

And I can tell you mean it 'cause you're shaking"

Here we see the continued part of the forbidden love/female empowerment. Also there is this annotation that was made on the website genius.com. "They’re so attracted to each other and know that their time together is limited due to their relationship being forbidden, so would rather not spend their time talking". So in short this was a small but powerful last verse in the line before the second iteration of the chorus. Speaking of which...

The Choruses/Outro

The chorus begins with a dialogue between the male protagonist and the female one. He is nervous around her because of her physical assertiveness. But their love, as forbidden as it may be, is starting to strengthen. A blissful love that resembles heaven in the narrator's mind, mirrored in the lines "heaven in hiding". The line also being a reference to the fact that their relationship is forbidden and they have to keep it hidden in order to stay together. But there is sense of helplessness when you start to fall for someone whom you feel a chemistry with. It is too much to the point where you give in to the familiar attraction cause it is too hard to control your desire. And as the song draws to a close we hear more of the female empowerment in the line "'Cause I'm Heaven in hiding". A complete personification of the narrator/female protagonist being an in charge figure as well as their relationship being a euphoric one.

In Conclusion

To bring this blog to a close I have to say well done to Halsey and her team. Not just ion the writing of this track. But in the whole album itself. The team that works on her instrumentals has their work down solid. Putting up a stellar backdrop for her stories in every song. And again I can say that I am going to be a fan of hers for quite some time to come in the future. Thanks for reading this blog. Be sure to check out the vlog of this on YouTube linked below. I have decided to try out a podcast style instead of a face cam vlog so be sure to let me know what you think, and which one is better. Also check out all my social media links below as well as my tour announcement video. 

Links and Stuff

Video: https://youtu.be/UONY7A0URF4

Tour Vid:  https://youtu.be/-_dDAJ-ie6E

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