Meaning of “Gasoline” by Halsey

“Gasoline” is amongst the most-profound of Halsey’s tracks. It deals with the issue of a mental condition she has, bipolar disorder, in relation to her success in the music industry. The verses are mostly dedicated to her questioning whether the listener is “deranged like” her. However, she also uses them to point out some of the realities of being a recognizable face. The choruses expound on this idea, as they point out she is “part of a machine”. And the result is she is no longer “a human being”. As such, even though she has deep personal issues, there does not appear to be time or even interest in resolving them.

And since she has low self-esteem, she can’t rely on her own self-worth to carry her through. Thus her works are instead being fueled by “gasoline”. And whereas it’s never pointed out exactly what this “gasoline” is, it seems to be exact same thing that is powering the “machine” and the robotic people it produces.

Quick Facts about “Gasoline”

• “Gasoline” was released on 28 August 2015. It is featured on the deluxe edition of Halsey’s first studio album entitled Badlands.
• This track was not featured on the first edition of Badlands since Halsey didn’t finish it on time for the album’s release.
• Halsey co-wrote “Gasoline” with Norwegian record producer and songwriter Peder Losnegård. Losnegård is best known in the music industry as Lido.
• Aside helping Halsey in writing this song, Lido also produced it.
• This tune went on to become one of the most prominent songs from Badlands. It garnered over a 100 million streams on Spotify.
• Via Twitter, Halsey named “Gasoline” amongst her “top 10” songs (in relation to lyrics).
• This track was so successful that it was certified platinum in the United States. It sold at least one million copies there. It was also certified gold in Australia, meaning it sold at least 35,000 copies there.
• The song best fits into the electropop genre.

Does “Gasoline” make use of samples?

Yes, it does. This song uses a sample from another Halsey song entitled “Hurricane”.