Halsey’s Badlands + Book Characters

I am (still) completely obsessed with Badlands! Halsey’s lyrics are beautiful and filled with emotion and I am actually in awe for them. I can really relate to most of her songs! And I’ve also realized I can relate every song from the album to a book character/couple! So I’ve decided to show you what lyrics from Badlands remind me of some of my favourite fictional characters and OTPs ♡
This will contain spoilers so if you don’t recognize the name of the characters next to the song title or if you haven’t finished the Throne of Glass series, you probably shouldn’t read what I have to say about them. I’ll be mentioning Red Queen, the Throne of Glass series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, the Sweet trilogy, The Wrath and the Dawn, the Lux series, Beautiful Disaster, The Mortal Instruments, the Hush, Hush saga, The Infernal Devices, the Mara Dyer trilogy and The Murder Complex.

“Castle” + Mare Barrow; Aelin Galathynius

“Sick of all these people talking, sick of all this noise
Tired of all these cameras flashing, sick of being poised
(…)
I’m headed straight for the castle
They’ve got the kingdom locked up
And there’s an old man sitting on the throne that’s
Saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut”

Mare Barrow from Red Queen is abruptly pushed into the Silver Court. The King tells her she has to hide the fact that she is a Red with Silver powers, making up a story about how she was orphaned as a baby and a Red family took care of her, but now she is finally where she ‘belongs’ among the Silvers. Everyone is intrigued by this and constantly whisper about her.

••••

“I’m headed straight for the castle
They wanna make me their queen
And there’s an old man sitting on the throne that’s
Saying that I probably shouldn’t be so mean
I’m headed straight for the castle
They’ve got the kingdom locked up
And there’s an old man sitting on the throne that’s
Saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut
Straight for the castle”

Aelin Galathynius from the Throne of Glass series is the rightful Queen of Terrasen but the King of Adarlan has taken over her kingdom.Because of the King’s cruel rule, the people of Terrasen live in hope that their Queen is alive and that she will come back to take her rightful place in the throne, so the King tries to kill her. Honestly, this whole song reminds me of Aelin.

“Hold me down” + Feyre and Rhysand

“I sold my soul to a three-piece
And he told me I was holy
He’s got me down on both knees
But it’s the devil that’s tryna

Hold me down, hold me down
Sneaking out the back door, make no sound
Knock me out, knock me out
Saying that I want more, this is what I live for”

Feyre from A Court of Thorns and Roses strikes a deal with Rhysand in order to save her life. He heals her wounds, but she’ll have to go with him to the Night Court for two weeks every month. She kinda strikes a bargain with the Devil, even though I don’t believe Rhysand is evil, I like him.

“New americana” + Celaena Sardothien

“We know very well who we are,
so we hold it down when summer starts”

First Celaena pretends her name is Lillian Gordaina for the King’s champion competition. And later on in the books we find out she’s actually Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, pretending to be Celaena Sardothien. This girl has a lot of identities!

“Drive” + Kaidan and Anna; Khalid and Shahrzad

“All we do is drive
All we do is think about the feelings that we hide
All we do is sit in silence waiting for a sign
Sick and full of pride
All we do is drive”

When Kaidan and Anna from Sweet Evil go on a roadtrip to meet Anna’s dad, they begin to fall in love and even though Anna let’s Kai know of her feelings, he hides his in an attempt to protect the both of them from the Dukes. Honestly Kaidan tries to hide his feelings for one and a half books. It was very frustrating, but definitely worth the wait ; )

••••

“Your laugh, echoes down the hallway
Carves into my hollow chest, spreads over the emptiness
It’s bliss
It’s so simple but we can’t stay
Over analyze again, would it really kill you if we kissed”

This really reminds me of Khalid and Shahrzad from The Wrath and the Dawn. I think the first three lines describe what Khalid must have felt when he went to apologize to Shahrzad in the Grand Portico after ignoring her in the hallway because he was hurt by what she did to him the past night. Before he met Shahrzad, Khalid felt hollow inside, he felt like a monster. He loves Shazi’s laugh, he tells her she has a beautiful laugh, “like the promise of tomorrow”. The last two lines were pretty much what I kept thinking internally like can you just kiss already?! Shahrzad kept trying to run away from her feelings for Khalid but in the end she gave up and I’m really glad she did ; )

“Hurricane” + Shahrzad and Khalid; Manon Blackbeak

“I let him climb inside my body
And held him captive in my kiss”

Again, this reminds me of Khalid and Shahrzad. Despina did say Shahrzad was the only bride Khalid sought at night.

••••

“I’m a wanderess
I’m a one night stand
Don’t belong to no city
Don’t belong to no man
I’m the violence in the pouring rain
I’m a hurricane”

This screams Manon! I love her, she kicks some serious ass with her iron claws and teeth haha!

“Roman holiday” + Kaidan and Anna

“And the timing’s never right
But for now let’s get away
On a Roman holiday

Feet first, don’t fall
Or we’ll be running again
Keep close, stand tall”

Kaidan and Anna have to hide their feelings from the Dukes, which isn’t easy because there are whisperers who report back to them everywhere. One wrong move and they’re dead. But in Sweet Peril while the Dukes and whisperers are away in a convention, plotting the destruction of human souls, they manage to have a couple of days all to themselves, before they have to plunge back to reality.

“Ghost” + Katy and Daemon; Kaidan Rowe; Travis Maddox

“I like the sad eyes, bad guys
Mouth full of white lies
Kiss me in the corridor
But quick to tell me goodbye

You say that you’re no good for me
‘Cause I’m always tugging at your sleeve
And I swear I hate you when you leave
I like it anyway”

In Obsidian, Daemon hides his feelings and tries to drive Katy away in order to protect her and his family. He kisses her and makes it look like he cares but then pushes her away and acts like he couldn’t care less about her. He’s a jerk to Katy and she says she hates him, but in reality she’s falling hard for him.

••••

“My ghost
Where’d you go?
I can’t find you in the body sleeping next to me
My ghost
Where’d you go?
What happened to the soul that you used to be”

Now these lyrics remind me of Opposition, when Daemon is being influenced by the other Luxen. Katy can’t recognize him anymore.

••••

“You’re a Rolling Stone boy
Never sleep alone boy
Got a million numbers
And they’re filling up your phone, boy”

This reminds me of both Kaidan Rowe from the Sweet trilogy and Travis Maddox from Beautiful Disaster. They’re both players. Travis is said to have slept with every girl in Campus and Kaidan is the son of the Duke of Lust so he’s job is to make girls sin by having sex with him.

“Strange love” + Alec and Magnus; Nora and Patch; Abby and Travis

“They think I’m insane
They think my lover is strange
But I don’t have to fucking tell them anything“

Many disapprove of Alec and Magnus’ relationship, mainly because Magnus is a Warlock, a Downworlder. He’s also very eccentric and of course there’s the fact that it’s a gay relationship. But Alec doesn’t care what other people think about them because he truly loves Magnus.

This also reminds me of Patch and Nora from the Hush, Hush saga. Vee and Nora’s mom both think that Patch is strange and tell Nora he’s a bad influence for her but she doesn’t pay them any attention because she knows the real Patch. I mean, he was her guardian angel, it’s not like he could let any harm come to her.

••••

“Everybody’s waiting up
To hear if I dare speak your name
Or put it deep beneath the track
Like the hole you left in me
And everybody wants to know
About how it felt to hear you scream
They know you walk like you’re a god
They can’t believe I made you weak”

When word gets out that Travis and Abby are in a relationship, everyone is waiting to see how long it will be before Travis dumps her. He’s been with every girl on Campus but he has never dated any so this comes as a surprise. They don’t know how Abby could tame Travis.

“Coming down” + Will and Tessa

“Now we’re lost somewhere in outer space
In a hotel room where demons play
They run around beneath our feet
We roll around beneath these sheets”

This song perfectly relates to Will and Tessa from The Infernal Devices! In Clockwork Princess Will and Tessa are being held captive by Mortmain. He has plans to use Tessa in his evil plans, as well as her body, and she would sooner die than let that happen. Will knows he’ll be dead by morning and they’re both stricken with grief because they believe Jem to be dead, so they take comfort in one another and make love for the first time.

“Haunting” + Anna Whitt, Mare and Cal; Mara and Noah

“I was as pure as a river
But now I think I’m possessed
You put a fever inside me
And I’ve been cold since you left”

In Sweet Evil Anna was really pure but once she met Kaidan she was introduced to the world of demons and forced to tempt souls for them. He made her feel things she had never felt before and then he left her for more than a year, in an attempt to protect her and himself too.

••••

“I’m hoping you could save me now, but you break and fold
You’ve got a fire inside, but your heart’s so cold
(…)
‘Cause I’ve done some things that I can’t speak
And I’ve tried to wash you away, but you just won’t leave

Mare Barrow had to manipulate Cal in order to save the Scarlet Guard and that damaged their relationship. He’s not sure if he can trust her anymore, even though he still cares for her. At the end of Red Queen they’re both broken by the events unfolded earlier. I can’t wait to see how they mend each other and how their relationship develops in Glass Sword!

The last two lines also apply to Mara Dyer. She has made many mistakes, she has killed with her powers. She believes she is evil and that she will be Noah’s downfall so she tries to push him away in hopes to save him.

“Gasoline” + Mara Dyer; Zephyr James

“Are you insane like me? Been in pain like me?
(…)
Are you deranged like me? Are you strange like me?
Lighting matches just to swallow up the flame like me?
(…)
These voices won’t leave me alone

I can’t even begin to explain how much this song relates to Mara! She has voices in her head, is haunted by hallucinations of her past and has powers she can’t begin to understand, let alone control. She knows she’s different but she doesn’t know why. And that scares her.

••••

“And all the people say,

“You can’t wake up, this is not a dream,
You’re part of a machine, you are not a human being,
With your face all made up, living on a screen,
Low on self-esteem, so you run on gasoline.”

Oh, oh, oh, oh,
I think there’s a flaw in my code,
Oh, oh, oh, oh,
These voices won’t leave me alone”

I was listening to this song in the shower when I realized how well this described Zephyr from The Murder Complex! The Initiative made him, gave him memories of a family he never had. He has literally been programmed to kill. The voice in his head commands him to kill the person chosen by the lotery and he can’t help but obey. Later he wakes up soaked in the blood of the person he killed, with no memory of what happened. Because of this he thinks himself a monster and tries to end his existence.

“Control” + Mara Dyer

“I sat alone, in bed till the morning
I’m crying, “They’re coming for me”
And I tried to hold these secrets inside me
My mind’s like a deadly disease
(…)
And all the kids cried out, “Please stop, you’re scaring me”
I can’t help this awful energy
God damn right, you should be scared of me
Who is in control?

I paced around for hours on empty
I jumped at the slightest of sounds
And I couldn’t stand the person inside me
I turned all the mirrors around

Another song that seems to have been written for Mara Dyer! Like I said before, Mara is scared of herself, and so are the people around her. She’s not in completely control of her own mind and her strange powers. Her mind truly is like a deadly disease.

“Young gods” + Tamlin and Feyre

“He says, “Ooh, baby girl, don’t get cut on my edges
I’m the king of everything and oh, my tongue is a weapon
There’s a light in the crack that’s separating your thighs
And if you wanna go to heaven you should fuck me tonight”

Tamlin is the High Lord of the Spring Court and Feyre is a mere human, but the attraction between the two of them is undeniable. At the end of A Court of Thorns and Roses, Feyre is turned into High Fae like Tamlin. Now they’re both young gods.

“I walk the line” + Khalid and Shahrzad

“I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
(…)
I find it very, very easy to be true
I find myself alone when each day is through”

Each night Khalid marries a new bride and by dawn she is dead. It has been this way for a year now and Khalid is perpetually alone. He doesn’t believe in love but he wants to find someone he can see as an equal. And then Shahrzad comes into his life.

“You’ve got a way to keep me on your side
You give me cause for love that I can’t hide
For you I know I’d even try to turn the tide
Because you’re mine, I walk the line”

Shahrzad wants to hate Khalid for what he has done but she can’t and ends up falling deeply in love with him instead. She later finds out the real reason behind the killings and she will go to any length to defend the man she loves.

And that’s it! Do you like Halsey? Can you relate to any of the songs in Badlands? Please let me know 🙂 I actually wrote this post a while ago and decided to post it now because I’ve been busy and haven’t been able to write new posts.