Halsey recently released two new singles from her upcoming album Manic last week; “Finally // Beautiful Stranger” and “SUGA’s Interlude,” which features Suga, also known as Min Yoon-gi, from Korean pop group BTS. Both songs compliment each other really well both through melody and the meaning behind the lyrics as well.
“Finally // Beautiful Stranger” is all in all a love song. However, I personally think the chorus is what separates “Beautiful Stranger” from the regular slow sounding story-telling love song. The lines “Beautiful Stranger here you are in my arms // And I know // That beautiful strangers only come along to do me wrong,” compared to her later in the chorus admitting to herself that it’s finally okay to fall in love, makes the song a track about trust as well.
“Beautiful Stranger” acts as the story of what happens post “Graveyard” when someone who has exited not the best (or safest) relationship feels or thinks when they try at love again. That feeling of safety that overcomes the uncertainty that grows from mending heartbreak — which is why I think that “SUGA’s Interlude” following “Finally // Beautiful Stranger” is an amazing contrast in similarity.
While “Beautiful Stranger,” talks about finding safety again in love, “SUGA’s Interlude” talks about the uncertainty in going for your dreams. And more importantly, how sometimes that uncertainty doesn’t fade when you accomplish that dream. After doing a rough translation of Suga’s rap (thank you, Google!), I found that his rap builds on top of Halsey’ chorus. While she sings about the struggle of falling in and out of love with music — and the industry surrounding it — Suga expands in his rap. Suga talks about his personal rise to fame and how it differs from the dream he had, yet he continues to push forward, despite the emotional struggles that might come from his now-reality.
Moving beyond the lyrics of both songs, both contain an acoustic and dream-like melody, respectively, both using minimal instruments to highlight and place focus on the emotion in the voice in the song.
Personally, I love the quiet power that both songs hold emotionally, and I enjoy how the singles all seems to purposely flow together. If the rest of Manic is anything like the past few songs that Halsey has put out, but especially these last two, it will surely be a phenomenal album.
You can stream “Finally // Beautiful Stranger” and “SUGA’s Interlude” below.
