Without Me

The songs on New Jersey native Ashley Frangipane's first two albums were all penned from her musical persona Halsey's point of view. She explained to MTV News: "Halsey is just a vehicle for me. Ashley is how I take my coffee. Halsey has a story to telI." However, "Without Me" finds the singer talking for the first time from her own point of view, rather than Halsey's. The standalone single is about the ups and downs of her relationship with Bay Area rapper G-Eazy and delves into the personal feelings of having a romance in the public eye. Gave love 'bout a hundred tries Just running from the demons in your mind Then I took yours and made 'em mine I didn't notice 'cause my love was blind Speaking with Beats 1's Zane Lowe, the singer explained she purposely dropped her Halsey musical persona to address the difficulties of her public relationship with G-Eazy. For once she's not protected by a character like on her Badlands and Hopeless Fountain Kingdom albums. "I have this record where it's just me. No wig, no colorful hair, no character, and it's about my life and about my relationship that the world has watched so closely and so vehemently in the past year and a half," she said.

This isn't the first time that Halsey has addressed her relationship with G-Eazy. During "Him & I," her romantic duet with the Bay Area rapper, the New Jersey songstress details a story of two star-crossed lovers. That track takes inspiration from the famous bank-robbing couple in the Great Depression era of the United States, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.

The Louis Bell-produced track quotes in its bridge the pre-chorus from Justin Timberlake's 2002 hit single "Cry Me A River." You don't have to say just what you did I already know I had to go and find out from them So tell me, how's it feel? Like "Without Me," "Cry Me a River" features Timberlake singing about a high-profile relationship. In his case, the 'N Sync member addresses his romance with fellow pop singer Britney Spears; it was penned following a heated phone conversation between the pair.