Devil In Me

## *Hopeless Fountain Kingdom* Chronology

"**Devil In Me**" is a song performed by Halsey which is featured as the twelfth track on the standard and as the fifteenth track on the deluxe edition of her sophomore studio album, *Hopeless Fountain Kingdom*. It was released on June 2, 2017 through Astralwerks Records.

## Background

The song marks the first collaboration between Halsey and Sia who co-wrote the song. In an interview with Zach Sang Halsey talked more about the song:

"*[The song] is about finding yourself after a relationship. And it's called 'Devil In Me' because it's kinda tongue in cheek, it's about me waking up the 'devil in me' which is being myself, because that's what the person I was with used to call my real personality [...] not actually...That person would probably think of my real personality as like the bad parts of me, the parts that are loud, the parts that are obnoxious. [...] [It] is about me adjusting myself trying to fit this person and realizing I'm letting everyone around me down. Trying to get low, trying to make myself smaller, trying to be the size that this person probably wanted me to be.*"
—Halsey

## Cross-references

* The lyric "And I went tumbling down tryna reach your high" is a reference to the "Ghost" lyric "I'm searching for something that I can't reach".
* The lyric "I burnt the candle/Flew too high" is a parallel to the lyric "I flew too closely to the sun that's setting in the East/And now I'm melting from my wings" from "Angel On Fire".
* The devil is also a theme in "Hold Me Down", "Not Afraid Anymore" and "Coming Down".
* It shares its title with one of the poems from *I Would Leave Me If I Could.*

## Lyrics

[Verse 1]

You said I would've hit the ceiling

You said I

You said I should eat my feelings

Head held high

[Pre-Chorus]

I won't take anyone down if I crawl tonight

But I still let everyone down when I change in size

And I went tumbling down tryna reach your high

But I scream too loud if I speak my mind

[Chorus]

I don't wanna wake it up

I don't wanna wake it up

I don't wanna wake it up

The devil in me

I don't wanna wake it up

I don't wanna wake it up

I don't wanna wake it up

The devil in me

[Post-Chorus]

Gotta wake up, gotta wake up

Gotta wake up, gotta wake up

Gotta wake up, come back to life

Gotta wake up, gotta wake up

Gotta wake up, gotta wake up

Gotta wake up, come back to life

[Verse 2]

You said I'm too much to handle

You said I

Shine too bright, I burnt the candle

Flew too high

[Pre-Chorus]

I won't take anyone down if I crawl tonight

But I still let everyone down when I change in size

And I went tumbling down tryna reach your high

But I scream too loud if I speak my mind

[Chorus]

I don't wanna wake it up

I don't wanna wake it up

I don't wanna wake it up

The devil in me

I don't wanna wake it up

I don't wanna wake it up

I don't wanna wake it up

The devil in me

[Post-Chorus]

Gotta wake up, gotta wake up

Gotta wake up, gotta wake up

Gotta wake up, come back to life

Gotta wake up, gotta wake up

Gotta wake up, gotta wake up

Gotta wake up, come back to life

[Interlude]

[Chorus]

Now I gotta wake it up

Now I gotta wake it up

Now I gotta wake it up

The devil in me

Now I gotta wake it up

Now I gotta wake it up

Now I gotta wake it up

The devil in me

[Post-Chorus]

Gotta wake up, gotta wake up

Gotta wake up, gotta wake up

Gotta wake up, come back to life

Gotta wake up, gotta wake up

Gotta wake up, gotta wake up

Gotta wake up, come back to life

## References

1. ↑ *YouTube* - "Halsey Talks Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, Machine Gun Kelly & Lauren Jauregui"

 Standard