“Ya’aburnee” by Halsey

Most listeners would likely haste to conclude that the narrator of “Yaáburnee” is addressing a dearly-departed loved one due to the nature of the lyrics, which are highlighted by the phrase “before I bury you”. But it has rather been put forth that who Halsey is singing to would be her newborn child as well as the baby’s daddy.

Now the next logical question would of course be why would she employ such terminology related to death when addressing a spouse and even more notably someone who has just entered the world? 

Well actually the entire If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power project, of which this is actually the closing track (on the standard edition), is in fact heavily inspired by melancholy. Indeed whereas we may be tempted to define the album as one centered on the concepts of life and death, the negative (as illustrated by this song) definitely takes precedence. 

Indeed under normal circumstances, one would say the birth of a child to what appears to be a committed, loving father would be a cause for celebration on the part of the mother. But as illustrated on other parts of the album also, Halsey has now evidently reached a point in her life where unadulterated joy and optimism are virtually unattainable.

“Ya’aburnee”, the Love Song

And all of that is more or less our fancy way of saying that in the grand scheme of the album, this is actually a love song. It centers around the aforementioned concept of being buried, i.e. death. 

But what the vocalist is saying, in totality, is that she hopes to die before the addressee (which is also the idea upon which the title is based). And in that regard it does read as if she is speaking to the child in particular. 

And yes, many readers would recognize that as a sentiment which is quite common amongst loving parents. But again our point is that, under her current disposition, the vocalist is unable to even celebrate the onset of having her own family without also harping on the potentially negative, which in this case are the prospects of premature death and/or being abandoned. 

Or let’s conclude by saying that whereas Halsey may hope for the best, experience has also taught her to expect the worse.

When was “Ya’aburnee” released?

As noted earlier, this is the 13^th and final track on If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, the Halsey album that came out on 27 August 2021.

Writing Credits

The vocalist wrote this song in conjunction with the following:

• John Cunningham
• Trent Reznor
• Atticus Ross

Moreover, Trent and Atticus produced Ya’aburnee. It should be noted that the aforementioned duo currently make up the Nine Inch Nails.

FYI

This track is a product of Capitol Records, i.e. Halsey’s label since the late-2010s. To date she has dropped four studio albums (this being her fourth), a live album and quite a few EPs, most of the latter actually being compilations (of which she released five in 2020 alone). 

All around Halsey’s most successful album to date remains her debut LP, Badlands (2015), which made the top 10 of the Billboard 200 and UK Albums Chart, in addition to going double-platinum in the US and gold in the UK.

As of the release of “Yaárbunee”, Halsey is 26 years old. And as sort of implied by the cover art to “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power”, she recently gave birth, just a little over a month before the album’s release.

More Outstanding Tracks from “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power”

Below are some other notable songs from the album:

• “I Am not a Woman, I’m a God”
• “Whispers”
• “Bells in Santa Fe”
• “1121”
• “Honey”
• “Lilith”
• “Easier than Lying”
• “You Asked for This”