‘Drive’: The Story Behind Halsey’s ‘Badlands’ Classic
Halsey wrote what would become the final single on her 2015 debut album in just ten minutes.
Representing a bright pinprick of light at the end of a long, dark tunnel, “Drive” was Halsey‘s final single in support of her groundbreaking 2015 debut, Badlands: a concept album about a fictional post-apocalyptic society surrounded by desert wasteland.
Created alongside producers Tim Anderson and Lido, who also provided backup vocals on “Drive,” the dramatic dark-pop cut showed up relatively early on the Badlands tracklist but signaled resolution and optimism with lyrics outlining a classic car with the top down; Los Angeles entering its golden hour; two people meandering down the freeway as the sun sets behind them and an uncertain yet potentially exciting future lays ahead. “And California never felt like home to me… Until I had you on the open road and now we’re singing,” Halsey murmured over a reverb-filled drum crash.
“The idea of Badlands was creating a space with sound, which is a really difficult thing to do,” Halsey said of “Drive” in 2015. “I was in a session with Tim Anderson, and he was just playing around with these low, vibe-y sounds, and then I wrote ‘Drive’ in probably about 10 minutes. So I read the song out loud to him, and he looks at me and mutes the rest of the track and turned up the bass, and it was the sound of a car engine. And I was like, ‘This is fate! Let’s do this thing!'”
Though this was her first studio album, Halsey had already amassed a dedicated following online. At just 20 years old, the New Jersey-born singer had already been releasing music on her own terms before being signed to Astralwerks Records. So it makes sense that she wouldn’t be shy about putting her creative flourishes on its production.
“I asked about putting the sound of a door opening or seat belt sound in there,” Halsey said in 2015 of “Drive,” adding, “We end up starting the song with this signal sound of ‘ding, ding, ding.’ And then I took the song to Lido who executive produced the whole record, and he turned that ‘ding’ into an actual beat that followed through the song. That ended up creating this genius moment in the center where the door slam and beat all match up and it puts you outside of that car.”
As Halsey celebrated the 10th anniversary of Badlands release in 2025, the story of “Drive” continued. A newly filmed music video was premiered in September, taking fans back to the world of the album. As one YouTube commenter declared, ”
Order the 10th anniversary editions of Halsey’s BADLANDS now.
