"929" by Halsey // Song Review

- September 29, 2025

Halsey begins their 2020 album Manic with her name, "Ashley", and ends it with her birthday, "929", creating a full‑circle narrative arc that beautifully captures just how deeply personal the album is. The closing track is a raw, diaristic look at her life and her journey, told through a free‑flowing, conversational reflection of memories, lessons, and wisdom that she has picked up along the way.

Produced by her frequent collaborators Jasper Sheff and John Cunningham, "929" perfectly encapsulates the personal journey Manic takes the listener on. This record is one of self-discovery and acceptance of every side of yourself, in the most unfiltered way.

"I really was born at 9:29 AM on 9/29, you think I'm lying, but I'm, I'm being dead serious," she jokes in the intro, speaking casually in the studio when working on the album. The rest of the song goes into a stream-of-consciousness style of confessional that is so unguarded and self-aware.

"Well, who am I? I'm almost twenty-five, can't remember half the time that I've been alive, 'cause half was in a cheap apartment and half was on the Eastside," Halsey sings in the opening verse. "They said don't meet your heroes, they're all fuckin' weirdos and God knows that they were right, because nobody loves you, they just try to fuck you, then put you on a feature on the B-Side".

It is an examination of every part of herself and the unraveling of who Halsey is versus who Ashley is underneath it all, which is one of the core themes of Manic. This record is largely trying to make sense of the person she's become, the person she used to be, and the person she's still learning to grow into.

On "929", Halsey opens up about every relationship in her life, from her family, to ex‑lovers, to the connection with her fans. Addiction, mental health and the dark sides of fame are also very real themes they don't shy away from either, which threads through the entire narrative. "And who do you call when it's late at night? When the headlines just don't paint the picture right, when you look at yourself on a screen and say, 'Oh my God, there's no way that's me,'" she sings.

"And I remember this girl with pink hair in Detroit, well, she told me, she said, 'Ashley, you gotta promise us that you won't die, 'cause we need you,' and honestly, I think that she lied". That lyric hits me every time. It's such a powerful reminder of how meaningful her music is for so many people, myself included, but it also reflects how heavy a responsibility it must be to carry the weight of other people's expectations and hope on her shoulders, especially when she often feels like she can barely carry her own. "I lost the love of my life to an ivory powder, but then I realize that I'm no higher power," they later sing.

In a Spotify interview, Halsey said this song was written as "...a stream of consciousness ranting confessional. This one was almost like a freestyle in the booth. I barely wrote anything down. I just started spilling all of my thoughts about myself and my fans and my family, and I admit so many faults and flaws all in one go. It's forgiving, however, it ends with the acknowledgement that I am learning and growing, minute by minute."

Around the time of writing and recording Manic, they were also working on their first collection of published poetry titled I Would Leave Me If I Could. In hindsight, the parallels between the two are so evident, not just in the lyrical nods scattered throughout Manic, but in the emotional intention behind them. So much of Halsey's songwriting begins as poetry, and although "929" in particular was mostly freestyled in the moment, it carries that same intimacy that is so innately representative of who they are as both an artist and a writer.

A funny nod back to the intro in the studio comes at the end when she admits, "I think I have a confession to make, I need to say that I was really born at 9:26, I saw my birth certificate and I'm a liar and I'm a fucking liar." It's light‑hearted and self‑deprecating, but it also fits perfectly into the larger theme of the song. At the heart of Manic is a theme of self-acceptance and the importance of holding onto all of your imperfections and contradictions that make you who you are.

"Soft and slow, watch the minutes go, count out loud, so we know you don't keep 'em for yourself" she sings in a soft repetition at the end of the song.

Check out more from my song of the week series here + in-depth reviews of Halsey's Manic, Room 93 and BADLANDS. Many more are linked below and coming soon! 🎂☆ Thanks for reading!