Bad At Love
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

"Bad at Love" is a song by American singer Halsey from her second studio album, ''
Hopeless Fountain Kingdom ''Hopeless Fountain Kingdom'' (stylized in all lowercase) is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Halsey. It was released on June 2, 2017, through Astralwerks. The album features guest appearances from Quavo, Lauren Jauregui and ...
'' (2017). It was released on June 2, 2017, through
Astralwerks Astralwerks (or Astralwerks Records) is an American record label primarily focused on electronic music that is now owned by Universal Music Group. Its material is distributed via Capitol Music Group in the United States. The label was founded in ...
as the second single from the album. Halsey co-wrote the song with
Justin Tranter Justin Drew Tranter (born June 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, singer, and activist. Tranter has written songs for artists such as Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Linkin Park, Kelly Clarkson, Sara Bareilles, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, DNCE, ...
,
Ricky Reed Eric Burton Frederic (born January 15, 1982), known professionally as Ricky Reed, is an American record producer, singer, songwriter, and the founder of Nice Life Recording Company. In 2005, he formed the musical project Wallpaper., which las ...
, and
Rogét Chahayed Rogét Lutfi Chahayed (born May 31, 1988) is an American record producer and songwriter. Referred to as "one of hip-hop and pop's most dependable hit machines" by ''Billboard'', Chahayed has received nine Grammy Award nominations; in 2022, he w ...
, with the song being produced by the latter two. Lyrically, the song encompasses the protagonist's past relationships and the reasons they were unsuccessful. "Bad at Love" debuted at number 81 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and later peaked at number five, making it Halsey's first top-five entry on the chart as a lead artist. It also reached number one on the
Dance Club Songs The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...
chart in the US, and at number two on the
Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...
chart in the country. "Bad at Love" was certified 8× Platinum in the US, and 3× Platinum in Canada. "Bad at Love" earned Halsey two award nominations: one at the
Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards were an annual awards show that aired on the Fox television network between 1999 and 2019. The awards, based on a popularity vote that could be overridden by the producerswho reserved the right to choose the winnerscovered ...
, and one at the iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards. Between 2017 and 2018, she performed the song live on ''Ellen'', ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'', ''
Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
''. On the original setlist of her Hopeless Fountain Kingdom Tour, it was listed at number 11, and on the changed setlist, it was an encore.


Background and composition

Halsey told ''Billboard'' that the tune should "sound like
Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...
in a Hawaiian T-shirt in a droptop yellow convertible car – driving down the highway like in ''
Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo Tubbs, Ricardo "Rico" Tub ...
'' with all his friends." "Bad at Love" is a mid-tempo
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...
ballad, which lasts for three minutes and one second. According to musicnotes.com, the song is written in the key of
C major C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...
. On the track, Halsey goes through a list of her different lovers and what went wrong in their relationship. With each one, she thought they were "the one" and could "fix her", but it went wrong for various reasons. From her history of dating, she concludes that she is "bad at love". Her list of lovers include both men and women indicating at her bisexuality, which is a running theme throughout the album. When a music reviewer pointed out that Halsey "doesn't do anything wrong" in any of the relationships she describes in the song, she responded saying it's about her choice of poor partners, plus the "self deprecating" and "facetious" mood of the song, and her bad love. She also stated it's about being naive. She also stated it's a "sad" song.


Music video

The music video was directed by Halsey with Sing J Lee. It begins on a desert road, with the singer having a short hairstyle and taking off on a motorcycle. She stops at a gas station, where she picks up a newspaper with her face and "Wanted" written on the first page. With the help of three friends, she avoids capture by two futuristic cops. Afterward, they ride into the sunset as the video ends. The video was uploaded on August 30, 2017, on her
Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...
channel.


Commercial performance

As of September 2017, the song has sold 76,645 copies in the United States according to
Nielsen SoundScan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...
. It peaked at number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, becoming her first top five entry as a lead artist and surpassing the chart position of Halsey's previous single " Now or Never", which reached number 17. It would be her highest-charting solo song until almost a year later when " Without Me" reached number one. Aided by official mixes from
Dillon Francis Dillon Hart Francis (born October 5, 1987), also known as DJ Hanzel, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He played a key role in popularizing moombahton and later developed its heavier variants, moombahcore and EDM trap. Earl ...
, Hook N Sling,
Klangkarussell Klangkarussell (German language, German: Sound Carousel) is an Austrian electronic music duo formed in 2011. The two members of the group are Tobias Rieser and Adrian Held. Their biggest hit to date is "Sonnentanz", which reached the top 10 in ...
, Autograf, and Generik, "Bad at Love" gave Halsey her first number one on the
Dance Club Songs The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...
chart in its December 16, 2017, issue and her second number one (as well as her first as a solo artist) on the accompanying
Dance/Mix Show Airplay Dance/Mix Show Airplay (formerly Hot Dance Airplay) is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic dance musi ...
chart in its January 3, 2018, issue.


Live performances

In 2017, Halsey performed "Bad at Love" at the
iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast, radio streaming and Music Streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. Founded in August 2008, iHeartRadio serves as the national umbrella brand for iHeart ...
summer festival, the
iHeartRadio Music Festival The iHeartRadio Music Festival is a two-day music concert festival held every year on the third or fourth weekend of September since 2011 by iHeartRadio along the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. From 2011 to 2015, the f ...
, and the ''Ellen'' show. In 2018, she performed the song on ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'', ''
Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
'', and at the
2018 iHeartRadio MMVAs The 2018 iHeartRadio MMVAs were held on August 26, 2018 outside 299 Queen Street West in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Unlike previous years, the 2018 show aired live at the end of August instead of Father's Day. It was hosted by Awkwafina. Performa ...
.


Track listing

*;Digital EP – "Bad at Love (Remixes)" #"Bad at Love" (
Dillon Francis Dillon Hart Francis (born October 5, 1987), also known as DJ Hanzel, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He played a key role in popularizing moombahton and later developed its heavier variants, moombahcore and EDM trap. Earl ...
Remix) – 3:20 #"Bad at Love" ( Hook N Sling Remix) – 2:51 #"Bad at Love" (
Klangkarussell Klangkarussell (German language, German: Sound Carousel) is an Austrian electronic music duo formed in 2011. The two members of the group are Tobias Rieser and Adrian Held. Their biggest hit to date is "Sonnentanz", which reached the top 10 in ...
Remix) – 3:50 #"Bad at Love" ( Autograf Remix) – 3:21 #"Bad at Love" (Generik Remix) – 2:46


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


References


External links

* {{authority control 2010s ballads 2017 singles 2017 songs Astralwerks singles Bisexuality-related songs Capitol Records singles Halsey (singer) songs Pop ballads Songs about New Jersey Songs written by Halsey (singer) Songs written by Justin Tranter Songs written by Ricky Reed Songs written by Rogét Chahayed