"Sorry" 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 an ...

'' (2017). It was written by Halsey and its producer

Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and written and produced four songs ...

. The track is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

where she apologizes to her potential lovers for not letting them to get close to her. The music video for the song was directed by Sing J Lee and Halsey and it was released on February 2, 2018 on Halsey's

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

channel. The song has achieved over 300 million streams on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

, being the third most played song from the album, despite not being an official single.

Composition

"Sorry" was written by Halsey and

, the latter also producing the song. The song is a simplistic

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

arranged

which lasts for a duration of 3:40 (three minutes and forty seconds). Written in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

A♭ major A-flat major (or the key of A-flat) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has four flats. The A-flat major scale is: : Its relative minor is F minor. Its parallel minor, A-flat minor ...

, "Sorry" has a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

of 74

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. Halsey's vocal range span from F₃ to Bb₄. The song's instrumentation comes from

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

and

mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. ...

. Rob Sheffield from ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

'' thought that its lyrical content "worries whether she'll ever like herself enough to let anyone get close to her". The song begins with a "somber" piano opening, followed by the lines "I've missed your calls for months it seems/ Don't realize how mean I can be/ Cause I can sometimes treat the people/ That I love like jewelry" sung by Halsey. During the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

, she sings "So I'm sorry to my unknown lover/ Sorry that I can't believe/ That anybody ever really/ Starts to fall in love with me". Toward the ending, she sings "Someone will love you/ But someone isn't me".

Music video

An accompanying music video for "Sorry" was directed by Sing J Lee and Halsey, who had also helmed the videos for the previous singles, " Now or Never" and "

Bad at Love "Bad at Love" is a song by American singer Halsey from her second studio album, '' Hopeless Fountain Kingdom'' (2017). It was released on August 22, 2017, through Astralwerks as the second single from the album. Halsey co-wrote the song with Justi ...

". It was uploaded on February 2, 2018, on Halsey's

channel. The video begins with the singer with wounds on her face after a car crash from the ending of "Now or Never", she starts walking on a street on fire with dead bodies and abandoned vehicles everywhere. The video was filmed as a

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. * Ashley Frangipane – songwriter, vocals *

− songwriter, producer, guitar, mellotron, piano, recording engineer *John Hanes − mixing engineer *Serban Ghenea − mixer *Alex Pasco − recording engineer *Julian Burg − recording engineer

Certifications

References

External links

* 2010s ballads 2017 songs Astralwerks singles Halsey (singer) songs Songs written by Halsey (singer) Songs written by Greg Kurstin Song recordings produced by Greg Kurstin {{2010s-rock-song-stub