Strangers (Halsey song)

The album's track listing was revealed on April 29, 2017, on Halsey's Instagram account, where it was first known that Halsey would collaborate with Fifth Harmony's Lauren Jauregui on a song called "Strangers".{{cite web|url=http://www.idolator.com/7662069/halsey-hopeless-fountain-kingdom-tracklist-features-credits|title=Halsey's 'hopeless fountain kingdom' Tracklist Reveals Surprise Features|publisher=Idolator|first=Mike|last=Wass|date=April 28, 2017|accessdate=June 5, 2017}} In April, during several radio interviews that Halsey attended to promote the album, she further commented about the song:

I was thinking to myself, if I want this song to be believable, it needs to be real, so I'm not going to put a girl on the song to sing who's straight. I'm just not going to do it. So I reached out to Lauren and she came in and she cut the vocal and it sounds awesome. Our voices sound really cool together because we both have really raspy voices, mine's a little more delicate than hers. Hers is like really powerful and big and raspy, and mine is kind of like light and raspy. But it's really cool because I'm bisexual. I just love that Lauren and I are two women who have a mainstream pop presence doing a love song for the LGBT community, it's unheard of. It's very rare to see it from a female perspective.{{cite web|url=http://www.idolator.com/7663120/halsey-lauren-jauregui-strangers-lgbt-love-song|title=Halsey & Lauren Jauregui's Duet Is 'A Love Song For The LGBT Community'|publisher=Idolator|first=Mike|last=Wass|date=May 17, 2017|accessdate=June 5, 2017|archive-date=September 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230915195559/https://www.idolator.com/7663120/halsey-lauren-jauregui-strangers-lgbt-love-song|url-status=dead}}

"Strangers" incorporates a 1980s-inspired production,{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2017/05/listen-halsey-strangers-stream/|title=Halsey – 'Strangers' (ft. Lauren Jauregui) |work=Spin|first=Anna|last=Gaca|date=May 25, 2017|accessdate=May 26, 2017}} with echoed synthesizers and strong drumline{{cite web|url=http://www.fuse.tv/2017/05/halsey-lauren-jauregui-strangers|title=Halsey & Lauren Jauregui Sing About Ex-girlfriends On Sexy 'Strangers' Song: Listen|publisher= Fuse|date= May 26, 2017|access-date= June 19, 2017}}{{cite web|last=Weiss|first=Dan|url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2017/06/album-review-halsey-hopeless-fountain-kingdom/|title=Halsey – Hopeless Fountain Kingdom|work=Consequence of Sound|date=June 7, 2017|accessdate=June 9, 2017}}

Analyzing its lyrical content Alexia Shouneya from Billboard wrote, "Strangers is about two women longing for one another," while Christina Lee of Idolator opined, "The lyrics actually tell a straightforward story about a dissolved relationship, and the loneliness that quickly follows."{{Cite news |url=http://www.idolator.com/7663659/halsey-lauren-jauregui-strangers |title=Halsey & Lauren Jauregui's Epic "Strangers" Arrives: Listen |last=Lee |first=Christina |date=May 26, 2017 |work=Idolator |access-date=June 19, 2017}}

"Strangers" received critical acclaim.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mtv.co.uk/news/wsieec/lauren-jauregui-and-halsey-land-major-spotify-milestone|title=Lauren Jauregui And Halsey Land Major Spotify Milestone|publisher=MTV (UK and Ireland)|access-date=February 10, 2019|date=March 14, 2018}} AllMusic's journalist Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that "same-sex love songs remain a rarity in the pop music of the 2010s, and ... that's a sly reveal of how Halsey represents a generational shift".{{cite web|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/hopeless-fountain-kingdom-mw0003038654|title=Hopeless Fountain Kingdom – Halsey|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=June 9, 2017}} In her review for Billboard, Alexia Shouneya noted "in the first verse alone, she uses the female pronoun four times, once in every line, making it impossible to miss, skim over or interpret as anything other than what it was meant to be: a strong, unapologetic acknowledgement of lesbian and bisexual women."{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7824521/halsey-lauren-jauregui-strangers-lgbtq-representation|title= Halsey & Lauren Jauregui's 'Strangers' Is a Long-Overdue Bisexual Milestone In Mainstream Music|magazine= Billboard|date= June 6, 2017|access-date= June 19, 2017}} Anna Caga of Spin believed that "Strangers" is the "best Halsey['s] song" and described it as "slinky and addicting", adding that its best moments are "Jauregui's ad-libs, the way she slurs the word 'innocent' with the kind of spontaneous passion Halsey never allows herself."{{cite web|url=http://www.spin.com/2017/05/halsey-lauren-jauregui-strangers-review/|title= "Strangers" Is Halsey's Best Song|work= Spin|date= May 26, 2017|access-date= June 19, 2017}} In Pitchfork, Katherine St. Asaph said the song "shimmers and yearns like a recent Tegan and Sara cut" and "contains the album's most nuanced lyrics, the coupling that's most promising yet most out of reach."{{cite web|last=St. Asaph|first=Katherine|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/23301-hopeless-fountain-kingdom/|title=Halsey: hopeless fountain kingdom|work=Pitchfork|date=June 7, 2017|accessdate=June 9, 2017}}

Billboard ranked "Strangers" at number 97 on its critics list of the 100 Best Songs of 2017. Chris Payne wrote that it is Billboard staff's favorite song from the album, praising Halsey and Jauregui's chemistry and Jauregui's tone and delivery of "lovesick desperation".{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/list/8063600/100-best-songs-of-2017-critics-picks|title=Billboard's 100 Best Songs of 2017: Critics' Picks|magazine=Billboard|author=Billboard Staff|date=December 13, 2017|accessdate=December 14, 2017}} Billboard regarded the song as a "long-overdue bisexual milestone in mainstream music."{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7824521/halsey-lauren-jauregui-strangers-lgbtq-representation|title=Halsey & Lauren Jauregui's 'Strangers' Is a Long-Overdue Bisexual Milestone in Mainstream Music|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=July 21, 2017|date=June 6, 2017}} In 2019, Billboard included the song in its list of the "30 Lesbian Love Songs".{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/culture/pride/lesbian-love-best-songs-playlist-7972931/|title=30 Lesbian Love Songs: Women Singing About Women (Updated 2019)|magazine=Billboard|last=Russell|first=Erica|date=February 13, 2019|access-date=January 20, 2023}}

Halsey and Jauregui performed "Strangers" on Today on June 9, 2017.{{cite magazine |last=Bell |first=Sadie |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7825627/today-show-lauren-jauregui-halsey-strangers |title=Lauren Jauregui Joins Halsey for 'Today Show' Performance |magazine=Billboard |date=June 9, 2017 |accessdate=June 10, 2017}} The following day, the two performed the song at iHeartSummer '17 Weekend in Miami Beach, Florida.{{cite web |url=http://ktu.iheart.com/articles/trending-104650/halsey-brings-out-lauren-jauregui-for-15902833/ |title=Halsey Brings Out Lauren Jauregui For 'Strangers' During iHeartSummer '17 |publisher=103.5 KTU |date=June 10, 2017 |accessdate=July 7, 2017}} In June 2018, they performed the song on Good Morning America.{{Cite web|url=https://footwearnews.com/2018/fashion/celebrity-style/halsey-good-morning-america-crop-top-dr-martens-1202569312/|title=Halsey Goes for White-Hot Look in Crop Top and Dr. Martens on 'Good Morning America'|last=Chochrek|first=Ella|date=2018-06-02|website=Footwear News|language=en|access-date=2019-01-15}}

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Hopeless Fountain Kingdom.{{cite AV media notes|title=Hopeless Fountain Kingdom|type=liner notes|publisher=Astralwerks|year=2017|id=2557562385|author=Halsey|author-link=Halsey (singer)}}

• Halsey – vocals
• Julian Burg – recording
• Chris Gehringer – mastering
• Serban Ghenea – mixing
• John Hanes – engineering for mix
• Lauren Jauregui – vocals
• Ezra Kurstin – voices
• Greg Kurstin – drum programming, drums, guitar, keyboards, production, recording
• Alex Pasco – recording

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Brazil|type=single|award=Platinum|relyear=2017|relmonth=5|certyear=2024|artist=Halsey|title=Strangers|access-date=June 20, 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=2017|certyear=2019|artist=Halsey|title=Strangers|access-date=September 6, 2019}}

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Category:2017 songs

Category:Halsey (singer) songs

Category:Lauren Jauregui songs

Category:Bisexuality-related songs

Category:Song recordings produced by Greg Kurstin

Category:Songs written by Greg Kurstin

Category:Female vocal duets

Category:Songs written by Halsey (singer)