Written and submitted by: @angryspacebabe

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part one: lyrics

i’m analyzing all aspects of the lyrics: from the topic, to the conceptualization, to the vocabulary used. that includes ableist language - which she uses a lot of. PLEASE bear in mind she has never spoken up on mental illness before afaik. but, she HAS somewhat mentioned using “being cr*zy” as a concept for Cry Baby’s character, which is wrong. (yes, it’s also very wrong to make assumptions about someones mental health because not all mentally ill people feel safe enough to speak out about it. as i was in the fandom, most fans have said that she is supposedly not mentally ill, and even is she is, not all mentally ill people can reclaim all slurs. for a random example, someone who has, say, an anxiety disorder but isn’t psychotic - doesn’t have the right to be using ps*cho.)

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dollhouse: the lyric “mom, please wake up, dad’s with a slut” can be interpreted as slut shaming (before any of you talk about women being able to reclaiming that word, reclaiming the word slut comes down to a woman referring to themselves as a slut - not using it against other women)

[tw: ableism, medication, suicide, eating disorders]

sippy cup: “he doesn’t think I’m that fucking d*mb does he?” ableist slur // “you call that ass your own, we call that silicone” not sure if this is ‘problematic’ or not, just adding in case (it can be interpreted as somewhat shaming either women with big butts or women who get surgery/cosmetic procedures - neither are my topics to speak on, so calling that line ‘problematic’ has come from my friends opinions not my own - i’ll leave it up to you) // “pill diet, pill diet, if they give you a new pill then you will buy it, if they say to kill yourself, then you will try it, all the makeup in the world won’t make you less insecure, you got weights in your pockets, when you go to the doctor’s, your favorite candy’s cotton, that’s why all your teeth are rotten” again this whole verse - i’m not sure how to interpret it, whether it’s romanticizing it or what, and i know there is discussion over the fact that melanie isn’t mentally ill, and if that’s the case, it’s obviously not her place to be signing about suicide and eating disorders (and believe me, as someone who is anorexic and has been institutionalized since age 12 and as a fan of hers, the weights in your pockets line - something i used to do - was very triggering)

[tw: ableist slurs]

training wheels: “i love everything you do, when you call me fucking d*mb for the st*pid shit i do” ableist slurs (also the line itself seems kinda iffy if you know what i mean) “wanna ride my bike with you, fully undressed, no training wheels left for you” again, although i personally didn’t when i first heard the song, a lot of ppl are finding this line very uncomfortable

// okay so when talking about the crybaby character, melanie stated that carousel, soap and alphabet boy are written based off of real life situations that happened to her, but songs like ‘dollhouse’ ‘tag you’re it’ and ‘milk and cookies’ etc were not. i think that’s important information for you to keep in mind while analyzing the next couple songs.

example of a quote by melanie about this: “in the story of the album there’s some things that i didn’t experience. i love stories and fairytales, so i wanted it to still feel super whimsical, or else it wasn’t fun for me”

quote about TYI/M+C:

interviewer: what’s the next track?

melanie: the next track is “Tag You’re It.” Cry Baby is now single and wolves are on the prowl. she gets kidnapped by a “wolf.”

interviewer: is this a certain person or is this a fantastical thing?

melanie: this is just part of the fairytale. i love making up stories. after “Tag You’re It”, it’s “Milk and Cookies.“ “Milk and Cookies” is her poisoning the wolf with milk and cookies and escaping.

interviewer: sick. [Laughs.]

melanie: yeah. [Giggles.] after that she becomes a different person, she’s completely embraced the cr*zy for sure. she’s absolutely ins*ne. //

[tw: assault, csa (?)]

tag you’re it: this song is about assault. it’s about crybaby being [sexually (?)] assaulted by “a big bad wolf” aka a child being assaulted by an older man. it doesn’t mean people aren’t allowed to sing about bad experiences that have happened to them. as a survivor myself, if a survivor expresses themselves through art i totally support them… so…? the issue is that this is one of the “fictional” songs on the album. (i personally don’t think non-survivors have the authority to try and “artistically” dress up something they haven’t experienced, especially when it’s being romanticized and used as a “concept” for a song. that’s just my opinion though) feel free to take that with a grain of salt, i don’t mind. anyway~ “looking at me through your window, boy you had your eye out for a little, [i’ll cut you up and make you dinner, you’ve reached the end, you are the winner], rolling down your tinted window, driving next to me real slow, he said [let me take you for a joyride, i’ve got some candy for you inside]” using harassment/threats for your “~dark~” concept is not right imo, especially as a non-victim. also the candy line creeps me out because that’s literally not unheard of to be used towards victims of child assault/kidnappings/etc. “running through the parking lot he chased me and he wouldn’t stop, tag you’re it, tag, tag, you’re it, grabbed my hair and pushed me down, took the words right out my mouth” again, i’m sure you can understand how using assault with childish metaphors is wrong. “eenie meenie miny mo, catch a lady by her toes, if she screams, don’t let her go, eenie meenie miny mo, your mother said to pick the very best girl, and i am” i don’t even know what she means her but other ppl have said how both the “if she screams” bit sounds creepy as fuck and the “pick the very best girl” bit?? like??

[tw: medication, murder (?)]

milk and cookies: “1, 2, melatonin is coming for you” “do you like my cookies? they’re made just for you, a little bit of sugar, but lots of poison, too” “hush, little baby, drink your spoiled milk” i originally thought these were the words of the “wolf” but it turns out they are crybaby’s - SHE’S drugging HIM. now i know it’s fictitious and i have no sympathy for the “wolf”, but i’m not comfortable with baby-fying (i just made a word up idek) drugging/murdering someone when the song is a tale of childhood assault? “i’m fucking cr*zy, need my prescription filled” ableist words, idk if that’s also glorification of medication for mental health or whether she’s on medication or not.

pacify her: okay when i first heard this song i actually assumed melanie had wrote it from the pov of the girl who “steals” crybaby’s boyfriend away from her. however, it’s actually written from crybaby’s pov, about her “stealing” another girl’s man (you can see below in the storybook for a source on that). so yeah, this song is seething with internalized misogyny and controlling [manipulating (?)] someone. “that basic b*tch leaves finally, now i can take her man” “pacify her, she’s getting on my nerves, you don’t love her, stop lying with those words”

[tw: ableism, ableist slurs]

mad hatter: wow okay this song basically has a slur or ableist trope in nearly every line lmao so that’s that. “i’m peeling the skin off my face, cause i really hate being safe, the normal’s, they make me afraid, the cr*zies, they make me feel sane” seems a bit like a reference to dermatillomania, idk if she suffers with it or not so i’ll leave that. also what’s up with calling mentally ill people ‘the cr*zies’.. like .. thanks! again, i’m mentally ill, and would never refer to mentally ill people as a whole like that. “i’m nuts, baby, i’m m*d, the cr*ziest friend that you’ve ever had, you think I’m ps*cho, you think I’m gone, tell the psychiatrist something is wrong, over the bend, entirely bonkers, you like me best when i’m off my rocker, tell you a secret, i’m not alarmed, so what if i’m cr*zy? the best people are.. all the best people are cr*zy” wowee okay literally like i said every line if there is not ableist language there is some kind of ableist ‘expression’ or trope there, and i’m not going to sit and decipher them. oh and yes, the best people are cr*zy part is a quote from alice in wonderland (although bonkers is used instead of cr*zy), well done, but it’s still harmful. “where is my prescription? doctor, doctor please listen, my brain is scattered, you can be alice, i’ll be the mad hatter” alice in wonderland is a film associated with being ‘cr*zy’, because it does have underlying hints of some mental disorder, however, the way it is portrayed can stigmatize mentally ill people, and therefore her comparison between mentally ill people and AIW characters is not helpful (and tbh kinda unnecessary). i don’t want to touch on this song too much purely because i will trigger myself lmao. maybe someone else can or another day i’ll add my personal feelings about what impression this song gives off about mental illness vs what mental illness really is. melanie’s comments in an interview about the song: “the last song, and the last story of the album, is “Mad Hatter.” it’s very lyrical, very hip-hop. i wanted it to be about my transition and Cry Baby’s transition into embracing who we truly are. cr*zy people.” lol i know this is irrelevant but i’m dying @ ‘hip-hop’

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part two: concept

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[tw: childhood sexualization, brief lolicon/lolita/pedophilia mentions]

the concept of melanie’s debut album, in mine and several other people’s opinions, goes beyond “artistic expression”.

some imagery:

sexualizing children’s things (i.e. pacifier, baby bottle)

don’t get me wrong, i have tons of vintage toys (not pacifiers though lol) myself and collect them bc they’re adorable (i love kewpies), it’s the way she’s using these children’s things visually (which is usually sexualized) or lyrically (using children’s things for “adult” issues).

so yeah, for anyone thinking “it’s just a doll theme!” (as i did at first) from melanie’s own words: “its not inspired by dolls. its inspired by childhood themes and adult situations.”

[when asked to talk about her aesthetic] “i think that it’s all been based on the whole little kid theme. it’s like the music. still making it kind of adult, but inspired by nursery vibes.”

again, most people think that’s her freedom of creative expression right? but i feel (even if it’s totally unintentional on her behalf) that her image is not too far away from being connected to lolita imagery which is infact harmful to young girls. and no, i don’t think she actually means to give off some kind of paraphilic infantilism vibe, and confusing infantilism with pedophilia is common even when unrelated, but in her case, openly expressing what can be considered a pedophilic ideal of young girls in her media can be harmful to actual children.

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part three: storybook

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okay this is a bonus lil thing just to link to the lyric section as confirmation of what each song is about. melanie’s album came with a story book. she did not draw the pictures herself, BUT, she did write the poems that came with each picture (to explain what’s happening to Cry Baby in each song)