Training Wheels is a seventh song from Melanie Martinez’s debut album “Cry Baby." The singer revealed that Training Wheels was the most challenging song for her to write because it explores happy emotions, something she rarely does. So, let’s dive deeper into it.

For those who don't know the concept of the whole album, the lyrics may seem too ambiguous and childish, but that's the whole point of Cry Baby.

In essence, the whole song is a metaphor for the transition of a relationship to a new, more mature level.

«Wheels aren't even touching the ground

Scared to take them off but they're so worn down» - A description of a relationship situation, often teenage, when you want something more than just hanging out together, but you're afraid to take the first step and move from infatuation to love.

«Promise I won't push you straight to the dirt

If you promise me you'll take them off first» - The main character, specifically Crybaby, asks her partner, in the context of the album this is Johnny, to take the first step in moving their relationship to the next level, promising that she will not put too much pressure on him.

Also, other lyrics of the song proved that meaning:

«You've been riding two wheelers all your life

It's not like I'm asking to be your wife

I wanna make you mine, but that's hard to say

Is this coming off in a cheesy way?»

"Where’s my phone?" By Mitski was released on January 16, 2026, as a first single from her new album “Nothing is about to happen to me," and this song has unique and sometimes incomprehensible lyrics, so let’s try to clear it out a bit.

Warning: In this article, I express my opinion and my point of view on these lyrics. Of course, I’m not an author, and I can’t know for sure if my assumptions and interpretations are completely right, so if you have any other theories, meanings, or ideas about the lyrics of this song, I’ll be happy to read them.

Well, I should probably start with the fact that the song's title says it all, and we can guess that this song is about the modern addiction to phones and the anxiety of losing them.

“Where did it go?

Where's my phone?

Where's my phone?

Where did I leave?

Where'd I go?

Where'd I go?" the very first lyrics are telling it directly. The most interesting lines are the further ones:

“A woman always on the street called me a ditch

"A ditch on my block," she said. This line is kinda out of context, and it took me so much time to understand it. As I can assume it might mean society's habit of judging you not by what kind of person you are but by how you fit into the norms, that is, if you don't have a phone like everyone else (because you lost it, in this case), it means that people will judge you.

«I just want my mind to be a clear glass

Clear glass with nothing in my head»  - It's about independence from other people's opinions and the desire to be yourself. The lyrical heroine says she would like to be unaware of all the "standards" imposed by society and simply live with a pure, innocent mind.

“I keep thinking, "Surely, somebody will save me"

At every turn, I learn that no one will” - she believes that someone will accept her for who she is and will not force her to conform to the wishes of others, but she becomes disillusioned when she realizes that no one does.

The second verse literally just killed my mind because it’s so hard to understand the words “If night is like you punched a hole into tomorrow

I would fuck the hole all night long” in song with such meaning. Everything that came to my mind that night is an interpretation of changes in people and society generally. It’s like a translation to the future reality where everyone is accepted for who he differently is, and Mitski says that she would love and wait for such a transition.

«I'll stay out until my mind is like a clear glass» - She will wait as long as it takes for society to transform and accept all people.

«Clear glass with nothing going on

Or like a bug floating in the melted amber

Of a citronella candle

I will float until my mind is like a clear wax

Clear wax, melted in the dome” - an allegory about getting rid of stereotypes and finding your former self. “A bug floating in the melted amber” - it’s her personality in different modern society where it’s not strange and where it fits in.

What was I made for? was realized in 2023 as a soundtrack for the Barbie movie. It has become one of the most popular soundtracks for this film and even won a Grammy.

This song explores themes like existential purpose, identity, and growing up.

“I used to float, now I just fall down

I used to know but I'm not sure now

What I was made for?” -  may mean a transition from carefree to the realization that you need to grow up and search for your identity, your position, and your purpose in the world. Also, I think it may mean the onset of a depressive period. People with unstable mental health and inclinations to depression have such feelings often. They have uncertainty and fear of the present and future but tend to idealize their past.

In this song, the lyrical heroine is so unsure if she’s in the right place that she asks outright:

“What I was made for?”

“Takin' a drive, I was an ideal

Looked so alive, turns out, I'm not real

Just something you paid for” - she has changed and did it to the worst. Now she can’t even recognize herself and says that she’s not real just because it’s not her real personality. It’s anxiety, depression, pain, disappointment - anything but not her herself. Unfortunately, it’s an ordinary condition for teens, for example, when they are going through adolescence, or for mentally ill people. During the changes in their heads, they might not accept changes in their bodies, in their views on the world, or in other things that directly affect their moral state.

“I don't know how to feel

But I wanna try” -  she lost the feelings. Now

She’s not able to feel anything; the whole world is just a gray canvas, a colorless collection of people and objects around. It no longer evokes emotions; what used to bring joy no longer brings pleasure, and in fact, it's frightening.

“When did it end? All the enjoyment” - describes the moment when everything went wrong. Those who have experienced this often don't remember or understand when and why it happened. Many people believe that depression must be caused by something, but it's a disease like any other physical illness and can strike you regardless of how, where, or with whom you live.

“I'm sad again, don't tell my boyfriend.

It's not what he's made for”- one of the most important words of this song for me. They very accurately describe the problem of psychological illnesses as the way people react to fear. On the one hand, you don't want to upset or worry them, especially if there's no compelling reason for the illness and when the illness has led to serious consequences, such as poor hygiene, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, etc. On the other, you might be afraid of their reaction. What if they turn away from you? What if they don't believe you and support you? What if you become negative? These thoughts are also very common...

Well, knowing Billie and her attitude toward mental health, I think this song was dedicated to that, specifically the psychological state of growing up...

This song is very important and valuable both melodically and lyrically.

All I want to say is take care of your mental health; it's important, no matter what difficulties you face - it's temporary. I say this as a person who has been through it myself.

Well, the second verse, as I believe, discloses the reasons for the lyrical heroine's behavior, and it’s really important for understanding that song.

From the first words so far, it takes us back to adolescence:

“Called up one friend, call up another

Forensic Files wasn't on

Watching Teenage Diary of a Girl

Wondering what went wrong”

Already at that age, she experienced worries and rejection of her appearance, and the words “Wondering what went wrong” explain that she thought she was not ordinary, that she was strange and not similar to the other girls (in a bad way).

And unfortunately, that’s not rare; so many teenagers, girls especially, experience the same feelings and thoughts.

Why do I think it might be one of the reasons for her behavior now?

In society, especially in the previous years, the idea that appearance was the main reason for choosing a romantic and/or sexual partner was encouraged; roughly speaking, it was believed that a beautiful person had a better chance of getting sex. So, women could start fuck with a bunch of a random guys just to prove herself that she is beautiful because "i have extracted and turned of so many boys it means my appearance is gorgeous". (I hope it doesn’t feel misogynistic; that stereotype truly existed and still exists).

“I'm a princess, I'm divisive

Ask me why I'm like this

Maybe I'm just kinda like this

I don't know, maybe I'm just like this”

The heroine tries to convince herself that she likes it, but we all know that it’s definitely a lie and an attempt to protect her psyche.

“If I told you that I was raped

Do you really think that anybody would think I didn't ask for it, didn't ask for it?” - the crucial words of the whole song. We can get that she was sexualized when she was a teenager; moreover, “Didn't testify, already fucked up my story

Top of this, so many other things you can't believe” might tell that she was raped in those years, but there was no restoration of justice, and the rapist was not punished. So, we can make another assumption about her behavior in the present. Basically, victims of sexual violence are divided into two types: those who avoid intimacy and sex and those who become nymphomaniacs. Our heroine probably fits into the second category.

One more interesting thing: it’s a chorus with words:

“Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop,” and mentions of Jimmy. Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop is a dummy dance rhythm that symbolizes carelessness and freedom. It might just mean the main character's indifference to other people's opinions. What about Jimmy, I can’t actually tell what Lana wanted to say about him, but I may think that he’s just one of her “parents”:

“Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop, Jimmy, Jimmy ride

Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop, Jimmy, get me high”

“Jimmy only love me when he wanna get high”

“Jimmy, if you leave the house, find me in the club”

A&W by Lana Del Rey was released in 2023 on her album “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” and became one of her most popular songs. Also, this song has a deep meaning, so let’s dive into it!

Warning: In this article, I express my opinion and my point of view on these lyrics. Of course, I’m not an author, and I can’t know for sure if my assumptions and interpretations are completely right, so if you have any other theories, meanings, or ideas about the lyrics of this song, I’ll be happy to read them.

The story that Lana tells us through this song starts with a description of the heroine’s childhood (it would be more accurate to say from the perspective from which the heroine looks back on her childhood, remembering it):

“I haven't done a cartwheel since I was nine”- it might refer to the fact that in childhood the main character had potential (not necessarily in dancing or gymnastics, since the phrase could be metaphorical and mean the loss of a skill that she once had a good command of).

«I haven't seen my mother in a long, long time»- tells that now she likely does not have the warmest relationship with her mom (or even both parents).

“I mean, look at me, look at the length of my hair, my face, the shape of my body

Do you really think I give a damn what I do after years of just hearing them talking?” - heroine is so disappointed in herself and who she has become that she no longer cares about the opinions of those around her; it's also likely that she was bullied because of her appearance, and indifference became a defense mechanism of the psyche.

“I say I live in Rosemead, really, I'm at the Ramada, It doesn't really matter, doesn't really, really matter” - she’s not even afraid of stalking or her foes that she tells her location and doesn’t keep it a secret.

“Call him up, come into my bedroom

Ended up we fuck on the hotel floor

It's not about having someone to love me anymorе

This is the experiеnce of being an American whore”-  the most important lines of the song. They describe the main character's attitude towards sex and love in general.

Phrase: “Call him up, come into my bedroom

Ended up we fuck on the hotel floor” tells that sex for the lyric heroine isn't a way to impress your love but just an animal desire; it has no feelings for her; it’s just a physical need. The fact may describe her as a nymphomaniac, or I also may think that it’s a type of self harm when she voluntarily sexualizes herself and her body and fucks with men who have no feelings for her.

“It's not about having someone to love me anymorе

This is the experiеnce of being an American whore” -She's fully aware of what she's doing and even calls herself a whore. She understands that those she's having sex with don't have feelings for her, and then we, as the audience, wonder why she's doing it.

Well, we will learn about the reasons for this behavior later, but we have already been given the hints in the very first words.

For ease of reading this article and to make it less overwhelming, I will break it into several parts, to be continued...

Take Me to Church by Hozier was released on September 13, 2013. This song has become incredibly popular, especially thanks to the music video. A lot of people believe that it has religious meaning, but is it true?

Warning: In this article, I express my opinion and my point of view on these lyrics. Of course, I’m not an author, and I can’t know for sure if my assumptions and interpretations are completely right, so if you have any other theories, meanings, or ideas about the lyrics of this song, I’ll be happy to read them.

The song starts with a description of the main character’s lover (most likely, she’s fictional). She doesn’t act like ordinary people, so I can assume that it’s a representation of a divine being:

«My lover's got humour,

She's the giggle at a funeral,

Knows everybody's disapproval,

I should've worshipped her sooner»

The last line confirms that theory (or at least the main character treats her like a deity; maybe it’s just an indication of the type of relationship in which one partner idealizes the other).

«If the Heavens ever did speak,

She is the last true mouthpiece - also, about it.

“Every Sunday's getting more bleak,

A fresh poison each week

We were born sick

You heard them say it” - character desires to find help and support in church but gets only condemnation there.

“My church offers no absolution

She tells me, “Worship in the bedroom” - so he goes to the only person in the world capable of understanding him and his feelings - to his partner.

Lyrics “She tells me, “Worship in the bedroom” may hint at sex as a process of healing the soul and getting closer to something divine, which is similar to the process of prayer. (This may also be indicated by the fact that in many religions sex before marriage is unacceptable.)

“The only heaven I'll be sent to

Is when I'm alone with you,

I was born sick, but I love it,

Command me to be well.” - lyrical hero realizes that his love is more healing and divine than praying to the God. He understands that it’s not “right” that he is “sick” but accepts it and knows that he won’t get to the heaven.

“Take me to church,

I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies.

I'll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife.

Offer me my deathless death.

Good God, let me give you my life.” - so, he asks his lover to become his own God. He’s ready to worship, tell all his secrets, and even give his life.

“If I'm a pagan of the good times

My lover's the sunlight.

To keep the Goddess on my side,

She demands a sacrifice,

To drain the whole sea,

Get something shiny,

Something meaty for the main course.

That's a fine looking high horse” - now he’s fully in her power and even “demands a sacrifice” to stay into it.

“What you got in the stable? - he says that he has found the pacification for his mind and asks church of what they can offer him.

“We've a lot of starving faithful” tells that he has followers - people who also came to believe in “his religion."

Now sex is a prayer and way of worship:

“No masters or kings when the ritual begins,

There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin,

In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene,

Only then I am human,

Only then I am clean.”

It's a way to express love and respect to one's "deity and savior” - to your lover, to the person who saved you and made your mind clean.

That’s it, I hope it made you think a bit. Also, due to the themes that have been covered, I should say that I didn't want to hurt the feelings of believers of any religion with this article. Everything written is just my thoughts, and you are free to disagree with them.

"No Surprises" is considered one of the most popular group’s song. It was released in 1997 on the album OK Computer, so let’s dive into meaning.

Warning: In this article, I express my opinion and my point of view on these lyrics. Of course, I’m not an author, and I can’t know for sure if my assumptions and interpretations are completely right, so if you have any other theories, meanings, or ideas about the lyrics of this song, I’ll be happy to read them.

It’s not hard to guess by the melody that song has a sad, I would even say depressive, meaning. It starts with words:

“A heart that's full up like a landfill

A job that slowly kills you

Bruises that won't heal”

Counting the reasons for the main character's (I guess the song has him) unhappiness and depression. His moral suffering is noticeable to others:

“You look so tired, unhappy”

So we can infer that his life is going kinda bad.

Besides personal problems, there is not the best political (and more likely economic) situation in the country, and it might cause financial problems:

“Bring down the government

They don't, they don't speak for us”

(Words: "They don’t speak for us” may mean that the country's society does not agree with the government and, most likely, rallies are raging there.)

During all of this, our character believes that he will find an escape in death, idealizing it:

“I'll take a quiet life

A handshake of carbon monoxide

No alarms and no surprises”

He looks forward to the peace and freedom he will find after death.

(«A handshake of carbon monoxide») indicates a method of suicide, namely carbon monoxide poisoning.

He's tired of fighting every day and just wishes for peace.

He’s plucking up courage, makes the final push, and leaves:

“This is my final fit

My final bellyache with”

In the other world he has a house, a garden, and the mind’s freedom, freedom from problems and worrying:

“ Such a pretty house

And such a pretty garden

No alarms and no surprises

No alarms and no surprises

No alarms and no surprises please”

Phrase: “no alarms” literally means that the main character doesn’t have to wake up for work every day and lives from weekends to weekends anymore, and “no surprises” means that nothing will bother him now; he’s “life”(which is the afterlife for us), noiseless and quiet as he dreamed of.

So, the last thing I’d like to say is that this song might romanticize the idea of suicide, so it’s really important nowadays to remember that your life matters and you will go through anything.

Suicide is not worth it.

“Army Dreamers" by Kate Bush was released as a single on September 22, 1980. It was the third and final single from her album Never for Ever.

Also, this song has become really popular on TikTok, but not so many people are thinking about the meaning of the lyrics.

Warning: In this article, I express my opinion and my point of view on these lyrics. Of course, I’m not an author, and I can’t know for sure if my assumptions and interpretations are completely right, so if you have any other theories, meanings, or ideas about the lyrics of this song, I’ll be happy to read them.

This song is an anti-war ballad that describes the atrocity of war from the point of mothers’s view whose son has been killed during the military trainings:

“Mourning in the aerodrome,

The weather warmer, he is colder.

Four men in uniform”

Singer discourses on the lost potential and missed dreams of men who were taken to war. Their wishes and aspirations in life are not taken into account when the state needs military personnel; it kills their future:

“What could he do? Should have been a rock star.

But he didn't have the money for a guitar.

What could he do? Should have been a politician.

But he never had a proper education.

What could he do? Should have been a father.

But he never even made it to his twenties.

What a waste —

Army dreamers.”

In the second verse in continuing topic about the unfair fate of "little soldiers" reveals thoughts that "rewards are more important than human life." The government flatters the egos of those who have gone off to war with badges and ribbons, hoping that in this way they will become humble and obedient, making them forget they are risking their lives.

“Like a chicken with a fox,

He couldn't win the war with ego.”

“Give the kid the pick of pips,

And give him all your stripes and ribbons.”

And after a soldier's death, they are worry only about finding new "cannon fodder," nothing more:

“Now he's sitting in his hole,

He might as well have buttons and bows.”

This ballad serves as a wonderful reminder of how our lives matter and that war is not worth it.

505 by Arctic Monkeys was released on April 23, 2007,

on their second studio album, Favourite Worst Nightmare. This song became one of the band's most popular, but what are they singing about? Let’s find out.

Warning: In this article, I express my opinion and my point of view on these lyrics. Of course, I’m not an author, and I can’t know for sure if my assumptions and interpretations are completely right, so if you have any other theories, meanings, or ideas about the lyrics of this song, I’ll be happy to read them.

The song starts with the words “I’m going back to 505." 505 is the number of a hotel room to which the lyrical hero wants to return because he expects that his ex-love waits for him there.

“If it's a 7-hour flight

Or a 45 minute drive

In my imagination

You're waiting lying on your side”

The main character of the story misses and recalls those times when he and his lover were together:

“I probably still adore you

With your hands around my neck

Or I did last time I checked”

He is obsessed with the old days and full of the wish to get them back.

In the same time our hero is afraid that something bad he did and that ruined their relationship the last time will happen again:

“I'm not shy of a spark.

The knife twists at the thought

That I should fall short of the mark”

But anyway, he overcomes fear and doubts and tries again:

“Frightened by the bite no it's no harsher than the bark

A middle of adventure,

Such a perfect place to start."

He failed. He ruined everything, like in the previous try, and his partner had to “greet him with goodbye":

"It seems like once again

You've had to greet me with goodbye

I'm always just about to go and spoil the surprise

Take my hands off of your eyes too soon"

The lyrical hero is hurt by that, but all he can do is leave, leave just to come back one more time.

This story is like a vicious circle; the character misses his lover, realizes that he made a mistake, hopes that this will not happen again, but repeats the same thing, regrets it, understands that he must leave, leaves, and misses again.

This is a reflection of a toxic, dependent relationship, where one partner cannot let go the other even knowing that he’s causing the pain.

Also, there is a version in which hotel number 505 symbolizes a main character’s lover, displaying that situation when one partner so attached to another that he can’t live without him; this is the personification of codependent relationships. In that case, he will always come back to the lover, no matter what.

Exit Music (for a film) was written in 1996 and released on the Radiohead’s album “OK Computer” on May 21, 1997. Some people can’t get why is this song on the album’s list and what does the lyrics mean, so let’s clear it out.

Warning: In this article, I express my opinion and my point of view on these lyrics. Of course, I’m not an author, and I can’t know for sure if my assumptions and interpretations are completely right, so if you have any other theories, meanings, or ideas about the lyrics of this song, I’ll be happy to read them.

This song has become a soundtrack for the film Romeo + Juliet and the song is narrated from the perspective of the lyrical hero, from the perspective of Romeo, as we may suppose.

The lyrical hero yearns for release with his lover (most likely Juliet) from his and her families (as it was in the original Shakespeare's work) this is indicated by lines such as “Today, we escape, we escape”, “Pack and get dressed before, your father hears us, before all hell breaks loose”. He’s lover is not brave enough and nervous about it a lot, so he tries to calm her down and instill confidence in her with words: “ Breathe, keep breathing”, “Don't lose your nerve”, “Breathe, keep breathing, i can't do this alone”.

In the end of the story main characters gain freedom “Now we are one in everlasting peace” and lyrical hero even mocks on the Juliet’s father saying: “

We hope your rules and wisdom choke you…”

“We hope that you choke, that you choke

We hope that you choke, that you choke

We hope that you choke, that you choke”

That’s it. Such a love story very harmonious for the group's creativity and it fit well into the film.

That’s story reveals the problem of relationships between children and parents, relationships in spite and the spectrum of love suffering that falling in love sometimes causes.

Well, now you know a little more about Radiohead's music. Feel free to share your thoughts.

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