Thinking Before You Speak by Lily Norris

I was first introduced to Melanie Martinez about 2 years ago when my friend was listening to a song of her’s when we were on a car ride. I liked it so I asked who it was by and listened to the album it came from. I found ‘soap’ and it was my favorite song because of the message that I could relate to.

Some of Melanie’s influences are the rock band ‘Neutral Milk Hotel’, singer-songwriter ‘Feist’  and musical artist ‘Kimbra’. Her genre of music is electro pop and bubblegum pop. Martinez was born April  28, 1995 in Long Island, New York. Her birth name is Melanie Adele Martinez.

Melanie Martinez uses metaphors and allusion to convey the theme that people always feel like they have to walk on eggshells around others because they are scared to say what they think.

By using metaphors, Martinez helps her listeners understand the theme that sometimes people feel like they can’t say what they are actually thinking. Just before the chorus she sings, “I’m tired of being careful, tiptoe, trying to keep the water warm.” (“Soap” 7) Martinez is comparing trying to keep the water warm and comfortable to trying to trying really hard to not offend anyone with what she says. This helps listeners understand that she feels like she always has to be careful but she doesn't want to be.

By using allusion, Martinez demonstrates how she feels when she's trying to be careful. She sings, “Should’ve never said the word ‘love’/ threw a toaster in the bathtub/ I’m sick of all the games I have to play.” (“Soap” 18-20) She is saying that sometimes saying certain things is like committing suicide. That helps the listener understand the theme better because they will be able to relate and find a deeper understanding.

The greatest strength of “Soap” is the ability it has to be relatable to everyone, or at least a very large percentage of people. An example is when it says “God, I wish I never spoke/ Now I gotta wash my mouth out with soap.” (“Soap” 13-14). Everyone has been in those situations where they wish they could unsay or undo something.

A weakness is that the song is very repetitive and while this can help the listener to get a better grasp on the theme, in this case it just makes the meaning less deep and meaningful. An example is how she repeats the chorus about six times throughout the song. Repetition in the song doesn’t make the song any better.

The theme is that people often feel like they have to be so careful about what they say as to not offend others. I can make a text-to-self connection as well as a text-to-world connection because I feel like that a lot and I know a lot of other people in the world feel the same way. Nobody should have to feel like they can’t express themselves for whatever reason no matter who they are.