Monday, 10 October 2016

Training Wheels - Melanie Martinez

Melanie Martinez is one of my favourite artists, she has a very distinct style and writes songs that have depth, a story and large symbolism. This is why I am interested in creating an alternative music video to one of her songs.

One of my favourite songs of hers is Training Wheels. Here is the link to her music video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKBB1VufWCg and below are the lyrics.



TRAINING WHEELS LYRICS



Riding down, riding down
My hand on your seat
The whole way round
I carry band-aids on me now

For when your soft hands hit the jagged ground

Wheels aren't even touching the ground

Scared to take them off but they're so worn down
Promise I won't push you straight to the dirt
If you promise me you'll take them off first

[2x]
Love everything you do
When you call me fucking dumb for the stupid shit I do
Wanna ride my bike with you
Fully undressed,
No training wheels left for you
I'll pull them off for you

Letting go, letting go
Telling you things you already know
I explode, I explode
Asking you where you want us to go
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?

[2x]
Love everything you do
When you call me fucking dumb for the stupid shit I do
Wanna ride my bike with you
Fully undressed,
No training wheels left for you
I'll pull them off for you

(Love everything you do)
(Let me ride my bike with you)
(No training wheels left for you)

[2x]
I love everything you do
When you call me fucking dumb for the stupid shit I do
Wanna ride my bike with you
Fully undressed,
No training wheels left for you
I'll pull them off for you


Here are the symbolic references in the lyrics that I found on this website http://genius.com/Melanie-martinez-training-wheels-lyrics : 
Cry Baby is attracted to a boy who seems to be not interested in her.
He’s on a bike and is able to get away when all she can do is hold onto his seat while he’s riding–which doesn’t work out too well because bikes move faster than regular walking.
She now keeps a pack of band-aids handy when he falls from riding his bike. Which is very likely seeing as she’s got a grip onto his seat.
Crybaby knows a lot for her age. So maybe she’s making him fall on her purpose so she can nurse him back to health.
When you’ve had training wheels on for a very long time (in this case both are affected), they tend to bend up (don’t even touch the ground) after parking the bike on alternating sides.
Now, they are pretty much a dead weight or kind of like a “blankie” for the rider/owner (the guy) is scared of losing. In this case, they represent his hesitation to commit himself and ride with Cry Baby.
Crybaby promises to the boy that once he shows he wants to commit to the relationship and lay all his insecurities out that she won’t end up hurting him in the end.
Training wheels are attached to bicycles in order to maintain a cyclist in proper balance. As they get older, they become more conditioned to feeling comfortable. They become confident enough to take the training wheels off, but also become vulnerable to toppling over and losing their balance.
Melanie wants to get serious, insisting that she can be of help in relinquishing his fear of commitment. He can call her out on her flaws, yet it proves he’s invested in a way that implies they’re ready to move things further. It takes the bond of true soulmates to be bold and not hold back anything.
She wants them to be metaphorically bare and naked in each other’s presence—all of their insecurities are laid out, and without the training wheels they can get hurt, but she wants to take the risk with and for him.
The phrase “letting go” is representing Melanie and this person letting go of the safety and getting more serious in their relationship.
She has to keep repeating herself and reassuring him that she won’t hurt him like he has been hurt previously but she’s getting tired of having to prove herself so she explodes.
How you can see in the next lines, she’s asking him to be in a relationship.
He has been in serious relationships previously and knows he could get hurt.
Cry Baby wants him to commit to her, but does not want to say it outright.
She thinks the line is very cliché and is asking herself if it is too cheesy.

By knowing these symbols and metaphors within Melanie Martinez's lyrics in her song Training Wheels, I am able to create my own meaning with this song and visualise a whole new music video with the basic knowledge of the song. This is because it would be very hard to study her music video and try to re-create it without knowing the core elements of the song. 

BRAINSTORMING IDEAS:
  • Obviously, because the music video is about a girl and a boy on a bicycle, I am going to incorporate this concept in my music video. In no way am I copying her original music video, but it seems like a very crucial part of the story that needs to be included in the film.
  • An idea that I thought was because Melanie Martinez's style is so childish and has many references to childhood activities and objects (eg. teddy bears, training wheels[!!], pacifier, mrs potato head doll) I could have my main characters in the music video be children. However, the only reason why I wouldn't go through with this plan is because Melanie Martinez's theme is that she plays a character (named CryBaby) where she, a grown woman, dresses up as a small child and acts like one. [I will ask Mr Andrews about the task, hopefully I am able to change the concept in my recreaction of the video]
  • A storyline that entails a small girl that really likes a boy at kindergarten, they always exchange paintings and sit next to each other in class, however the girl looks at the boy wanting more from the relationship. [The only problem with this idea is that there MIGHT be a slight suggestion of child exploitation because the lyrics say 'fully undressed, not training wheels left for you' even though it means metaphorically 'naked' and comfortable with each other.] 

1 comment:

  1. This is entirely unacceptable for safety and tracking purposes. To achieve this, many fatbike rims have parallel sets of spoke holes, making building an offset rim easier. The rime is built and dished 17.5mm to the left to achieve the result of having the tire/wheel be on the center-line of the bikeUsed Tyres Sydney

    ReplyDelete