Crystal Aura Gaze

“Teddy Bear” by Melanie Martinez is from her first album, “Crybaby” from 2015. At first, it sounds like an upbeat song, but it tells a dark story.

She sings from the perspective of a girl who’s in love with a man who she compares to a teddy bear. But quickly, she’s noticing that something is off. While once blinded, he seemed so sweet and harmless to her. However, putting the pieces together, she’s realizing that he wants to kill her.

I think that this song can be taken either literally or metaphorically. It can mean in a literal sense that she has fallen for a psychopath who puts on a charming front. Or, it can be taken metaphorically, in that she is realizing that this man is deeply disturbed and wants to hurt her emotionally.

But what this shows is how naive, blind, and innocent her character is. Not only is he trying to hurt her, he’s actually trying to kill her — and she still fails to see how dangerous he is. I think that is the part that touches me the most. And it truly shows how psychotic this man is because despite it all, she is coming from such a pure place, even when she is dealing with a man of evil.

Even beyond the lyrics, you can hear in her voice that she is so childlike, wide-eyed, unassuming, and unworldly. You almost want to call her dumb and delusional, but she is not those things — she’s just hopeful. But look at the horrible danger that got her into.

So, I’m going to break down the lyrics.

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Stitched you up, put you together
With cotton and feather
Gave you love, put my heart inside you
Oh, what could I do?

Opening the song, this describes as “fixing someone” with love. She’s trying to love this person in hopes that perhaps they will become more of a loving person. Putting her heart inside of him shows that it almost felt forced like she was trying too hard.

And you can see that she is comparing this to building a bear, like literally going to build-a-bear workshop. And there’s that last step where you stick the heart inside of the bear.

When you started talkin’ in your sleep
Saying the things you’d do to me
I didn’t care, I wasn’t scared
Now I’m findin’ knives under the sheets
Crumpled photographs of me
I’m in despair, should I be scared?

This is her slowly putting the pieces together and reading the signs. But still, she’s unsure. It might seem so obvious to others but she’s unsure of herself.

Teddy bear, you were my teddy bear
You were comforting and quiet
How did love become so violent?
Teddy bear, you were my teddy bear
Everything was so sweet until you tried to kill me

She’s comparing her love to a teddy bear. He brought her reassurance and calmness. He seemed to be so gentle and now she’s finding that he’s just the opposite. But there was a moment in time when everything was so lovely.

La, la, la, la-la
La, la, la-la
La, la, la-la
La-ha, la-ha
La, la-la, la-la
La, la, la-la
La, la, la-la
La-ha, la-ha

I threw you out, I didn’t outgrow you
I just didn’t know you
But now you’re back, it’s so terrifying
How you paralyze me

After everything turning so dark, she walked away from him. But he could not walk away from her.

Now you’re showin’ up inside my home
Breathin’ deep into the phone
I’m so unprepared, I’m f-kin’ scared

And now it’s too late. He has made up his mind that he wants to take her down. At this point, she has realized what’s going on, and now she fully understands how much danger she is in.

Teddy bear, you were my teddy bear
You were comforting and quiet
How did love become so violent?
Teddy bear, you were my teddy bear
Everything was so sweet until you tried to kill me

La, la, la, la-la
La, la, la-la
La, la, la-la
La-ha, la-ha
La, la-la, la-la
La, la, la-la
La, la, la-la
La-ha, la-ha

Uoy worgtuo t’ndid I
Uoy worgtuo t’ndid I (tuo uoy werhT)
Uoy worgtuo t’ndid I (tuo uoy werhT)
Uoy worgtuo t’ndid I
Uoy worgtuo t’ndid I (tuo uoy werhT)
Uoy worgtuo t’ndid I (tuo uoy werhT)
(I’m fuckin’ scared)

This last part is the reverse of “I didn’t outgrow you (threw you out)”

She is emphasizing that when she walked away, it was not equivalent to growing up and throwing away your childhood teddy bear. She did not simply get bored of him or felt like she used him up. It was because she was scared of him hurting her.

Teddy bear, you were my teddy bear
You were comforting and quiet
How did love become so violent?
Teddy bear, you were my teddy bear
Everything was so sweet until you tried to kill me

La, la, la, la-la
La, la, la-la
La, la, la-la
La-ha, la-ha
La, la-la, la-la
La, la, la-la
La, la, la-la
La-ha, la-ha

And that is the rest of the song. This is one of my favorites that comes from one of my favorite albums. I can’t believe, as I write this, that it has been ten years since this came out. I will probably be re-reviewing the whole record on another post soon.