background: in an interview with elle, melanie stated that soap is about being vulnerable and being afraid to express deeper feelings such as love, so it feels like 'washing your mouth out with soap', a technique used in older days where adults used to wash with soap the mouth of a child who would say obscenities. cry baby's struggles to say how she felt about her crush to him in this story feel exactly like this, that make her feel ashamed and vulnerable. she is afraid by saying "i love you" she puts their relationship in an awkward position. he'll have to either respond similarly, or reject her advances. either outcome will hurt, in the long or short run. the lyric, "threw a toaster in the bathtub" is a metaphor for the quick electric shock of change she made by saying what she said. it might mean sudden death for their friendship.
storybook art (artist is chloe tersigni):
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