Dollhouse lyrics by Melanie Martinez, 10 meanings. Dollhouse explained, official 2024 song lyrics | LyricsMode.com
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Melanie Martinez – Dollhouse lyrics
Hey girl, open the walls, play with your dolls
We'll be a perfect family.
When you walk away, is when we really play

You don't hear me when I say,
"Mom, please wake up
.
Dad's with a s***, and your son is smoking cannabis. "

No one ever listens, this wallpaper glistens
Don't let them see what goes down in the kitchen
.

Places, places, get in your places
Throw on your dress and put on your doll faces.
Everyone thinks that we're perfect
Please don't let them look through the curtains
.

Picture, picture, smile for the picture
Pose with your brother, won't you be a good sister?
Everyone thinks that we're perfect
Please don't let them look through the curtains
.

D-O-L-L-H-O-U-S-E
I see things that nobody else sees.
(D-O-L-L-H-O-U-S-E
I see things that nobody else sees)


Hey girl, look at my mom, she's got it going on
Ha, you're blinded by her jewelry
.
When you turn your back she pulls out a flask
And forgets his infidelity
.
Uh-oh, she's coming to the attic, plastic
Go back to being plastic
.

No one ever listens, this wallpaper glistens
One day they'll see what goes down in the kitchen
.

Places, places, get in your places
Throw on your dress and put on your doll faces.
Everyone thinks that we're perfect
Please don't let them look through the curtains.

Picture, picture, smile for the picture
Pose with your brother, won't you be a good sister?
Everyone thinks that we're perfect
Please don't let them look through the curtains
.

D-O-L-L-H-O-U-S-E
I see things that nobody else sees.
(D-O-L-L-H-O-U-S-E
I see things that nobody else sees)


Hey girl (hey girl, hey girl, hey girl, hey girl)
Hey girl, open your walls, play with your dolls
We'll be a perfect family
.

Places, places, get in your places
Throw on your dress and put on your doll faces.
Everyone thinks that we're perfect
Please don't let them look through the curtains.

Picture, picture, smile for the picture

Pose with your brother, won't you be a good sister?
Everyone thinks that we're perfect
Please don't let them look through the curtains.

D-O-L-L-H-O-you-S-E
I see things that nobody else sees.
(D-O-L-L-H-O-you-S-E
I see things that nobody else sees)
×



Lyrics taken from /lyrics/m/melanie_martinez/dollhouse.html

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Songwriters: Jeremy Dussolliet, Melanie Martinez, Timothy Sommers
Dollhouse lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Corrected by bunny12611

Dollhouse meanings Post my meaning

  • U
    + 22
    Unregistered
    I think this song has a load of hidden meanings. While at first it could be taken literally as a girl playing with her dollhouse, I think it's about how a home and somewhere supposedly safe can be the complete opposite, even if unseen by outsiders. Inside the walls of a house, nobody except those in there can really know what's going on. Themes such as illegal drug consumption ('Son is smoking cannabis'), cheating in relationships (Dad's with a sl*t'), alcohol addiction ('pulls out a flask'). All this, in the song, is witnessed by a teenage girl, living with it. Home is seen as a place of safety, but it isn't always what is seems, and although 'everyone thinks that we're perfect', sometimes reality is hidden from those not living in it. I believe Martinez wants to increase awareness for all the topics raised, and show that everyone has 'doll faces' and pretends things are alright, when they really need support and help.
    2 replies
  • k
    + 11
    kacnic
    This song is simply a metaphor. Melanie said herself in an interview that the album was a concept album; she took childhood themes and made them about adult themes. Dollhouse is about a broken family, each member with a different secret to hide. Though it doesn't directly say what Melanie's secret is, it could easily have been implied that it has to do with an anxiety disorder. The whole song has a very panicked tone. The entire chorus is Melanie telling her family to quickly get in their places and to make sure that no one finds out what's going on inside their house. This tone is also very heavily present in the verses. The bridge is the only place where the tone is calm in which she is inviting someone to come see just what her family is like.

    Clearly she is the most concerned with what's going on in her family as most of the other members don't pay attention to the others' problems. The only concern all four people share equally would be the pressure to make sure the public doesn't know what goes on behind closed doors [aka what goes down in the kitchen].
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  • U
    + 11
    Unregistered
    I think the song is about a girl who lives in a broken home. She lives with a mother that is obsessed with alcohol -> "she pulls out a flask" (a flask is a container that you drink alcohol out of). And a father having an affair -> "dad's with a ....). Her brother is a drug addict -> "your son is smoking Canipus". I think by "don't let them look through the curtains" it means her family doesn't want anyone to know what is going on in the house. I think by "put on your doll faces" it means she has to act all perfect and pretend nothing is happening in the house. I think by "don't let them see what goes down in the kitchen, it means either she is referencing what happens in her house or that (as stated by the person above me) she cuts. I think by "your blinded by her jewelry" it means that the people who see them in public don't suspect what happens in their home. Finally, by "I see things that nobody else sees" it means she is the only one who knows what happens in her home while everyone else is oblivious. That is what I think of the lyrics.
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  • U
    + 5
    Unregistered
    I think what happened is that there is a teen girl and that she murders her family one by one, because she hates her family.
    Her dad is cheating on her mom, her brother addicted to drugs, her mom is also an alcoholic. But the main reason why I think she killed her family is because she says 'don't let them see what goes down in the kitchen'. The kitchen is the only place in the house where there would be knives. I know there might be a loophole in this theory but this is what I thought of listening to it the first few times. Now I'm gonna go write a story of this on Sticky Notes (because I usually write stories there) and show this to my friend. Goodbye.
    Oh yeah also others (most likely her classmates) think her family is perfect but really they are not. This song tells everyone that we all have "doll faces" and we pretend that everything is okay. But we also have to learn that this is real life and not fantasy so we can't play pretend all the time.
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  • U
    + 4
    Unregistered
    Songs can be many different meanings, and even if one is correct, it doesn't mean another meaning couldn't be as good itself. I believe it takes place in a rich family with a beautiful mansion (just my opinion, not saying it's the correct meaning.) that seems perfect and has everything someone could want, and the entire family has many friends that come over quite a bit. Except when they all leave, the house becomes dysfunctional yet again. The main character of the song might be a cutter, referencing "Don't let them see what goes down in the kitchen." The son smokes, the father is cheating and the mother is an alcoholic and is aware of how dysfunctional the rich family really is, but drinks to forget about it all. All their worst fears would be for the outsiders of the home to find out really how terrible the relations in the family are, and they know one day the outsiders will find out, referencing 'One day they'll see what goes down in the kitchen. "Everyone thinks that we're perfect" is most likely saying that they cannot see any imperfection in their life and wish they were like them, and see them as being nearly royals. To sum it up, it's about a dysfunctional, rich family that appears to be perfect.
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 2
    Unregistered
    I think it means that people can think your okay but your REALLY not. The dad is cheating on the mom bc she "forgets her infidalities" The dad files a divorce. and the brother smokes cannabis bc he is stressed. crybaby (melanie martinez) is the only one that sees how bad this is. crybaby wants people to know about this. pretending shes okay. when she says go back to being plastic, that means that they have a put a coat of plastic under their secrets. and also when it says someday the'll see what goes down in the kitchen is shes either being abused or cut herself with a knife. they act perfect, but when the outsiders come they act normal.
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  • U
    + 1
    Unregistered
    This song really reminded me of the Dilaurentis family from the show and book series Pretty Little Liars. There's a family who seems perfect, but everyone seems to have some sort of flaw. It's clear that this family is trying to hide what is wrong with there family. The narrator is trying to tell someone that they shouldn't really believe everything they immediately see and hear. She's saying that we behave a certain way when you are around, but when we are alone this is what's really going on in our house. As for the fact that this is all taking place in a dollhouse, and the characters are dolls I think that symbolizes the whole Barbie doll thing. Perfect house, perfect looks, perfect everything really. It's unrealistic, and all just an act. Also the fact that this family in the song has a mom, a dad, a brother, and a sister is also symbolizing the model family that is supposed to be perfect, when in reality every family has flaws and no family is perfect. The whole "don't let them see what goes down in the kitchen" thing could be a reference to the fact that a long time ago kitchens were either in the back of the house or completely separated from the house making it be the perfect place to keep secrets since anyone outside the family would see it. Overall, I think that this song is trying to say that nobody is perfect, and everyone has some kind of flaw, and you shouldn't believe everything you see and try to be like people who you think are "perfect" cause chances are they're not.
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 1
    Unregistered
    I think that this song means that things aren't what they always seem. I hope that Melanie didn't live through that!
    "I think this song has a load of hidden meanings. While at first it could be taken literally as a girl playing with her dollhouse, I think it's about how a home and somewhere supposedly safe can be the complete opposite, even if unseen by outsiders. Inside the walls of a house, nobody except those in there can really know what's going on. Themes such as illegal drug consumption ('Son is smoking cannabis'), cheating in relationships (Dad's with a sl*t'), alcohol addiction ('pulls out a flask'). All this, in the song, is witnessed by a teenage girl, living with it. Home is seen as a place of safety, but it isn't always what is seems, and although 'everyone thinks that we're perfect', sometimes reality is hidden from those not living in it. I believe Martinez wants to increase awareness for all the topics raised, and show that everyone has 'doll faces' and pretends things are alright, when they really need support and help." Whoever wrote these words is completely right. You really pulled out the meaning well!!
    Add your reply
  • U
    0
    Unregistered
    And by "don't let them a see what goes down in the kitchen" I think that means she is cutting her self because kitchen is often used as a safer way to say that and like you said the father is cheating which causes the mother to drink and the son to smoke and She cuts? When She says "uh oh she's coming to the attic plastic, go back to being plastic" she means the little girl is coming up to the dollhouse in the attic and they have to go back to looking perfect.
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  • U
    0
    Unregistered
    Omg that is exactly what I was thinking. You took the words out of my mouth. And you also just helped me with my English homework. English is challenging when you have to write an analysis for a song of your choice. I picked this song because my girlfriend said that I'm her little dolly. She looks at me and always said nobody's perfect, I mean look at us we are both girls and we love each other more than Hitler loves Germany.
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    Top meanings Post my meaning

    • U
      + 22
      Unregistered
      I think this song has a load of hidden meanings. While at first it could be taken literally as a... Read more →
    • k
      + 11
      kacnic
      This song is simply a metaphor. Melanie said herself in an interview that the album was a concept... Read more →

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