Dollhouse - Melanie Martinez

This song is about a family that seems to be perfect infront of people, but as soon as you look through the curtains you can see that they are far from perfection. The daughter is the only one who sees this, so the story is told from her point of view. This family is visualized as the dolls living inside of a playhouse that belongs to a little girl. Since the daughter knows the truth about her dysfunctional family, she narrates the song in an attempt to get the girl to understand her reality. The song opens with the protagonist speaking directly to the little girl who owns the dollhouse. 

Verse 1 

"Hey girl, open the walls, play with your dolls 

We'll be a perfect family. 

When you walk away, it's when we really play 

You don't hear me when I say, Mom, please wake up.

 Dad's with a slut, and your son is smoking cannabis 

No one ever listens, this wallpaper glistens 

Don't let them see what goes down in the kitchen"

The speaker is telling the girl to play with her and the rest of the dolls to create the "perfect family", however goes on to saying that as soon as the girl walks away, the truth comes out and suddenly the family is far from perfect. This is suggesting that the speaker and her family have put on a show for other people, but as soon as they are alone, they can stop pretending and go back to their true corrupt family where the husband is having affairs with other women and the son is doing drugs in his bedroom, whilst the daughter tries to tell her mother about what's going on but she has passed out on the couch due to drinking too much alcohol. 

Every time the speaker tries to make her reality visible to others, no one pays attention to her. The girl owning the dollhouse does not realize what their family is actually like. This is suggesting that she feels somewhat alone and segregated from everyone else because no one listens or pays attention to her. The description of the wallpaper makes it seem like everything in their family is polished and perfect since it "glistens"  It is also worth noting that the wallpaper is fake, which could be seen as another symbol that represents the way that the family acts around outsiders, and gives the listener an idea of how the dollhouse looks from the inside. 

Before, men used to beat and abuse women in the kitchen because the windows in the kitchen used to be smaller so the last line of verse 1 acts as a warning to those who might look into the kitchen. This is suggesting that the husband used to abuse his wife in the kitchen, but the speaker is trying to keep that a secret. However, there are people who speculate that the speaker might be cutting herself in the kitchen or doing some kind of self-harm since there are knives and sharp cutlery etc there, and also using the same reason as the beating - people are less likely to find out because the kitchen windows are smaller.

Chorus
"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"

In the chorus, the speaker is telling her family to get ready and get into their places before the girl comes back up to the attic to play. She also compares the dollhouse to a movie set or a TV show where everything is staged to look perfect. This is another metaphor that is suggesting that they have everyone fooled. The family is desperate to keep their façade going on in front of people, and they are constantly desperate to keep the truth hidden behind curtains. The girl has to pretend to smile and pretend to be happy in pictures so that they can keep everyone fooled. This is suggesting that there is a lot more to the picture that what you see. To other families, their family seems to be perfect from what they see in public. If there people were able to see through the curtains of the house and see what this family really is like in their own home, they are far from flawless with endless problems.

Post-Chorus

"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"

In the post-chorus, the speaker repetitively says that she sees the reality of what is really going on, suggesting that she is tired of having to pretend all the time and that she is desperate for help.

Verse 2 

"Hey girl, look at my mom, she's got it going on 
Ha, you're blinded by her jewellery. 
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"

The speaker talks directly to the girl owning the dollhouse, telling her how her mother fools everyone with her jewellery and her looks, when in reality she is a wreck and she uses alcohol to escape and forget about the fact that her husband is cheating on her. This is suggesting that she already knows about her cheating husband, and probably about her son doing drugs, but decides to drown her emotions with alcohol instead of dealing with the problem. 

The protagonist then warns her family, telling them to go back into their positions because the little girl is coming to play again, and ends the verse with "one day they'll see what goes down in the kitchen", suggesting that people will one day find out about their parade and everything will then fall apart. 

Breakdown

"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"

The song ends by reaffirming a desire to keep the facade, the veneer of perfection; to overlook the issues that have been half-whispered throughout the rest of the song.