“Evil” is the twelfth track on Melanie Martinez’s 2023 album ‘PORTALS.’ In the song, we find the singer triumphantly moving on from a toxic relationship, and feeling not so triumphant. Does this make her the evil person in the relationship? Think not!
Melanie Martinez released her third studio album ‘Portals’ on March 31, 2023. Prior to the album’s release, the lead single “DEATH” was released a week earlier. In an Instagram post, Melanie said that the album’s theme is wound around death and life and everything in between. This is Melanie’s follow-up project to her 2020 EP ‘After School.’
Oftentimes, it takes a while or a wake-up call for someone to realize that they are in a toxic relationship. The toxic-ness gets overshadowed by the few sweeter moments or even normalized. Once you hear the wake-up bell, it is time to move on. Toxic does not necessarily have to be abusive. Whatever behaviour that disturbs your peace can be considered toxic.
Melanie Martinez talked about the real-life inspiration behind the song with Apple Music;
“My favourite of the conflict songs. It flowed. It was a mental turning point, where I was finally able to articulate perfectly what I had dealt with in my last relationship. I wanted the lyrics to be the most savage—every time I wrote something, I was like, ‘No, it’s not mean enough.’ It’s about dealing with a narcissist who ironically calls you evil because you’re able to see through them. I spent the entire day blowing out my vocals recording it.”
Listen to “Evil” by Melanie Martinez
Buy ‘PORTALS’ Album on Apple Music and Amazon
Melanie Martinez “Evil” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review
Melanie Martinez finally gathered up all her strength to move on from a relationship that she recognized for what it was–toxic and disturbing her mental space. She took no time to move on from it and now, he wants her back! Typical!
He called her several times just today, texted her four times today, and she finally has the courage to not respond to him. Before, this would have caused a big fight between them. Now, he cannot reach her–or rather, she does not allow him to disturb her sanity.
It is not like she has never expressed her discontent about the situation with her partner before she left him for good. But those words were never received well by the other side. This itself is a toxic trait. He stood his ground and never changed his ways.
Nobody likes being told that they picked the wrong partner. Melanie’s friends did, out of good intentions. She used to dismiss them for the longest time until she could not ignore the glaring red lights right in her face. Finally, she won’t have to defend him to her friends anymore.
There is an old proverb that goes along the lines of “don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” This means that you can not afford to do wrong by the good people that stand by you. But, this man was the exact opposite of this. He fed and nourished off of the singer, and still used to diminish her existence. This cannot fly for long.
In the second verse, Melanie Martinez gets quite mean! She wishes bad upon this man who took advantage of her. Hatred is never the answer, but we can understand where she is coming from. She is scarred and it will take time to heal fully. He was a liar, bully, arrogant, ignorant, and a hoax. So, he had this coming.
Does leaving such a partner make her the evil one? Guess not. Everybody has a breaking point. Everyone has a limit. One can only give so many chances to someone before giving up on them. Life is short. It is probably not worthwhile wasting your time on a lost cause.
Let us hear what you think about this song in the comments below. Read the complete lyrics to the song on Genius.