"LEECHES" is a song by Melanie Martinez that is featured as the seventh track on her third studio album, PORTALS.
The full song was first played exclusively at a streaming party on March 23, 2023. It was officially released as part of the standard version of PORTALS on March 31, 2023.
Background[]
Melanie originally wrote this song in her "portals room"[1] over a guitar loop produced by Simon Says from a folder that her A&R, Jeff Levin, had sent her. She then sent the demo to her producers Kinetics and One Love to finish production on the song, similar to "FAERIE SOIRÉE", "MOON CYCLE", and "Emerald". However, due to a Dropbox hack, multiple songs including this topline demo were leaked prior to the release of the album. Martinez later reproduced the song with CJ Baran.
The song was confirmed as the seventh track on PORTALS on March 16, 2023, through Melanie's social media.[2] The song's lyrics were revealed on March 27, 2023, on Melanie's official website.[3]
Certain fans speculated that the screaming heard during the transition to "BATTLE OF THE LARYNX" represented Oliver Tree, as the song was a conflict song. However, Melanie denied this on August 4, 2023, on TikTok by saying[4]:
"This isn't true. It's a random guy screaming from a sound library me and CJ were looking through. Please stop making things up!"
Melanie Martinez
Theme[]
According to Melanie, this song is about people who live in Los Angeles for the wrong reasons and how they act around people with the same spotlight.
Additionally, this song could also be about toxic people who drain and manipulate others for their own benefit. The lyrics describe the metaphor feeling of being surrounded by leeches, who push their way into the her life, and try to control them. It later questions how much more can these people take before there's nothing left to give, and the "luck of the draw" implies that sometimes we are unfortunately stuck with these toxic individuals in our life.
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1]
Leeches surrounded, conscience is throbbing
They can't sleep at night, hold their pillows tight
Caught in the river of tears that I cried
Bountiful harvest, they flock to my garden
Push their way inside, I go run and hide
They lift all the covers, pull me into their sight
[Pre-chorus]
Slimy and superficial
Straining their artificial
Yapping to seem official
Making it beneficial to their cause
[Chorus]
How much blood can you draw with your claws
From a flesh that's not yours?
My hands aren't yours and
Gnaw on my bones, no marrow
Left to keep you enthralled
I guess that is the luck of the draw, ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
[Verse 2]
Let all their friends in, the enemy's present
They don't think too hard about your fragile heart
They eat off the table that you set, so you starve
Stop all your breathing (huh), no, don't let them see you
They find any way just to make you stay
Right where they want you in their piss-covered games
[Pre-chorus]
Slimy and superficial
Straining their artificial
Yapping to seem official
Making it beneficial to their cause
[Chorus]
How much blood can you draw with your claws
From a flesh that's not yours?
My hands aren't yours and
Gnaw on my bones, no marrow
Left to keep you enthralled
I guess that is the luck of the draw, ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
[Verse 1]
Leeches surrounded, conscience is throbbing
They can't sleep at night, hold their pillows tight
Caught in the river of tears that I cried
Bountiful harvest, they flock to my garden
Push their way inside, I go run and hide
They lift all the covers, pull me into their sight
[Pre-chorus]
Slimy and superficial
Straining their artificial
Yapping to seem official
Making it beneficial to their cause
[Chorus]
How much blood can you draw with your claws
From a flesh that's not yours?
My hands aren't yours and
Gnaw on my bones, no marrow
Left to keep you enthralled
I guess that is the luck of the draw, ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
[Verse 2]
Let all their friends in, the enemy's present
They don't think too hard about your fragile heart
They eat off the table that you set, so you starve
Stop all your breathing (huh), no, don't let them see you
They find any way just to make you stay
Right where they want you in their piss-covered games
[Pre-chorus]
Slimy and superficial
Straining their artificial
Yapping to seem official
Making it beneficial to their cause
[Chorus]
How much blood can you draw with your claws
From a flesh that's not yours?
My hands aren't yours and
Gnaw on my bones, no marrow
Left to keep you enthralled
I guess that is the luck of the draw, ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Official versions[]
| Version | Released on | Release date | Producer(s) | Creation date | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final | PORTALS | March 31, 2023 | CJ Baran, Simon Says | 2021-2022 | 3:20 | |
| Demos | ||||||
| "leeches mel mix.mp3" (demo) | Unreleased | November 15, 2021 (leaked) | Melanie Martinez (Simon Says topline) | January 2021 | 3:21 | |
Live performances[]
'LEECHES" was performed at:
- PORTALS Tour (debut performance)
Trivia[]
- "SPIDER WEB" transitions to this track, while this song transitions directly to "BATTLE OF THE LARYNX".
- A man screaming while pushing a door open can be heard at the end of the song as part of the transition.
- Ambience of a forest, bubbles popping, and water pouring can be heard throughout the song.
- Another song, "Glued", also samples bubbles popping throughout the song.
- This song, "MOON CYCLE", and "WOMB" are the only songs on PORTALS that never received a promotional video.
- This song has an unstable BPM.
- This means that the speed of the music is not consistent and the BPM changes throughout the song.
- This also marks the first song in Melanie's discography to have an unstable BPM.
- Melanie stated that she would not include songs that had leaked before the album's release. However, despite this song being leaked prior to the album's release, it still made it onto the album.
- Other alleged scrapped tracks were "TUNNEL VISION", "FAERIE SOIRÉE", "MOON CYCLE", and "MILK OF THE SIREN".
- Similar to "Show & Tell," the line "My hands aren't yours"; demonstrates being controlled with the use of hands.
- This is Melanie's least streamed song from standard version on PORTALS.
- On the deluxe version, "POWDER" is the least streamed.
References[]
[]
v • e  | |
|---|---|
| Featured tracks | DEATH • VOID • TUNNEL VISION • FAERIE SOIRÉE • LIGHT SHOWER • SPIDER WEB • LEECHES • BATTLE OF THE LARYNX • THE CONTORTIONIST • MOON CYCLE • NYMPHOLOGY • EVIL • WOMB |
| Bonus tracks | THE HATCHING • POWDER • PLUTO • MILK OF THE SIREN |
| Scrapped tracks | Barely Juice • Corpse • Death • Dragon's Blood • Emerald • Fairy Dance • Fingers Crossed • Garden • Hawaii Space Guitar • Inconsistent Flame • Jinx • Labyrinth (version 1) • Labyrinth (version 2) • Magnets • Menace to Society • Mother of Pearl • Needle and Thread • Not Dead, Just Expired • Puzzles • Synchronicities • Tunnel Vision • Void • Walkie Talkie |
| Related tracks | Gravitate • Fragile |
| Characters | The Creature (Cry Baby) • Masked Dancers • Faeries |
| Producers | Melanie Martinez • One Love • CJ Baran • Verde • The 23rd • Pearl Lion • Simon Says • Cautious Clay (deluxe) |
| Extras | Egg hatching • Film • Merchandise • Portals Parfums • Melanie Madness |
| Tour | PORTALS Tour • The Trilogy Tour |