"Play Date", sometimes stylized as "Playdate", is a song by Melanie Martinez featured as the fourteenth track on the deluxe version of her debut album, Cry Baby. The song is also featured as the first track on Melanie's third extended play (EP), Cry Baby's Extra Clutter EP.
The song never received a music video; however, a lyric video was released on May 26, 2020.
Background[]
In 2020, "Play Date" got a huge rise in popularity because of TikTok. On May 8, 2020, Melanie stated that she was working on a music video during the COVID-19 pandemic. [1] However, during a live stream on Instagram, Melanie stated that it is very unlikely that a "Play Date" music video will be filmed. Instead, she decided to release a lyric video on May 26, 2020 and focus more on her fourth EP, After School EP.
On June 17, 2020, a remix of the song with American hyperpop duo 100 Gecs was set to be released due to the song's rise in popularity on TikTok. It got only released in New Zealand before being pulled from streaming services. A related person to the group said in a Discord message that they worked with Melanie due to a misunderstanding that the rape allegations made by Timothy Heller being cleared up[2]; Dylan Brady, a member of the group unfollowed Melanie on Instagram as well.[3]
On June 26, 2020, "Play Date" was re-released on Spotify as the B-side to Melanie's single "Fire Drill", likely due to the song not being able to be released as a single because of the remix being scrapped.
Theme[]
This tells the story of Melanie feeling like she’s nothing more than a friend to the boy she likes. He constantly invites her over to play games, but Melanie feels he does not care about her as much as she cares about him. Frustrated, she outwardly proclaims she is just as uncommitted as he is, and that she's tired of all the games she has to play to stay with him. She wishes she didn’t care about his antisocial behavior towards her and that she could stop chasing after him.
During the song's ending, she admits to liking spending time with him despite his odd behavior. She states that she does not want to leave him.
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1]
You call me on the telephone, you feel so far away
You tell me to come over, there's some games you wanna play
I'm walking to your house, nobody's home
Just me and you and you and me alone
[Pre-chorus]
We're just playing hide and seek
It's getting hard to breathe under the sheets with you
I don't wanna play no games
I'm tired of always chasing, chasing after you
[Chorus]
I don't give a fuck about you anyways
Whoever said I give a shit 'bout you?
You never share your toys or communicate
I guess I'm just a play date to you
[Verse 2]
Wake up in your bedroom and there's nothin' left to say
When I try to talk, you're always playing board games
I wish I had monopoly over your mind
I wish I didn't care all the time
[Pre-chorus]
We're just playing hide and seek
It's getting hard to breathe under the sheets with you
I don't wanna play no games
I'm tired of always chasing, chasing after you
[Chorus]
I don't give a fuck about you anyways
Whoever said I give a shit 'bout you?
You never share your toys or communicate
I guess I'm just a play date to you
[Bridge]
Ring around the rosy
I never know, I never know what you need
Ring around the rosy
I wanna give you, wanna give you what you need
[Chorus]
I don't give a fuck about you anyways
Whoever said I give a shit 'bout you?
You never share your toys or communicate
I guess I'm just a play date to you
[Outro]
You know I give a fuck about you every day
Guess it's time that I tell you the truth
If I share my toys, will you let me stay?
Don't wanna leave this play date with you
[Verse 1]
You call me on the telephone, you feel so far away
You tell me to come over, there's some games you wanna play
I'm walking to your house, nobody's home
Just me and you and you and me alone
[Pre-chorus]
We're just playing hide and seek
It's getting hard to breathe under the sheets with you
I don't wanna play no games
I'm tired of always chasing, chasing after you
[Chorus]
I don't give a fuck about you anyways
Whoever said I give a shit 'bout you?
You never share your toys or communicate
I guess I'm just a play date to you
[Verse 2]
Wake up in your bedroom and there's nothin' left to say
When I try to talk, you're always playing board games
I wish I had monopoly over your mind
I wish I didn't care all the time
[Pre-chorus]
We're just playing hide and seek
It's getting hard to breathe under the sheets with you
I don't wanna play no games
I'm tired of always chasing, chasing after you
[Chorus]
I don't give a fuck about you anyways
Whoever said I give a shit 'bout you?
You never share your toys or communicate
I guess I'm just a play date to you
[Bridge]
Ring around the rosy
I never know, I never know what you need
Ring around the rosy
I wanna give you, wanna give you what you need
[Chorus]
I don't give a fuck about you anyways
Whoever said I give a shit 'bout you?
You never share your toys or communicate
I guess I'm just a play date to you
[Outro]
You know I give a fuck about you every day
Guess it's time that I tell you the truth
If I share my toys, will you let me stay?
Don't wanna leave this play date with you
Official versions[]
| Version | Released on | Release date | Producer(s) | Creation date | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ▶ | Final | Single ("Fire Drill") • Cry Baby (Deluxe Edition) • Cry Baby's Extra Clutter EP | August 14, 2015 | Michael Keenan | 2015 | 2:59 |
| ▶ | Clean version | Cry Baby (Deluxe Edition) | August 14, 2015 [note 1] | Michael Keenan | 2015 | 2:59 |
| Instrumental | Unreleased | May 20, 2020 (leaked) | Michael Keenan | 2015 | 2:59 | |
| Remixes | ||||||
| 100 Gecs Remix | Single (withdrawn) [note 2] | June 17, 2020 | Michael Keenan, 100 Gecs | 2020 | 2:29 | |
| Demos | ||||||
| "Play Date 1" (demo) | Unreleased | October 15, 2020 (leaked) | Jennifer Decilveo | December 17, 2014 | 3:21 | |
Live performances[]
"Play Date" was performed at:
Tours
- Cry Baby Tour (debut performance)
- CAN'T WAIT TILL I'M OUT OF K-12
- PORTALS Tour
- The Trilogy Tour
Festivals
Tours
- Cry Baby Tour (debut performance)
- CAN'T WAIT TILL I'M OUT OF K-12
- PORTALS Tour
- The Trilogy Tour
Festivals
Gallery[]
|
To view the gallery of Play Date, click here.
|
Lyric video[]
The video starts with a rushton doll taking out a letter from a mailbox. The video follows a relationship between two dolls, specifically a cat and a bunny. The two dolls communicate using letters and cards throughout the video. Eventually, the dolls express their dissatisfaction with the relationship they have with each other. This angers both sides.
Later, blood starts to appear all throughout the video, which suggests violence happening between the two. The dolls are then shown to be covered in blood, having visible bruises. In the end, the two dolls make up with each other and they share a hug before the video ends.
Just Dance Gameplay[]
The map starts with a scenery of snail-like creatures, and mushroom houses gathering up outside at night with the word “Play Date” being presented. Then, light illuminates, revealing a gigantic hermit crab creature that is overgrown with mushrooms and pipes. In the center of the hermit crab creatures shell, is a stage. As it pans inward, the curtains pull back and reveals, Vanessa. The coach of the map. She starts to dance in a (what seems to be) a ballroom, accompanied by various snail-like creatures at tables, drinking nectar. Other snail creatures are pulling cloth from balconies and various height places. As the dance comes to the end of the first chorus, the curtains close, but Vanessa continues to do the same dance from the previous verse. At the beginning of the second chorus, the curtains open up to a different scenery from before, and Vanessa does a costume change. At the end of the dance, Vanessa bows and farewells before the curtains close. The camera pans out of the stage, and zooms out to the outside world. The outside is now morning with the snail creatures jumping and cheering with joy. The hermit crab stage disappears.
Trivia[]
- "Play Date" is currently Melanie's most streamed song on Spotify.
- In the clean version, the word "fuck" in the chorus is barely censored.
- "Play Date" was the only song from the Cry Baby era to be performed during the CAN'T WAIT TILL I'M OUT OF K-12 virtual concert held in December 2020, as the rest of the songs that were performed were from K-12 and After School EP.
- Despite being on the deluxe version of Cry Baby, this song is not part of Cry Baby's story, though she still is the main character of them.
- This also applies to "Teddy Bear" and "Cake".
- "Play Date" was certified gold by the RIAA on May 1, 2020.
- It was then certified platinum on December 8, 2020.
- It was then certified 2x multi-platinum on July 15, 2022.
- This is the shortest song on the deluxe version of the album, as well as on Cry Baby's Extra Clutter EP.
- In the transition from the end of the verses to the chorus, the sound of dice rolling can be heard.
- On the deluxe version of the album, "Play Date" replaced "Half Hearted" at the last minute.[4]
- On April 23 2020, the hashtag "#STREAMPLAYDATE" was starting to spread on Instagram and Twitter. The hashtag was created to mark the beginning of "Play Date" climbing the alternative song chart on iTunes after a slowed-down version of the song blew up and started trending on TikTok.
- Melanie addressed this achievement on Instagram on April 28, 2020 as "the best birthday present ever" in a post about her birthday.[5]
- After the song's sudden rise in popularity, Melanie also released a line of merchandise for the song.[6]
- This is the first song on Cry Baby to reach 500,000,000 streams on Spotify.
- The cover art of the remix was designed by the Brazilian artist Alef Vernon, who also designed the art present in the lyric video of the song.[7]
- This is the first and only (if not counting the music video of "Alphabet Boy") song made by Melanie to have an official lyric video.
- This is Melanie's most streamed song on the deluxe version of Cry Baby. On the standard version, "Pacify Her" is the most streamed song.
- This is the only deluxe track on The Trilogy Tour setlist.
- On April 2, 2025, "Play Date" surpassed 900 million streams on Spotify.
- This is Melanie's first song to be featured in the game "Just Dance". It is included in the 2025 Edition.[8]
- It is featured as a fully animated map in the game.
- This track samples Think (About It) by Lyn Collins.
Notes[]
- ↑ Originally, the clean version was only available on iTunes and Anghami. However, starting mid-2020, this version was made available in multiple countries on other streaming services such as Spotify.
- ↑ This remix was set to release on June 17, 2020. This song first released in countries such as New Zealand due to timezones. However, before the remix was able to be released in other countries, the remix was pulled from streaming platforms due to 100 Gecs not wanting to associate with Melanie after backlash from fans regarding the allegations.
References[]
- ↑ https://www.idolator.com/7910334/interview-melanie-martinez-talks-play-date-quarantine?chrome=1
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ https://www.idolator.com/7600888/melanie-martinez-cry-baby-cover-tracklist
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/B_i9JBXj6Oo/
- ↑ https://store.melaniemartinezmusic.com/play-date.html
- ↑ https://twitter.com/alefvernon/status/1265395111191609352
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A69WaHE8BgQ
[]
v • e  | |
|---|---|
| Featured Tracks | Play Date • Teddy Bear • Cake • Gingerbread Man |
| Characters | Cry Baby • Rushton Dolls |
| Producers | Michael Keenan • Jennifer Decilveo • CJ Baran • Felix Snow • Arthur McArthur |
| Related | Cry Baby • Merchandise • The Trilogy Tour |