Hi Sorry Just Gonna Rant About The Song I'm Currently Obsessing Over (The Milk Carton By Madilyn Mei)

Hi sorry just gonna rant about the song I'm currently obsessing over (The Milk Carton by Madilyn Mei)

(I'll be saying "they" and "the person" instead of "her" and "Madilyn Mei" cause it's my interpretation of the music, not Madilyn's. (Future Luna here, I'll also be using "you" apparently.))

Okay okay sooo... I've seen a variety of interpretations for this song, but personally I think of it as a person who is growing up and suddenly being thrust into the adult or 'real world'.

So, starting with the first lines:

"I think I really miss my bed / Oh when, oh when will the nightmare end?" - so, I can see this in two ways;

One, with the bed part being a metaphor. The person misses the comfort and easiness of when they were younger, (their bed,) but are now an adult, and can't live life like that. (the nightmare.)

Or two, the person actually misses their bed. They can't just relax on it like when they were younger, they have to get up and work, and do all the other things adults have to. (which is the nightmare.)

Now, this part:

"I had it good, I had it good / And yet I left and can't retrace my steps" - this one's pretty straightforward;

So, the person had it good as a child, yk had a good, happy childhood, (imagine that,) but now they've become an adult, they've left that behind permanently.

Now the next bit:

"You're gonna be eaten by a coyote / Run, little one, though the pack may follow" - so, I see this as the person being given some "advice";

They've just become an adult, (hence the 'little one', because they're still young,) and, well... people can be cruel. Some people are like coyotes, taking advantage of people who - like the person singing - are a bit lost. The newbies, so to speak. So, this is kinda like, the person's met someone who is going to take advantage of them, or hurt them, or something along those lines, and someone's giving them a piece advice of sorts, like, "be careful, don't hang around those people/that person, (aka the coyote,) cause you're gonna get hurt. (aka 'eaten'.)" The other person tells them to run, even though those bad people (aka the pack) might follow.

So, next line:

"Two quite thin, their brother fatter / He can still win, just gotta be faster" - this is saying like, everyone is fighting to get through life;

Some people are bad, but they're also just trying to get through everything. Even the coyotes are trying to be faster, to win the race - or chase, as we see later on - despite their disadvantages.

Next up:

"Run for the yard, they've barred up the gutter / That was our route, better find another" - this is about the unpredictability and difficulties;

There are a lot of challenges as you grow up, and sometimes you have to improvise, to find another way when you can't go the route you wanted. Doors close. Sometimes, they can be locked; you have to find ones that aren't.

These two lines are some of my favourites:

"Was that a rabbit? Really not like the one / I'vе seen on a cereal box" - childhood vs. adulthood;

Rabbits are common on children's cereal boxes, and they're all cute or cartoony - not at all realistic. But suddenly you go out into the 'real world', they're, well, realistic. It's a comparison that is also seen later on; the realisation that the world is nothing like what you see as a kid, and that it's much less, well, happy, for lack of a better word. So yeah, I love this comparison.

It's also a bit of, like, you're actually seeing it in person now. You're not just looking at the 'real world' and at the adults (aka the rabbit) from afar - you're there, in person.

"And the birds don't talk / Likе the ones on screen / Have they really domesticated me?" - like the rabbit, it's childhood vs. adulthood;

Birds talking is very much from children's shows, and really illustrates how the world you see when you're younger is much prettier that what it actually is. You're looking at it with rose tinted glasses.

And again, like the rabbit, the change from seeing things in person, and actually being there in the world, compared to seeing it through a screen as a child.

Then, it talks about having been domesticated. There are two meanings that could fit with this.

Firstly, being domesticated as in "make (someone) fond of and good at home life and the tasks that it involves." In this case, making them used to how life is as a child, and not prepared for life later on.

The other meaning it could fit is "tame (an animal) and keep it as a pet or on a farm." Now, this one's really interesting. The person is comparing themselves to an animal that has been tamed. And this is just so interesting, because they're saying that they were so easily tamed, like a dumb, clueless animal - because, at least compared to humans, animals are generally at least a bit dumb - by this wonderful-looking world they were presented as a child, and never saw the truth until they were right in the middle of it.

Now, next part:

"Cotton tail, gonna end up in jail / Wrong place, wrong time / Bad tune but it rhymed / And lined up perfectly to blame / The one who is far too tame." - Okay, so quite a few lyrics in here cause they're all connected;

This one's quite simple, honestly - life's unfair, people get blamed for things they're innocent for, punished when they shouldn't, just because they were at the wrong place, at the wrong time, or they acted some way or so many other reasons.

Time for the next lines:

"And he say / "Out, let me in, let me in, let me out / Stop tellin' me all about your problems / I been to hell, still in, get me out / Whatever they are, I don't know how to solve 'em"" - this one's similar to the coyote one;

Other people are also struggling. They have their own problems, and a lot of the time, they don't wanna listen to yours. Everyone's struggling, everyone's trying to just get through this.

And the title comes into play:

"Say, is that the kid from the milk carton? / Can I do anything when I'm also missing?" - some more childhood vs. adulthood. Here's why;

So, when you're younger you can see the kid on the milk carton, but you're disconnected from it - that is, until you're also like that kid. You grow up, and suddenly you're not just seeing some of those struggles, you're feeling all of them yourself. Suddenly, it's all the more real. And you have to ask yourself, can I really help them? cause you're also struggling, so how can you help them find their way when you can't find yours?

Next:

"Something tells me kid / Never learned to swim / But can I do anything when I'm also drowning?" - this is the same as the one with the milk carton;

How do you help someone when you can't help yourself? How can you teach someone how to swim when you never learnt either - or, in this case, how can you teach someone how to manage the 'real world' when you never learnt either?

Now, next lines:

"Think I forgot a couple things / My brain is still at home / Home's far away" - more about being unprepared and missing your childhood;

So, they're unprepared. They've forgotten things, left their brain at home. They weren't ready and are now lost and confused. And now they can't go back - just like home's far away, their childhood is in the past and they can't go back and learn everything they needed to now. They've just gotta make do.

And the next two:

"I really thought that life was one big race / But now I know it's one big chase" - I referenced the chase thing at the start;

It's really simple. When they were younger, they thought life was just a race, but now they've realised they're being chased. They're not just living their life, (aka racing,) they're surviving while unprepared, and it feels like everything's out to get them (aka being chased).

You could also see this as chasing an easier version, trying to get a better life.

Next up:

"You can still win, just gotta be faster / You can, you can, you can, you can win" - more about life being a chase;

You have to win, to come out on top when facing all of these challenges. That's one of the biggest messages in here, which pops up a lot more near the end. You've got to win, to beat all of the struggles chasing after you.

Also, these two lines repeat 5 and a half times consecutively. Really trynna get the message of "you have to win" ingrained into your brain, prepare everyone else so they don't struggle like the person singing did.

It shows how the person is learning that winning the chase is what matters.

Now, next, it's been repeating for a while but there's a change I wanna talk about:

"Two quite thin, their brother fatter / You can still win, just gotta be" - at first, it was "he can still win", not "you can still win".

Now, it's about them. It's not talking about, "oh, other people are also struggling," like at the start. It's about how they can win. About how they can come out on top - they're learning, so to say.

Nearing the end now:

"Oh, the air is thick / Kinda makes me sick / Can I give CPR when I'm suffocating?" - This is in the same vein as the milk carton and drowning ones;

How can you help someone when you can't help yourself. Also, if you had barely any breath, would you give what you had to help someone else? Should you help someone, give them CPR, when you know you can't spare those breaths?

Next:

"And the birds don't sing / Like the ones on screen" - now the birds aren't just not taking, they aint singing either;

This is moving from "childhood vs. adulthood", and realising life isn't what it looks like, to seeing things from a really negative, twisted perspective. Now, we're going from seeing the world way too positively and naively, to seeing it way too negatively and darkly. From not seeing the dark, to not seeing the light. The sun shining, birds singing - that's all very positive things. Now, the person can't see those things cause there's so much dark. They're so focused on winning the chase, they can't focus on the things outside of it.

Second to last line:

"Have they really domesticated me? (You can still win, just gotta be)" - this is just repeating prior stuff, but I do wanna talk about some things;

These two messages - shock at how unprepared they were, and having to be fast and win the chase - repeat several times. These are the things that the person is taking with them. The shock and maybe even betrayal about the fact that the people who should've prepared them for this didn't, and the knowledge that you have to be faster, keep on running, win the chase, are the lessons the person learnt.

Final line:

"Have they really domesticated me? (Faster!)" - very similar to the last one, but I still want to talk about this;

Really hung up on the fact that the last word is "faster". The last thing you hear, the final message, is to be faster. It's not them reflecting on the difference between being a child and growing up, it's not them wondering if they can help someone when they can't help themselves, it's not even them asking themselves if they've been domesticated, although that is right before this.

But no. The final thing they want you to know is that no matter what, just be faster.