"I wanna pick you up and scoop you out" is one of my favourite lyrics of all, I love how carnal it is but also how genuinely adoring. I struggled a lot with dependence at the start of my relationship and I think the song really represented that for me


I think for the most part I understood the meaning of all these, yay! I've always loved your lyrics, they're so well thought out and beautiful and they flow so nicely :)


One of my favorite things about your music is that you explore these fleeting feelings and make art out of them. I don’t know any other music artist who writes about these kinds of feelings, and it’s so validating to find someone who does and does so with SUCH care and introspection. Truly masterful


Whenever I listen to If I’m being honest,at the “could you love this”part,I always imagine that I’m saying it to my future self,like I’m asking her to forgive me,asking if she could ever love me.<br>It’s crazy how different of a meaning someone can get out of a song than the one that was intended originally.

Whenever I listen to If I’m being honest,at the “could you love this”part,I always imagine that I’m saying it to my future self,like I’m asking her to forgive me,asking if she could ever love me.
It’s crazy how different of a meaning someone can get out of a song than the one that was intended originally.


Thank you for explaining all of these lyrics. It’s really cool seeing the actual intended meaning and how it differs from how your life affects your perception of them. Also thank you for writing Before the Line. That song now has a special place in my heart because I’ve been going through a very similar thing and to hear my thoughts being put into a banger like that is a comfort.


Oh my gosh, as a long-standing fan, it was so fascinating and lovely to understand some of those lyrics. Before the Line has a whole new level of meaning to me. I’m really really happy you decided to make this video.


Thank you for answering my question and all of them really, I was having a shitty day and this made me feel heaps happier! Your music is so beautiful and I connect to it on so many levels <3


I grew up watching you on YouTube and I think its amazing to see how you've grown you shared your heart on here years ago, and I'm proud that you've found a better balance between your vulnerability and private life. I have all of the respect for you dodie.


I tend to have my own interpretations of Dodie’s songs and I kinda apply them and interpret them in my own life. Guiltless is especially important to be because it’s super validating with my relationship with my parents, especially my mom and how that affects me in general. It’s something I listen to to help me feel valid on days where I’m struggling and it tends to be comforting to know that someone described something Kinda simular in a way to what I’ve been through. There’s a lot of her songs that I’ve referenced in therapy exercises and how I interpret them to apply to my own life and feelings. Dodie is a brilliant artist, she’s always inspired me, and I think the fact that her songs are so raw and human, is so lovely. Her music has helped me through some rough times, I’ve loved her music for over 5 years, and I honestly think I won’t ever stop listening to it. Thank you for all of your inspiration dodie :)


I love the meanings behind your songs, I can always relate to them. The lyrics and message are very interesting.. Thank you dodie for your music~ 🌻


I really love your lyrics! I dont really have a specific experience that makes me connect with those lyrics.It just the feeling of raw and authentic and poetic makes me really connect to them. It's like reading poetry and you dont really know what the author meant but you have your very own interpretation and for lyrics to be able to do that is really really amazing. Thank you for doing this,Dodie. Get well soon!


I love how we can all interpret lyrics in different ways! Like for me, Sick of Losing Soulmates has always felt like its about being in love with someone and its kind of an unspoken mutual love but for various reasons you can’t ever actually be together. I was going through that when I first heard it so maybe thats why I feel that when I hear the concept of being “sick of losing soulmates”


Thanks dodie for crafting so many beautiful musical poetry! <3


'Sentences sit in her mouth that are templated' will always be one of my favourite lyrics, I love your music and this video - thank you for sharing! 🥺❤


I definitely relate to feeling like the friend who is open and vulnerable and ready to communicate. It's frustrating that some people feel the need to build walls to develop a mysterious personality. Granted, some people do it for protection. I love it and hate it at the same time.


Looooove this video. Your lyrics are always so beautiful, I love having some extra insight on what they mean!


Your line about dark politicians ending up alone always has me tearing up <3 I have CPTSD and am going no contact with both of my parents who are abusive and refuse to change - they are manipulative and gaslight me regularly - dark politicians will end up alone and the entirety of guitless made me feel so seen its like my anthem - thanks for all that you do dodie <3


When I'm sad and my head is full of furndocks dodies music always makes me feel better. Knowing someone can have some of the same things I struggle with and still make things so beautiful that make me and so many others happy really helps to get through the bad days


This video was perfect. Thank you. I'm pursuing a degree in music and I study songs by Dodie like it's midterms. What an amazing wordsmith!


I love how each lyric has a story behind it. GOD DAMN I LOVE THE WHOLE ALBUM. <3


I love that I stumbled upon dodie. I’ve always felt a deep connection to the music I listen to but some of dodie’s music speaks on a deeper level than most. I’ve never heard music that directly addresses struggles like depression. I have a handful of artists I listen to cheer me up or keep me going and dodie is definitely one of them now.


words can't describe how happy this video makes me! <br>love getting insight to your beautifully clever lyrics dodie

words can't describe how happy this video makes me!
love getting insight to your beautifully clever lyrics dodie


love love loveeeee this vid!! i find songwriting so incredibly fascinating, i always want to know about every detail. i wish i could sit down and listen to all my favorite artists explain every word and meaning and sound and breath and every decision that goes into a song, in depth. i love watching songwriters' processes too. i understand and respect why some artists choose not to share any of their songs' meanings, but gosh sometimes i wish they would bc its so interesting to me (also bc im a little nosy shh). knowing the stories behind songs makes me love them so much more


That was SUCH A LOVELY video! I'm so blown away by your talent and how much you think about your lyrics


It makes me a bit emotional to hear the lyrics that have gotten me through so much sung by you again


Thank you for making this music and sharing it with us! Every time I listen to your songs, i cry, because they bring back beautiful memories, and nostalgia for a past I haven't even had. I'm so grateful for what you music has done for me :))


I’ve been listening to you for years, and one of the first songs I ever heard was When. I thought it was a pretty song then, but it didn’t mean much to me the way that it does now. I started listening to you around when the Intertwined EP was released and I was young then. 2016 was on of the last happy years of my life, and things have been very hard since then, and some time in 2019 I got spotify premium and I was thinking of who I wanted to listen to and you came into mind. when came on and I started listening to the lyrics and it brought me to tears. I’d never related to a song that much, and at the time, I felt so alone and broken that I thought I’d never find anyone that felt the way I did. I was reaching for love that didn’t exist just because I needed to feel loved, I was constantly in my own world, and I was wishing life away. I was never happy with the present. all I ever wanted to do was go back to 2016. your music has saved me so many times. I love you so very much and I want to thank you for all you’ve done for me and so many others.


dodie u amaze me every single day. bap gets more and more beautiful every time i listen. thank u for this dive into the lyrics, it’s soooo cool


Thank you for sharing! I absolutely loved this. I love hearing from you and how music is created from the good and the bad. It's a very vulnerable experience. <3


just beautiful, as everything that u do. Thank you, this album help a lot me this year <3


may i just say that seeing everyone’s different personal interpretations and meanings that they’ve applied to various lyrics is so so cool this is such a great comments section


This was a great video. I love the breakdown of these lines when they are explained by the artist who wrote them.


Hey queen, I recently lost my dad shortly after your album came out and I continued listening to all the songs for a month to feel him with me (it had been on repeat for a solid 2 weeks before he passed). One last time please has got me in tears every time I hear it still and it has a very special comforting place in my heart, as does the whole album. It is a work of art that I am super grateful for and I can't wait to see you perform live in tilburg next year xx


I think Arms Unfolding is one of your best songs. That lyric is so beautiful. I’m so happy for your success, my friend. I can’t wait to hear how you progress as a songwriter.


your lyrics go hard no matter their meaning... you're a lyrical GODDESS. edit: watching this a second time made me go "WAIT, I GET IT NOW."


When I first listened to Rainbow, I was in a pretty dark headspace. I felt really alone and isolated from the world and felt like everyone hated me. The chorus, specifically the line saying “When I’m so used to feeling wrong, well it makes me feel alright” made me burst into tears when I heard it because it resonated with how I was feeling so strongly and intensely. It made me feel so heard and like someone saw me and said “don’t worry, I’m going through this too. We’re going to be okay”. My self-esteem was at an all time low and this song helped me start to get out of that and feel okay about myself.

I really relate to Hate Myself because it felt like you were describing my relationship with my first boyfriend to a tee. He was so quiet and introverted where it felt like he didn’t really like me all that much and all the lack of talking made me feel unworthy. I didn’t know anyone felt like that or had that experience so when I heard that song, it validated my feelings and helped me move past some of those feelings of unworthiness and feeling lacklustre and not good enough.

I usually connect more to the music than lyrics with most songs except for dodie’s music. I connect to both but particularly the lyrics. I feel so heard and understood when I listen to her music. So thank you dodie, thank you for allowing me to be heard and to feel less alone. I love you and your music so much❤


Ahh Dodie!! I always love to hear people break down their lyrics and it’s just so neat to hear your thought process when you wrote these lyrics and finally be able to understand some of them better, thank you for this video <3 ah this is so neat!


Dodie is so uniquely relatable to me, there are a couple “celebrities” that I relate to on a surface level but the way that I relate to dodie is so much more fulfilling. She makes me feel not as weird for feeling the way I do


I've been derealized since I was 10, I'm 22 now. Your words and music and talking about it--it's such a painful but welcome comfort to not feel so damn alone in this. Thank you.


i LOVE this video, thank you so much for sharing and talking about the lyrics. honestly i love it and them so much. i love the care you've put into everything, it's so, so beautiful. truly 'build a problem' is one of my favourite albums of all time, thank you so much for it

also, onto like, my ~own thoughts~ "when" and "before the line" are both beautiful, beautiful songs and i love them with my entire heart. but there's an odd sense of bitterness in me when i listen to them sometimes because i don't really have a clear line of when things started to go shaky with my mental health and before then. i don't really know when that was. i speculate 12-ish, but there's no Clear Point. and i don't really know why i'm spilling all this here, maybe in case someone can relate, maybe because i don't really talk about it. but it hurts sometimes, knowing that my teenage years haven't been clear and light and free even taking into account all the normal teenage emotions


Such an AMAZING lyricist, singer, musician, HUMAN! <br>You have a beautiful mind. Thank you for always sharing and being so vulnerable and open ❤

Such an AMAZING lyricist, singer, musician, HUMAN!
You have a beautiful mind. Thank you for always sharing and being so vulnerable and open ❤


I love when you share your thought process behind the lyrics, it somehow makes me love them even more. I care a lot about meaning and really feel like I can relate to any situation. My girlfriend is the opposite, she doesn’t care at all about lyrics, as long as the music is fun. We’ve been together for 9 years, and I always try to explain the meaning I got from each of your songs to her, while we sing along in the car. <br>She loves monster and in the middle, but it’s a work in progress

I love when you share your thought process behind the lyrics, it somehow makes me love them even more. I care a lot about meaning and really feel like I can relate to any situation. My girlfriend is the opposite, she doesn’t care at all about lyrics, as long as the music is fun. We’ve been together for 9 years, and I always try to explain the meaning I got from each of your songs to her, while we sing along in the car.
She loves monster and in the middle, but it’s a work in progress


Thank you so much for sharing! ❤ Your lyrics have been a source of comfort for me dealing with my own mental illness and has helped me articulate to other people what it's like to be on the inside of myself when I'm going through an episode better than I ever could have.


I love it when I have listened to your songs for maybe a month or two and I discover a completely new meaning to it, always such a fun experience!


I'm surprised about burned out! About "it seeps through her cracks and so I start to choke" my gosh I love it so much, and also it relates it to Before the Line for me now, that's so cool!! Also ohmygoodness I love Monster so so much, I've always seen it as a big catharsis, of going like"you've hurt me so much and you didn't even notice and now that I'm finally standing up for myself you vilify me, so I'm leaving"


i connect so much with the succession of songs on ‘build a problem’ from track 7 (‘?’) right through to track 11 (‘four tequilas down’, ‘.’, ‘sorry’, and ‘when’) so much. it reminds me of a time a few years ago when i was so desperate for love that i ruined a few close friendships to get what was fleeting and not real and not worth the sacrifice. i never got closure from any of the people involved because of how ashamed and embarrassed i was with myself, but these songs explain the situation from the very beginning to where i am now so perfectly and concisely. from the excitement of being with someone new even when you know that what you’re doing is going to hurt a lot of people eventually (‘who gives a shit, we’re messing around, she’ll never know’), to the regret and the shame for the hurt you’ve caused (‘i’ve known, i’ve always known, in the end i’d be sorry, but that’s all i am now, that’s all i can be, is sorry’), to questioning why you continue in these thought and behavioural patterns (‘never caught up in the moment, busy begging the past to stay’).<br>sorry for the long post, i just really wanted to express my gratitude in finding music that feels like a complete stranger peeked into my brain and found the words to describe a situation that I haven’t been able to express x

i connect so much with the succession of songs on ‘build a problem’ from track 7 (‘?’) right through to track 11 (‘four tequilas down’, ‘.’, ‘sorry’, and ‘when’) so much. it reminds me of a time a few years ago when i was so desperate for love that i ruined a few close friendships to get what was fleeting and not real and not worth the sacrifice. i never got closure from any of the people involved because of how ashamed and embarrassed i was with myself, but these songs explain the situation from the very beginning to where i am now so perfectly and concisely. from the excitement of being with someone new even when you know that what you’re doing is going to hurt a lot of people eventually (‘who gives a shit, we’re messing around, she’ll never know’), to the regret and the shame for the hurt you’ve caused (‘i’ve known, i’ve always known, in the end i’d be sorry, but that’s all i am now, that’s all i can be, is sorry’), to questioning why you continue in these thought and behavioural patterns (‘never caught up in the moment, busy begging the past to stay’).
sorry for the long post, i just really wanted to express my gratitude in finding music that feels like a complete stranger peeked into my brain and found the words to describe a situation that I haven’t been able to express x


when i hear “but it feels oddly good to hurt”, i think about the uncomfortable comfort of being depressed (despite that not being what the song is about lolz). the line “gotta get in my head, i’ll never be sixteen again” just hits home. always has, even before i turned sixteen, but very much so now that i am nearing eighteen. i love your music so much. thanks for what you do.


I loved this so much!!! I love your lyrics and I relate them a lot to a lot of things in my life and it's nice to know what they actually mean


I absolutely adore this video! I love to hear what you where thinking when writing these beautiful songs and comparing them with my thoughts taken from experiences I have had in my life when I first heard them! Adored you from pas de deux days and love the build a problem days even more than I thought possible


Ahhhhh I love this! I've done a lot of Genius searches looking for these kinds of breakdowns, and I appreciate and respect the balance you've found of "this is about everyone but it's also about me too" I think that's really neat. Also unrelated but your hair looks super pretty in this video lol


I love the little acoustic bits ! It makes the vid cozy and it amazes me how you sound like the recorded tracks (is that even english ? probably not, im a non-native speaker and it's 2am)<br>Anyway i'm so so so impressed by your writing skills ! love from france <3

I love the little acoustic bits ! It makes the vid cozy and it amazes me how you sound like the recorded tracks (is that even english ? probably not, im a non-native speaker and it's 2am)
Anyway i'm so so so impressed by your writing skills ! love from france <3


i absolutelly love when you talk about your lyric meanings. it helps me connect to them more contrary to what some might say


Amazing video, it’s wonderful to see into your mind as a person, musician and songwriter


"I made a promise but i break it everyday"  hits differently for me because i once promised someone that i'd stay but then i left. So im breaking it.


I’ll be honest, I wish I could know more about how you wrote When. It’s my favourite song of yours and the one that makes me most vulnerable. It’s the song that made me realize I had depression and wanted to end it all. The idea that “I’ll never be 16 again” was so… stifling to me. It was much before my 17th birthday when I got diagnosed and it felt like time was running thin for me. That song helped me make the decision to make an effort in getting better in my life, so I thank you. Also the whole first 2 verses are so relatable cause I struggle with loving and human emotions.


I had been reading the line "when you go quiet I hate myself" to be about the burst of anxiety when you're texting someone and there's a pause in the conversation and you start to overthink and worry like "oh no I said something stupid and they're upset"


i love dodie's lyrics and i love these videos, like when she explained intertwined I fell in love with the song, also my partner for my birthday got me her book so i'm understanding more of the old lyrics, i love Dodie so much 🥰🥰


I’m highly considering tattooing “I’ll grow the bones myself then”
It’s like both vulnerable and empowering at the same time which truly feels like me
It’s what I feel every time I hurt and I also love All my daughters so much.


Thank you. I love listening to your music and it was really interesting to see the thought process and meaning behind the lyrics.


for me, i thought of before the line as a song about losing your innocence or cynicism of this shit shit world, and i thought it was especially relevant given everything and i absolutely love how "i used to smile at every star and thank the sky, now i look up at all the duds and wonder why i feel like all of them are gone" so beautifully illustrates that


this was soso cool to watch! so many of these lyrics had different meanings to me personally which is so Sick bc you've managed to make them so personal and so relatable at the same time? and it's amazing how much thought and dedication you put into these songs damn thank u


I love this video! You're right Dodie, you ARE smart and I love creative, beautiful lyrics like this. You've made my day better!!


this was so insightful, thank you dodie. it helps a lot with my own songwriting. i would like to know more about don't quite belong :) for me, its an anthem for being neurodivergent, like others have said.


I love videos like this. Thank you Dodie


You’re songs are so raw and genuine and complex. It’s just incredible. I’ve never heard anything like your music and I don’t know if I ever will again.


whenever i listen to your songs about the pressures of being someone that people look up to like burned out or all my daughters i always relate to them so heavily. because i a lot of the times feel the weight and pressures of taking care of and being there for everyone around me even though i don’t have my life together


thank you for this!!! one of my favorite things about your music is your lyricism, so being able to understand them past enjoying really pretty wording is amazing!! :D (especially bc i struggle with analyzing lyrics, i’m fine with books but music has never clicked for some reason lol)


Absolutely loved this!! I would love more videos like this or a video of a song being made and your thought process throughout.


"Hate myself" is a very emotional song to me, as I am usually the one going quiet in my relationship. It feels hard to talk when you are overwhelmed, and even my lovely boyfriend cannot change that. But it made me try way harder to communicate when I feel bad. And now I've actually gotten better and I feel happier.<br>So thank you, Dodie! ^^

"Hate myself" is a very emotional song to me, as I am usually the one going quiet in my relationship. It feels hard to talk when you are overwhelmed, and even my lovely boyfriend cannot change that. But it made me try way harder to communicate when I feel bad. And now I've actually gotten better and I feel happier.
So thank you, Dodie! ^^


"I'll never be sixteen again" has been haunting me since my birthday in January. I know this is it, these are supposed to be the golden years and I'm not doing anything with my life.


Before the Line is my absolute favourite, due to my experiences with depersonalisation and dissociation. The first time I properly listened to the lyrics, I cried and dissociated a tad, but I think I needed to hear them... To remind me that I am not alone. My heart truly sung when I read an interview in which you described what the song was really about. Thank you Dodie.
Stay safe,
Win Xx


“And when I come to you and say my peace
Don't give me eyes like this is my problem, please
Folded arms and furrowed brows
It's just too late to admit it now, hmm”

I love bite back so so much


yes, the mouth feel! that's why i love singing so many of Dodie's lyrics!


this is about my own interpretation of when
So I’ve been listening to when since it was just the live version on the intertwined ep and I’m so happy its got a revamp as it’s one of my favourite songs but it came at a very interesting time.
When I listened to on the ep I was quite young and couldn’t wait to be 16 and was waiting until I could listen to the lyrics and relate.
The album came out when I was 16 turning 17 and it came with a very different meaning because of lockdown. I was 16 but not having the experience I wanted and I listened to when, the night before I turned 17 and just thought shit. I’m never going to be 16 again and the entire time I’ve been inside. Anyway yea lol just thought that was weirdly poetic.


Beautiful lyrics crafted by a beautiful being <3


I loved everything about this video<br>the talking about lyrics, the singing, the lighting and of course, dodie

I loved everything about this video
the talking about lyrics, the singing, the lighting and of course, dodie


I've been listening to you for so long now and what's hilarious is that the music you release usually aligns perfectly with whatever I'm going through at that moment lol it's great

Also, it's so strange that I feel more seen by a Youtuber I found as a kid than I have in most of my friendships. So thank you for being so open and ready to talk Dodie


Hi! i loved this video and you have been a huge inspiration to me for so many years, your lyricism is almost unmatched you are just so good at writing and expressing things, this video was super cool :D


dodie you are soooo good at explaining things, I LOOOVE YOUR MUSIC OMG ❤❤❤<br>hi from Mexico

dodie you are soooo good at explaining things, I LOOOVE YOUR MUSIC OMG ❤❤❤
hi from Mexico


:000 i’m so excited to watch this video!! there’s so many artists that i wish would do videos like this because i think they’re really interesting and u were definitely at the top of my list!!


"Guiltless" has helped me realize things about my own life. "When" has made me wistful for my younger years in the same way the narrator of the song does but likely for different reasons. I'll echo what someone else said about "Don't Quite Belong" being a neurodivergent anthem because it absolutely is. "Sick of Losing Soulmates" hit me (and was actually the first dodie song I ever heard, but it was the acoustic version) right as I was beginning university and a lot of high school friends were leaving my life for various reasons so I attached to it very quickly.


It's always nice to have the pov of the songwriter concerning lyrics, we all have different interpretations and connections with certain lyrics but sometimes having other way of perceiving them is nice


I totally don’t mean to be like “well <b>I</b> understood Before the Line 😌”, but as someone who also has derealization and trauma, it was surprising to me to see so many people asking about that song, because it clicked SO hard for me on the very first listen. You captured the experience of trauma splitting your life in two SO intensely that I had no questions about the promise, the floating, all that. Cuz that’s my life 😭

I totally don’t mean to be like “well *I* understood Before the Line 😌”, but as someone who also has derealization and trauma, it was surprising to me to see so many people asking about that song, because it clicked SO hard for me on the very first listen. You captured the experience of trauma splitting your life in two SO intensely that I had no questions about the promise, the floating, all that. Cuz that’s my life 😭


Loved this video so much. Thank you and please do more if you're open to it! I love the way you write and to understand something (to a certain degree) straight from the artist. <3


after hearing the sneak peek of these songs played live I can't wait even more to see you live  ^^


I’ve always loved, “so which path will you take, ‘cause we both know a break does exactly what it says on the tin”


i just think it's so beautiful that everyone can take solace in your words and hold on to what they mean for them while still being curious as to what you originally meant, respecting your intentions and your stories but respecting that art is fluid and perceived


‘before the line’ makes me relate to the grieving of my mother’s death.
‘I’m still clawing for the strings, oh I’d do any fcking thing’,
‘and I am lying when I say it’s time to let her float away’,
‘I made a promise but I break it everyday’,
and practically most of the song. it makes me feel the grief all over again, the same feeling I get when I listen to ‘sorry’.


so cool! so glad to hear my interpretation was real close to your intent (I've always loved the line "Red pushing down on the green" and i felt vindicated by my interpretation when you explained it), and i gotta say i've always felt that like despite the palpable anxiety in "Hate Myself" there's a little bit of like, self awareness ("I'm not magical I can't read your mind/but how can you not hear the whole conversation I have sitting still with a brain on fire" always read to me as "I can't read your mind, but how can you not read my mind?")


aaah i love hearing you talk about the lyrics and your music! tysm for this, it's so interesting to listen to <3


i understood most of these lyrics similarly to how you explain them in this video and i thing its a testament to how well you craft lyrics to be beautiful and open but also that  communicate complex ideas (or ideas in general) clearly.


My personal favorite lyrics of yours are the ones in "If I'm being honest" and  "sick of losing soulmates"... Specially the last one, because I feel very connected to that song, and have a lot of memories attached to it ...
"Time and hearts will wear us thin
, so which path will you take, cause we both know a break does exactly what it says on the tin" - I love this part because it tells a complex story without being lengthy, and gives you an insight on the relationship of the "characters" involved, without the need to go on and on about their history... It's simple, it's poetic, it works.

Pero adoro todas tus otras letras, mujer! <3 Also, your hair looks beautiful :D

My personal favorite lyrics of yours are the ones in "If I'm being honest" and  "sick of losing soulmates"... -Specially the last one, because I feel very connected to that song, and have a lot of memories attached to it- ...
"Time and hearts will wear us thin
, so which path will you take, cause we both know a break does exactly what it says on the tin" - I love this part because it tells a complex story without being lengthy, and gives you an insight on the relationship of the "characters" involved, without the need to go on and on about their history... It's simple, it's poetic, it works.

Pero adoro todas tus otras letras, mujer! <3 Also, your hair looks beautiful :D


I've been listening to your music since I was 13... I'm 19 now and one line that has ALWAYS managed to make me tear up is "I'll never be sixteen again" I remember singing it over and over under my breath when I WAS sixteen and just starting to space completely out of my life. I wanted to enjoy it as much as I could, but failed miserably, and then it was over.


I remember that when you released "Burned out" you said that the line "I might just leave soon" doesn't mean anything related to suicidal ideation. It's good to hear you talking about it after all this time. Remember that it's okay to talk about that <3


I feel like I've always felt and understood your lyrics. Like whenever I listen to your music I'm like "huh, I don't remember giving Dodie my diary" lol


You emphatically saying “I’m really smart!” Is great to see!! I’m so glad you know your own genius capabilities


"Sorry" sounds like apologizing to my mother for all the harm I caused her


i feel like there's a dodie song for every situation and every one is so beautifully crafted


I went through something with a few people I was close to a few months ago and “Hate Myself” perfectly describes how I feel right now.  I still blame myself for a lot and it’s nice to know that someone else has felt like that. “Secret for the Mad” has also been a pretty helpful song. Thanks Dodie


To me “before the line” came after I came out to someone who I didn’t want  bc I knew I would loose her but had to, and right when I first started dating my first gf. It felt like I had two different versions of myself and there were parts of each residing in the same body before and after the line in my life where I realized which was right. Literally every lyric felt like it fit just right.

Also in “she”:”it feels  oddly good to hurt”. After always wondering if I had a crush on literally every guy I had a simple conversation with or thought was nice, finally putting a name to a feeling I thought was friendship was so nice. But it hurt. Bc I knew that suddenly, nothing was so simple any more. I ached bc now everytime I was around her, I knew what I really wanted, and knew it would never happen.


dodie, this video made me produce so much seratonin. Thank you. I will now go listen to your album and songs for the rest of the night <3


I just want to say thank you for writing guiltless. I feel like it’s an under appreciated gem of yours, but I suppose it only relates to someone who has also been through that pain. It’s almost sad when someone does actually understand it and relate, as it means they’ve been through the same pain. I know it’s a song you won’t explain the lyrics for as it’s so personal (though I feel it is easy to read between the lines of that one) but I just wanted to let you know my first tattoo is going to be “guiltless” as that songs means the absolute world to me. I didn’t think anyone could ever put that feeling into words for me. “You opened a door that a kid shouldn’t walk through” is one of your best lyrics ever and is so simple yet so true !!!


This was scrumptiously introspective.<br>Thank you, dodie :]

This was scrumptiously introspective.
Thank you, dodie :]


when I first heard the chorus from all my daughters it made me think of the younger versions of myself/my inner child and how I often feel like I am not who they thought I would be etc.


Thank you for this ❤ this kind of vulnerability is so tricky to navigate on the internet, but thank you for trusting us with it.


im so glad i watched this! i feel like i can understand your music so much more now!


Dodie, this whole video made my week. You are so wonderfully excited about your work. I'm so bloody proud of you because you are proud of yourself. Keep doing this thing that you love because you love it. You've reminded me why I love writing too. x


i think we can all agree that all my daughters broke us in some way or another


A lot of your songs, I’ve always related to in one way or another through the years but especially now the ones you released on build a problem I’ve found myself relating more and more to going through a break up and having an out lit of like knowing that comfort that someone else out there knows what I’m going through. It’s nice to know that I’m not alone when it comes to stuff like that. Idk


this is quite a throwback but “i won’t be done” is one of my favorite demos you’ve posted. i know it’s supposed to mean something entirely different, but for me the chorus means that yourself and others may stop believing in you when you’re in a super dark and seemingly inescapable place, but when the time comes, you’ll pick yourself back up again and say “fuck you, world. i lived, you haven’t seen the last of me yet”


These. are so different from what I felt when i first heard it. I feel like the next time i come across those lines they are going to be new songs entirely. I think we know you wrote them for your life, from your experiences but the same set of words means such different things to all of us and I find this video and its comments, so fascinating. :0 Personally, your songs have always been this vibe of sunny rain, the resilience of "so what" either you choose to fight it or to yield; your songs make me feel like I win me, whichever part of me, the bad the good, I feel like I win even when I lose. Am i making sense?


This is wonderful-- thank you!
I think it's up there with the video from years ago about working on your head/chest/mixed voice as one of my favs
Edit: "My Singing Voice"


When you were explaining the lyrics from the line I wanted to cry, I felt understood


I love that She was included at the end- as someone who has developed crushes on numerous straight girls and is currently in love with one, I can definitely understand the lyrics and the meaning behind them


‘She,’ is a very important song to me because it’s the one that reminds my partner and I of each other even when we’re an ocean apart


I did not expect to have a happy breakdown. Like, I finnally admit the truth. The truth is good, but it doesn't come easy. Thank you for this realization, dodie. And you do feel kinda like a 2nd mom to me, but please don't let me be of burden. Thank you for caring so much. I love you, flaws and all ( even the ones I don't see) thank you for being so kind. I cant wait to see you next year in Nashville!


When I first heard “in the middle” i laughed to my self that it could sounds like a song about a threesome, but I suppressed that and I just jammed to the tune and music. Well now that I found out it’s true…I feel like my younger self has been lied to


Goodness, I love your lyricism so much, thank you for this <3


I absolutely love Special Girl. It's a bop and the lyrics are perfect for me, e.g.
"Oh I think I was doomed before I began. Mm, sorry, I just know the way that I am. Oh well :)"
It's not a very happy lyric, but it perfectly captures the way my last relationship ended. I predicted it from the start, I even semi-jokingly warned him that it would end how it did. Self-fulfilling prophecy, maybe, but you can't change the past.

I absolutely love Special Girl. It's a bop and the lyrics are perfect for me, e.g.
*"Oh I think I was doomed before I began. Mm, sorry, I just know the way that I am. Oh well :)"*
It's not a very happy lyric, but it perfectly captures the way my last relationship ended. I predicted it from the start, I even semi-jokingly warned him that it would end how it did. Self-fulfilling prophecy, maybe, but you can't change the past.


i really love hearing about song lyric meanings, especially some more sad songs like these. music is emotion to me and so much emotion is given in these songs. love em


The first time I listened to the album I pulled up the notes app on my phone and wrote out all of the lyrics that stuck a chord with me 🙈<br>"Toe a line between sexy and sick" is bouncing around my head the most. I love the way you write.

The first time I listened to the album I pulled up the notes app on my phone and wrote out all of the lyrics that stuck a chord with me 🙈
"Toe a line between sexy and sick" is bouncing around my head the most. I love the way you write.


As someone who was once of the "daughters" who idolized you from the time i was 13, i think it's when you started showing the more human sides of yourself (or maybe as i got older i understood them), that i started admiring you in a more authentic way i feel like <3 thanks for being here all my teen years - sincerely, a now 18 yo fan who you got through most of their teen heartbreaks


“A nod of pity for the plain girl”

I misheard this lyric, and my wrong lyric changed the meaning of the song… I heard:
“I’m not of pity for the plain girl”.

I thought this was a girl-with-the-rainbow-backpack situation. You were mean to her because it seemed to validate you in the eyes of people who tormented you otherwise. You would say in front of them that you were not of pity for that plain girl with the rainbow backpack, because they wouldn’t call you a legend anymore if you said that. But you said that your heart ached for her, and you actually felt terrible about it. You were clearly in denial- you did feel bad, but you would say out loud that you weren’t of pity for her.

Then I thought about how this lyric affected the entire song- it is from the point of view of a person that is not only self conscious, but who is trying a little too hard to fit in. “I’ll close my mouth, I won’t say a word”. You will be quiet and let them do the talking, stand by as someone in pain gets salt in their wound. “Can you see the panic inside”- you might have been nervous that the others would figure out it was an act, that you did, in fact, care for the girl in the rainbow backpack. “What goes on behind the words?” This just added a million layers to the song. You told this girl that she was cheesy, made fun of who she was and what she did to fit in. But behind the words was a girl who was also being tormented, and someone who felt like they were not choosing to be mean to this girl- it was just how things happened to unfold, and you didn’t actually think she was lame. There were things going on behind the words.

“I’ll just call a taxi- I’ve got to be up early tomorrow again”. In this situation, anxiety and the desire to escape were probably things you felt very strongly. I would not be surprised if you said that your mindset during this time period was “make it through today and then you can go home and stop pretending.”


oh my god for 'im walking if it doesn't sting' my brain emphasized that phrase differently to where everytime i heard it i thought of standing in lines at an amuesment park with other people and they complain about how they dont want to walk because it hurts them(they'll only walk if their feet don't hurt, otherwise to them it isn't worth it) something that i would always get annoyed at because i like walking with blisters because it makes the ride so much more worth it; so i never got that line because i felt like it said the exact opposite of what the rest of the song was saying ???? WTF ?? but nO the 'im walking' is refferring to the phrase 'im walking' as in like 'im out'. as in why would i do that if it doesn't hurt. how did i completely misunderstand the lyrics but still get this same idea of pain adding to an experience thats so funny to me. i understood the song but one line will just fly over my head; that happens to me so often

I always interpreted it as wanting to be independent and not show pain e.g. after an injury to your ankle. "I'm proving that I'm a special girl because I'm strong enough not to show my suffering and that makes me somehow better than other people and therefore a valuable person." Kinda messed up tbh but that's why I relate 🙃


the way she described before the line I related to it so much. I’ve loved the track since I first heard it. I’ve liked dodie for a long time but this is definitely one of my fav songs of hers, Something I’ve needed in high school.


always wondered ab “ignorant trauma in one afternoon”, feels like you experienced a traumatic event in a day when u were younger that u didn’t realize was traumatic until much later in life


Burned out for me is a representation of me wanting to leave my own life not in a suicidal way but more of leaving my current life cuz I feel so tired and the 'I am not cartoon' line feels like I'm not perfect and that people perceive me as a cartoon 'happy, approachable' all that


hey dodie :) thanks a lot for this video! loved your introspection into the lyrics, I'd love it if you did more like these. btw, idk if this is the same for everyone but I hope it is; I don't think most us think you're perfect or expect you to be! It is pretty hard to believe or see when every single mistake is nowadays leading to people getting cancelled on the internet which suck, but I hope you get what I mean on the more personal level. we don't love you because we think you're perfect, we love you and your music and your lyrics because of how vulnerable you make yourself in your art and how you express your issues or thoughts or problems or just ideas through your music. it's that realness, that imperfection inherent to humans that you let yourself bring to your music & lyrics that I'm sure is what makes all of us love it and you and your art :)

so thanks for that! I'll never tire of scrutinizing your lyrics, I love how metaphorical and abstract but just oddly specific feeling-wise they can be. thanks for sharing all of this with us!!
love from Argentina!


seeing all the replies dodie is leaving for people feels so comfy. like she's a real, caring person and we get to enjoy this community of sorts :')


After watching this all i want is to make a musical out of dodie’s songs: they’re just so beautiful and so full of meaning!! Like these stories deserve to be brought to life so ppl can sit in theatres together and cry over them rather than on their own with their headphones in lmao


Thank you dodie, for being vulnerable for us!


the first time i heard guiltless i immediately sent it to my sister. "i'm not bitter, I'm just tired. no use getting angry at the way that you're wired" summed up my feelings about my dad so intensely and succinctly that it still takes my breath away when i hear it


you should do this for every one of your songs i swear i love this


It's so weird to think boys like you came out almost 2 years ago now - as far as music goes I've never felt such a strong emotional pull as any of your songs not just build a problem but all things.


Hey dodie!
What sounds/plugin do you use for the keyboard sound in if im being honest, i absolutely love it lol
Probably my favourite of yours and the lyrics are brilliant too


As someone with OSDD, derealization and depersonalization are a huge part of my life, so many of Dodie's lyrics describe things that I wouldn't now how to explain. But others have just a whole different and special meaning for me.

When I hear "all my daughters" I think of the littles; the chorus of Burn out brings the hope of getting to know the other parts of the system and yet the song express perfectly the darkness of the parts that still are living and reliving the traumas. But my favorite os and forever will be "Ready Now", it shows perfectly, for us, the whole process of EMDR therapy and our experience with it. I actually play it for grounding, when many of us are in a bad week.

I guess sharing our experience is just a way to say THANK YOU, DODIE! You and your music mean s lot to us💜


"It feels oddly good to hurt...well doesn't it?"

I WASN'T READY FOR THAT DOROTHY


I am so SO grateful for this. BAP has become one of my favorite albums of all time and this video just connected me even more i cry tysm Dodie 💗 personally All My Daughters -- 😭


Been listening to all of Dodie's music on a loop to get through the workday for weeks, and I've slowly gotten more random revelations about them the more I hear them, and it feels like a victory that I've interpreted so many of these lyrics the same way Dodie meant it! 😱😍 peak parasocial relationships wowow


I made a playlist of songs that represented what I was feeling at different stages of this roller coaster of emotions/situationship. Using the songs to process what was happening, and how it kept changing. Literally half of the songs are Dodies songs and they fit very well 👌


Ugh dodie I listen to this album on speakers, laptops, headphones and everytime there is just something extra and gorgeous I hear. Your words are beautiful but man I love the little details xxx


the way that every lyric it is so unique and perfect. omg thank u dodie


I would love you to do more tutorials for your songs. I love before the line and want to play it on guitar 💞


Her covid-induced deep voice makes her sound loads more confident.


This is sooo interesting, your lyrics are amazing! Nothing like writing songs is there, I love it, I have several on my channel now.


I’m in a polyamorous relationship and i’m the middle feels like such a poly anthem to me with the positivity of introducing two people you are seeing or have seen together in a romantic or sexual way. Rainbow has also touched me deeply because of my relationship style. “please step inside my soul… you’d understand in minutes” speaks to me so much, I get told by everyone that I am not okay with my relationship and i’m being forced to accept polyamory but if they could just live as me for a moment and feel the amount of love I feel each day for my partner and his partner and see how healthily we communicate to each other they would understand how good our relationships are.


I always interpreted the last chorus of Four Tequeilas Down, where ‘they’ is replaced with ‘she’ as the singer saying that her past self, or the version of her that knows better than to do this, will ‘never know’, even though that isn’t true. She’s trying to make herself feel better, maybe, about doing this, trying to seperate herself from the voice in her head that tells her it’s wrong, which is a contrast to ‘them’ from the previous choruses, which I thought was reffering to the other people caught in this relationship mess, like the S/Os of the singer and her lover, maybe. One’s actual people, the other’s just herself. That’s what I think, anyway


The idea that the artists' meaning of a song or writing doesnt matter anymore after it is put in the world is a literary concept called "death of the author" very interesting to look into


I never really considered "before the line" to about derealization since I listened to it very often

I thought it was more, of a suicide of a person, with the lines "I'm still clawing for a string, oh I'd do any fucking thing" and "I think that this really is it, I'll have to take what I can get."


Guiltless as a whole really helped me express my emotions about my father! At a time when things got really bad and he just saw no wrong in things he’d done and continued to do, this song just felt so perfect. “Ignorant drama in one afternoon” “I could never let you know, you’d never get it” “Now I’m the one who can’t let it go, don’t say it’s genetic” “Is it real? You believe you’re guiltless” All is well now. That all happened when the song first came out 👍🏽😂💗


The English major is me is absolutely living for this analysis (and I really respect how sensitively you discuss these lines with enough distance to keep yourself safe and comfortable without losing the humanity of the music)!


this is really cool. more artists should do something like this, like your very own genius interview but in a comfier and quieter setting yk


i have been listening to your music for a while now and something that always fascinates me about it is how the song lyrics may change meaning depending on how im feeling. ive gone through my darkest moments with dodie, and my happiest with dodie, and theyre always the same songs. they really remind me how music can be so personal and unique to everyone. dods thank you for creating this little sanctuary for me to feel my emotions in all their glory <33 - from a very devoted fan


I love the way you write so much honestly. Your greatest curse of derealization actually makes the most wonderful combination for writing music. You write as if you’re in the outside looking in. Creating very magical and almost disturbing visualizations for feelings we have all felt but never had the words for. The way you write about personal issues and humanely things is so “romantic” in a sense. Man I wish I had a big enough vocabulary to explain how I feel about your writing style, but this is all so can do haha. It creates this warmth of being found and understood inside myself and in probably everyone else. Thank you for explaining your wonderful work to us! Being so vulnerable and open.


It’s so lovely hearing you fish about your lyrics ☺🥺<br>Also I’ve been wanting to ask for ages, would you consider making a video about your clothing style because it is absolutely how I dress in my mind but don’t have the confidence to in real life!

It’s so lovely hearing you fish about your lyrics ☺🥺
Also I’ve been wanting to ask for ages, would you consider making a video about your clothing style because it is absolutely how I dress in my mind but don’t have the confidence to in real life!


My brain takes turns being obsessed with different songs on your albums. The meaning behind one of them will just suddenly hit me and it will be playing in my head for days. I absolutely love before the line. The emotion and struggle in it is so tangible and so relatable.


small things and big things, i relate to you so much dodie. when i’m in a bad place i often contort it into high sexuality. i also feel the urge to make people open up to me and have scooped out plenty of people. and i feel the need to scream at the world but also feel the line about the daughters. i’m so delicate but i’ve been through so much <3 love you dodie


I feel good about myself cause I feel like I understood almost all the lyrics correctly lol


“all my daughters” might be my favorite song now and i’m pissed at myself for sleeping on it all this time


Soooo Brave! Thank you for being vulnerable - here and in your lyrics. THAT'S what makes them so relatable for SO many people.

They're honest. Deeply felt. Beautifully expressed.

Just don't ever lose sight of the good you bring to the world. No matter how dark or detached you may feel on down days, know that feelings fluctuate - are fickle - but you bring insight, acceptance, bravery and joy to others every day. Changing the world a little bit.

Every bit "a Special Girl"!


Your music just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside


I was so shook when I thought you were going to answer "a dark politician will end up alone" It always felt like an intensely personal line, especially when I watched you sing it live. For me personally, I apply it to my sister, who was my abuser growing up. She wanted to work in the government, and yet she's fucking psychotic. The song always fit her quite nicely.


thank you for your vulnerability in this video, it was so nice to watch and see where your wonderful lyrics come from!! <3


Party tattoos has got me through so much of my life the past five years thank you dodie <3


“im walking if it doesnt sting” 💕💕<br>i love that line so much because its like… youre so used to being hurt and living with pain that you feel like you need it to live, and romanticizing it as a way to deal, treating it as if it makes you special. you begin to see yourself as a character in a soap opera instead of a real human. truth is, you dont have to feel like shit all the time in order to be special. but it makes you feel happier in the moment GOD THAT SONGS SO GOOD

“im walking if it doesnt sting” 💕💕
i love that line so much because its like… youre so used to being hurt and living with pain that you feel like you need it to live, and romanticizing it as a way to deal, treating it as if it makes you special. you begin to see yourself as a character in a soap opera instead of a real human. truth is, you dont have to feel like shit all the time in order to be special. but it makes you feel happier in the moment GOD THAT SONGS SO GOOD


i said this before but all my daughters is just so important to me in a way that it wasn't intended to be i think its amazing how words are so versatile and how our brains work u know!!!


I'm currently writing a fanfic, where each chapter takes one of dodies songs and builds around it ❤


Burned out was a song that I cried too and seeing you explain it brings me back but it was always so comforting to me


as an english grad i LOVE picking apart meanings for any media, especially songs, and i'm proud to say that i was about 80% right in my estimates of what these lyrics meant :D


oooh i love that ur intention w All My Daughters ended up being so different from my perception of it! I think of all the daughters being like little versions of you that embody like your best qualities and the parts of you that are pure and human and that you want to protect. but you’re screaming underwater, because like that maternal character that loves and cares for those parts of you, the mother inside you that wants to protect your inner child, is desperately fighting the waves of depression and self-hating thoughts that mental illness bring. <333


This video reminds me of what I loved about English lit at school I love it!!! I thought the line in if I’m being honest when you posted on your story earlier “I think you like how I plead” and to me I feel it really captures the feelings of inferiority when you have a crush to the extent where even perhaps they haven’t done anything wrong you idolise them so much that anything that doesn’t match up to the perfect picture in your head feels like instead they are mocking you


this video was so cool!! your lyrics are like, the best ever lol. Before the Line and When both REALLY resonated with me so like. thanks for sharing your music, it means a lot!


timestamps
1:04 If I'm Being Honest
1:46 in the bed
3:45 Burned Out
5:21 Guiltless (almost)
5:41 Before The Line
7:30 Four Tequilas Down
8:40 Special Girl
9:32 Cool Girl
10:06 In The Middle
10:53 Monster
11:18 Human
11:35 Sorry
12:21 all my daughters
14:45 Hate Myself
15:36 She


Umm I know you're most probably not gonna read this.. But I LOVE YOUR MUSIC and it's just that you're so freaking talented it's crazy.. AND OH MY GAWD YOU'RE SOO UNDERRATED.. I just want you to know ILYSM and GWS :) <3


ugh i loveeee what you do with your art…it’s so whole


"A dark politician will end up alone"
 there's that person in your life where, every time you have an opinion about society or politics or life in general, they shut it down. they tell you that you must be wrong and they know more than you. it seems to be that whatever the topic is, your view is wrong and there's is right.  you have to listen to them ranting about their views without getting a word in, wondering if you were being stupid. you dread talking about politics with them because you can never prove your point.. they are smart and they know it. they enjoy it. they get a thrill out of making you realise how little you know. and they're uncomfortable with the idea of you understanding, of gaining knowledge and standing up for yourself. because if you know as much as them then how will they make you feel small. they sit with their newspaper in the arm chair and you are scared of them and you hate it.
that's what it means to me anyway lmao ill see you all in therapy


the line "i am burnt out I smell of smoke, it seeps through her cracks and so I start to choke" has always been one of my favorite lines ever since you first put up the song. It really resonated with me at the time bc I was going through a really stressful time in my life where I was spreading myself waaaaayy too thin and I was really unhappy and was having massive panic attacks all the time, but the lyric honestly always kind of calmed me like "it's okay, see other people go through this, you'll be okay, you just gotta take care of yourself and take some time to fix your machine that you overworked" and I ended up quitting a job that I hated and finding one that brought me joy, taking more time for myself and self care when I was feeling anxious, and became happier with myself and my life, so, uh thanks for that lil line, dodes. <3


this isn’t anything about lyrics but thought i’d say that i am a long time viewer/listener/subscriber/ whatever n watching u clearly grow not only with your music but also just as a person is so cool and nice to see:’)


I wanted to get a reference to party tattoos tattooed to remind me to take myself less seriously! Wondering what "We're not bruised they're just party tattoos" means to you and how you came to that realisation? X

She did a Genius interview explaining the meaning of Party Tattoos!


I’m really interested in the lyric “Now every morning since the line between my lives<br>I greet the sun, and ask, "have I already died?” Since you mentioned that Before The Line was reflecting on your childhood I feel it even deeper now

I’m really interested in the lyric “Now every morning since the line between my lives
I greet the sun, and ask, "have I already died?” Since you mentioned that Before The Line was reflecting on your childhood I feel it even deeper now


i LOVE all my daughters. beautiful song dodie 🥰🥰🥰


I've always wondered about the line in Rainbow "I didn't think it fair, I was not to be trusted, how can I be proud of what a million people shout at me I'm not?" The whole song is such a masterpiece though ❤❤


I have definitely applied all of guiltless to my relationship with my parents and honestly in some ways it’s helped me heal but sometimes it just brings out all of the raw anger I have directed at them that I keep locked away because well, they don’t think that what they’ve said has hurt me so much and it’s literally built this wall between us and I’m incredibly bitter about it but… there’s not point in trying to get them to see how much it affects me so I’ll just keep it to myself. But it does really feel wonderful to blast this in my car with the windows down and just let all of my anger out while singing along.


Thank you for sharing <3 i really love your lyrics


It’s SO interesting because ‘something in me says that this is ok’ for me means that we are HUMAN and we are fucked up but it’s what we need in that moment, to feel the negative feelings, and it’s a comforting thing


DODIE this was essentially ASMR I love your brain and your words u r a genius xo


The part where she just says the lyrics to All My Daughters after being asked to describe All My Daughters was so funny to me


I      N E E D E D     to hear the explanation of All My Daughters. It has so my complicated and intense emotions like desperate, guilty, angry, absent, and overly responsible. It is definitely my favourite track in BAP, and probably one of my top 5 or even top 3 songs by you.
These lyrics all give me shivers:
"Everyone but me just knows / How to let go"
"Oh my god, I need it back
"And all this shit proves I'm alive"
"I'm not who they think I am!"
"How they love me / All my daughters / But I'm screaming underwater"

And then this string of lines hits me hardest, to the point where I wanna listen to the song just hear it:
"I'm on a train, I'm in a car / Washing my hair, I'm in the dark / I hate the world, and it doesn't care"
For me, these lines struck because of how horrible sleeping is for me. More often than not, I cant stay asleep, I wake up maybe 2-5 times a night and after the second time, I lose track of if Im asleep or awake and it carries on throughout the day. The constant change of setting in these lines are so accurately depicting what it's like. It's disorienting and confusing and all you can do is just go with wherever you are...


"if I could find the strength of fifty men maybe I could go back in again" - bite back<br>luv hearing what your lyrics specifically mean to you :)

"if I could find the strength of fifty men maybe I could go back in again" - bite back
luv hearing what your lyrics specifically mean to you :)


your songwriting is very intimate and i love hearing your inner thoughts about the lyrics. i write a lot of poetry but the way you put yours to music is so beautiful


i'm 17 now and i grew up watching your videos and your songs are such a place of comfort for me. i understand you're flawed and not perfect, but I appreciate that. you helped me learn so much about myself and you always felt like a big sister to me, thank you so much.<br>(also  thank you for all the videos you've been posting recently i forgot how much i used to love watching them and you've really helped cheer me up.)

i'm 17 now and i grew up watching your videos and your songs are such a place of comfort for me. i understand you're flawed and not perfect, but I appreciate that. you helped me learn so much about myself and you always felt like a big sister to me, thank you so much.
(also  thank you for all the videos you've been posting recently i forgot how much i used to love watching them and you've really helped cheer me up.)


and here we have dodie.. the best lyricist of all time


I've felt so close to so many of these songs because they came at very specific times in my life, or describe very particular feelings that I thought no one felt, or cared to explore. Even the more personal ones I could relate in some way or feel as if they fit in my own situations. Personally I love when I get to find out the meaning in which the author was thinking when writing, because it doesn't take away from my own experiences and the way i relate the work to them. This is simply a wordy way of saying that i love this video and i love your songs in so many deep ways ♡


Love you dodie! My boyfriend bought us tickets to see you in September, our first date was to one of your concerts, we will have been together 4 years soon 😁


I always saw the line "A dark politician will end up alone" as the idea that politicians are always telling people what they want to hear, and a "dark politician", however true the things they are saying may be, is never going to be appealing to the general public. In the same way, the narrator of the song doesn't want to reveal the truths about their own past and pain because they're worried they'll scare people away by being down all the time. I don't know if that's what it means to Dodie, but that's at least what it means to me :)


I mean, I knew I related to hate myself. But wow. I just. It’s just absolutely perfect, and it’s crazy how specifically correct it is.


I am a huge fan of hearing you explain your thoughts. Your imagination is beautiful. Thank you for sharing this insight into your music! It must be difficult to describe your lyrics in a single way when they are so full of meanings. I look forward to hearing how other people interpret your music to explain their own lives. I think I could always enjoy listening to you describe your world. Thank you for sharing your strength with us!


Really interesting to hear all the lyric explanations. I dont have any specific questions about lyric meaning but id love to know more about editing and crafting lyrics. I am currently trying to edit a few of my poems nd its so hard to hone what is important in the words... sometimes when i edit i cant tell if i prefer the new draft or the old one as it will morph into something totally new as i shift focus or tweak words... so yeah id love a video on editing songs!!


I don’t think there’s another artist that makes me feel as much as dodie


Just the entire song "When" is such a beautiful song to me and one that screams at me that I was trying to find something that I didn't need. The song to me reflects my being Asexual/Aromantic. I spent so many years looking and waiting for someone to come along and me feel that "spark" people talk about when they fall in love with someone and never once felt it that I missed that there are so many other kinds of love out there and sure I'm still waiting but I've finally stopped neglecting other forms. Because all forms of love can end if they're neglected or ignored or even just naturally. I don't want to miss the types of love I do feel. I don't want it to be over while I'm still waiting and asking when. Love "When" both the Build A Problem version and the older version from 5/6 years ago


OK but I love dodie's lyricism and would be down for a video where she interprets lyrics from songs by other artists she likes. Just for funsies of course. We all interpret songs differently :)


These songs really are ours and I used them in some of my most darkest times and I love u for that 😭


before the line is a very depressing song for me but watching this made me feel a bit better about it. cuz dodie's not the desperate agonized protagonist in before the line, not always, and these moments won't always be all-consuming


Ohhh this is so awesome <3

would you ever be up for facilitating a songwriting workshop or something? You are so freakin' talented and it could be pretty awesome. I run a wee writing org for sapphic writers - if it's something you'd be up for I can keep ya posted when our funding pulls through :-)


as someone w dpdr who also writes lyrics/music and who loves u and ur music thank u for doing what you do it is very inspirational and i love u very much


i cry to before the line almost weekly and it makes me feel less alone because i get the same feeling with anxiety and unrealness of everything. thanks for being so honest <3


I love 'all my daughters' so dearly. I felt acknowledged by dodie, that she sees me in a way. I have a past I'm not proud of and have done bad things but for her to say she's done the same makes me feel not alone. <br>I've spent many a night sad and crying to dodie and I remember meeting her and sobbing on the floor just in awe of her and her admitting she has dark parts to herself is comforting.

I love 'all my daughters' so dearly. I felt acknowledged by dodie, that she sees me in a way. I have a past I'm not proud of and have done bad things but for her to say she's done the same makes me feel not alone.
I've spent many a night sad and crying to dodie and I remember meeting her and sobbing on the floor just in awe of her and her admitting she has dark parts to herself is comforting.

I'll never forget when I got to give her a hug and said " omg you're real" and she replied with a laugh " ah, yes I think so" <br>Dealing with dissociation so often myself I felt the same in that  moment

I'll never forget when I got to give her a hug and said " omg you're real" and she replied with a laugh " ah, yes I think so"
Dealing with dissociation so often myself I felt the same in that  moment


I just wanted to say that as someone who was fully dissociated for 2 years and still periodically dissociated now, your songs have spoken to me. Your voice gives them such a dreamy quality that resonates in that place and me that barely stays tethered to Earth.


Having conversations with people is hard  so I think of the line “when you go quiet I hate myself” as, I said something wrong and they think I’m dumb and they won’t wanna talk to me again


I was like dying for a video about your lyrics, i'm incredibly grateful now 🤧❤✨


i’m glad dodie knows how much of a genius dodie is


Hello. I hope you are doing well. Thank you for doing these videos even if you arnt feeling the best. You are one of my favorite artists. Keep up the good work.


You always put so much thought and meaning into everything you create on so many layers, and that’s why I truly love your music so much. It feels like a warm blanket in the dark, or a hug from a friend who truly understands your pain, and is there for you. You’re songs make me feel something. Its help me get through a lot of dark times, and It’s nice to break free of that constant numbness even if it’s just for a few minutes whenever I hear your music. Thank you <3


i absolutely loved this, thanks for sharing, thank you for your art, super xcited to see you in brooklyn next feb


Thank you very much for sharing, Dodie! :)


I loved this so much, meant to reply to the story but I was having a rubbish day so didn’t get around to it. Got me feeling all emotional rn


despite before the line being about something else you still managed to nail my depression on the fuckin head with every lyric i had a moment of like "am i being stalked" bc of how accurate it was so ty for the music lol


Hi dodie! Im curious what “i wont take no for an answer” in sick of losing soulmates means? Anyway, i love you and your music 🤍


The way you put things into words is out of this world, such a craft it keeps blowing my mind


I’m curious but I don’t wanna kill that magic feeling so I’ve decided that I’m gonna watch only half of it. 🧐😏🥰


Listening to this and keeping track of every time I had the same interpretation of the song like "Ah yes, I'm going to get a good grade in listening to music. A thing that is both normal to want, and possible to achieve."


gahhh i was writing some stuff recently and thinking about where i got my lyrical style from and THEN this video pops up and it shows how influential ur music has been to me over the years :0<br>fuck this is so cool ur a huge inspiration

gahhh i was writing some stuff recently and thinking about where i got my lyrical style from and THEN this video pops up and it shows how influential ur music has been to me over the years :0
fuck this is so cool ur a huge inspiration


imagine being this lyrically talented.  i feel like the west end is legally obligated to fund and run a dodie musical


ooo this is fun hehe I can relate your lyrics to my own experiences sometimes but I also love wondering what they're really about and i was right for some heheh <3


I feel like musicians revealing the meaning behind certain lyrics is like magicians revealing their magic tricks. It is fascinating and interesting, but somehow it takes away the magic spark of your own imagination.


I used to listen to If I'm being Honest and Human when I fell asleep and hearing you sing it made nostalgia slap me in the face in a really nice way


One of my favorite Dodie lyrics is in She, “Cause she tastes like birthday cake, and storytime, and fall<br>But to her I taste of nothing at all” as a gay person who had a crush on a friend that line is just so gutting and beautiful

One of my favorite Dodie lyrics is in She, “Cause she tastes like birthday cake, and storytime, and fall
But to her I taste of nothing at all” as a gay person who had a crush on a friend that line is just so gutting and beautiful


my fiancée has always thought "I wanna pick you up and scoop you out" sounds like a subtle threat, so anytime the songs songs my head, and I sing it, she always shouts "this is a threat" after those lyrics 😆😆


i could seriously listen to an hour of dodie explaining what her lyrics mean to her… thanks for that!


My favourite song will always be  When. It’s grown with me from years before sixteen to years after. The meaning to me changes with me


I LOVE that you talk about what ur lyrics and songs means and also we as listeners can take our own meaning from the songs too


ughhh i’ve been waiting for a vid like this from you because i LOVE your lyricism at so intrigued to see how you came to them


awh dodie you have the most beautiful lyrics♥ I’m an English lit student and am constantly just enchanted by themmm, makes me want to write poetry essays on your songs hehe


u have a way of phrasing things so perfectly like its emotions i can visualize i can feel like "hate myself" was one of the first songs where i was like oh my god ur in my head like "how can u not hear the whole conversation i have sitting still with a brain on fire" like just sitting through someone explaining its not u its them but ur thoughts are screaming that its u its u its u. idk u just itch a perfect scratch in my brain with ur diction i love ur words so much


Thank you for sharing so much of the underlying meeting of your songs!  I would love to understand these lines from "Rainbow":
    So please step inside my soul

    I'd love to watch you gasp

    You'd understand in minutes

    And I'd like to think you'd miss it

    'Cause so would I


Guiltless really hit me at a very pivotal time and even helped me understand my traumas and get through it. i hope u know that i don’t expect you to be anything more than you’re willing to offer, and you’ve already given me so much!!


i always thought the promise that you break every day is the promise to never grow up!! it's interesting to find what it really is, works equally well with what i always imagined :))


Burned Out for me ended up being about survival and heartbreak. I was learning to sing and play it in 2018 when someone I considered my teacher, mentor and, what I then thought was potential friend, groomed/sexually harassed me after a class. It was the last time I saw them, and even though I reported them to the police (finding out they had similar reports against them), I was unable to press charges. I was scared and angry and disgusted with both them and myself and though they revealed their true colour to me that day, I was so heartbroken that I’d lost them too. Thank god for free police-referred therapy. But also thank god for Burned Out. Because going home and playing/singing that the next day was so cathartic, a way to tell my story through song while I was still hurt and confused and dealing with it. Idk if that all makes sense. But, truly, thank god for Burned Out.


As someone very drawn to polyamory, I’ve always been obsessed with In The Middle


this was such a treat thank you. like bruh your explanation for "something in me says that this is ok" made me pause and just .. BRUH. that's deep as heck.


All My Daughters is one of my favorites and the lyrics and sound just remind me of Regina Spektor


when Hate Myself came out I immediately did a cover of it (that you've also seen lmao) but after listening to it many many times and learning the meaning I don't think I did a really good job with the interpretation eeeeeeeeee well


i'm thankful you mentioned to us as viewers to be careful with what we share and to respect you (and others also). you never know were your will go or how people think about them


Monster was such an important song for me when I was coping with being cut out of someone's life, which resulted in an entire shift in social groups for me. "I craft my words to fit your head / 'cause no one listens to the dead" to me referred to how I was dead to this entire group, and that the only way they would listen to me was if I said something that fit the narrative they had written for me (and they were uninterested in anything else). of course a lot of this was probably in my head, but it all felt very real. it's such a banger tho


Things I’ve learned from this interview: Dodie is a lot hornier than I thought


LOVE coming it to immediately hear WANKING it’s like a welcome home <3


This is so interesting to watch think this is one of my fav videos thank you for this 😍


Thanks so much for makin this vid i think its so interesting. Also i get what you mean about art, people always ask me what im trying to say with my paintings but i mostly wanna know how it makes people feel, and is weird i mean Monster is one of my fav songs ever and i always perceived it as always being the monster just people realising your personality and seeing it as a monster instead of a lovely creature.


I LOVE THIS VIDEO IDEA ❤ I love interpreting songs myself but sometimes I also want to know what the artist is thinking!!


For “I wanna pick you up and scoop you out” I thought of it more in a twisted way where your scooping that person out of there own world and putting them into your world, without telling them


Burned out has got me through absolutely everything, thank you for that song Dodie❤


i have a new appreciation for all my daughters now feels very much relatable


after watching this all I can think is GOD I cannot wait to see you perform in March


The older you get the more beautiful you become. Such a gorgeous person inside and out.


Dodie you will never have to explain guiltless to me. Just feel like I need you to know that I get it. At this point it’s wired into my being.

just wanted to second this sentiment! it has made me feel very understood


one of my favourite songs created by you is “i kissed someone it wasn’t you”, specifically the chorus:
put me in a car, i just want to go home
put me in a bath, i’ll forget you’re gone

it just sounds so hauntingly beautiful(?) (not sure if beautiful would be the right word because this song isn’t about anything beautiful going on) i think i understand the metaphor ‘put me in a bath, i’ll forget you’re gone’, the warmth of the water replacing the warmth of the lover that is no longer there, also being in the bathroom tends to be a place of wandering minds so we could be distracted from thinking about said ex lover.

idk! that’s my theory, i’d love to hear what other people think about this song :]


omg i love you so much and I love watching you talk about your writing and your music. Music is so goooood


Honestly, most of your songs have a lot of meaning to me, but I feel the one that has most heavily effected me is Guiltless. For me it's about this person who really hurt me  as a kid and preteen but didn't really know it. And now I have to move one and deal with that pain and trauma while they're just fine and off living their life. It's like they don't even know what they did, but how can I blame them? "No use getting angry at the way that you're wired." I feel like every lyric has some correlation to that pain for me, and it's been so therapeutic and beautiful for me. Especially the bit at the end where all the lyrics start up at one time and it really feels like that kind of panicked tirade I have when I think too hard about that situation.
Idk. Just my thoughts. I feel like I might have got too personal oof
Anyway in the bed is my favorite song ever it's so goooooooooooooooooooooooooood


i sent an ex "cool girl" shortly before breaking up with them and it was amazing to not have to spell it all out bc they got so much from listening to the song. i broke up w them through a song i wrote myself and they were complimenting my lyrics and performance through tears lol. i also sent "hate myself" to a diff ex who i hurt by being the silent part of the relationship, i was going through an autistic burnout and didn't have the language to understand it let alone explain it, i was literally nonverbal and undiagnosed. my ex really related to the song and appreciates my belated explanation. thank u for helping me communicate in my relationships dodie i love ur art


PLEASE I DEFINITELY ASKED ABOUT “A dark politician will end up alone “ CUZ IT WAS THE FIRST THING I COULD THINK OF AND SHE WENT “Nah” AND THIS IS SO FUNNY

@Trinity King HAHAHA what have we doonneee


holy heck dodie!! you have no idea how much i love this video<br>it might just become my new favourite thing on the internet

holy heck dodie!! you have no idea how much i love this video
it might just become my new favourite thing on the internet


when i was younger, i used to think that "she" was about looking back on yourself as a child before you were weighed down with trauma and mental illness. looking back, i was projecting a TON bc it's very obviously a sapphic song, but i just made it fit my situation at the time


would be really interested to hear some thoughts on the lyric "ill carry your burden till the day that you die" from guiltless, recently been unpacking something similar (I think) in therapy so obv not looking for something detailed <3

side note but ur lyrics weirdly helped me find some stuff to unpack in therapy so thank you

Literally went though Guiltless line by line with a therapist before, it's a great way to communicate when you don't have the words!


I have this wonderful (sometimes painful but in a good Greek catharsis way) experience with your lyrics that I don't have with any other music I've heard, where I feel the words and their meanings intrinsically in my body, sometimes before I even understand their meaning in an intellectual way. The way you sing and the topics your broach (specifically the mental health stuff, because same) hit me so deep in my gut and I feel so damn understood. It's this incredible relief, a moment of truly understanding that I am not, in fact, alone in the way I feel. I'm so fucking grateful for that. Thank you for getting it, and for being brave enough to write it down and put it into art and release it, even though it shows you as flawed and vulnerable. You're a true artist. Much love


I haven’t finished the video yet but so far my conclusion is: dodie be hornie


Much love to you hope you're feeling more like yourself and can taste the world again soon to sing us more tunes about the tastes. (Referencing her Twitter and cov!d)

Before the line was a substance abuse recovery song for me. It was really powerful and I sobbed when I heard it oh how the meaning changes when you have different experiences. Love this. Thank you again.


It is so much fun to compare the meanings I have for your songs with your meanings!!! Sometimes they are very different or way more similar than I thought haha


i think my fave lyric is "gotta get it in my head i'll never be 16 again" from when bc i was 16 when i first heard it and now i'm 20 and growing up is the most painful experience so the way that sentence's meaning has evolved for me over the years just slaps me in the face every time


I still have my only meaning for those songs but i love to see what you were thinking when wrote it. <br>Now i understood in the middle hahaha cooler story than i imagine

I still have my only meaning for those songs but i love to see what you were thinking when wrote it.
Now i understood in the middle hahaha cooler story than i imagine


i wish there a Genius video on All My Daughters because i LOVE that song i love every single lyric


the line "I am burnt out, I smell of smoke, it seeps through her cracks and so I start to choke." really speaks to me about the times, especially in my last year of high school, when my health was falling apart. My chronic illnesses were going untreated, I was acting as though nothing was wrong while running on empty, and this line would play through my head in the moments where the pain and fatigue physically prevented me from doing something and I would fall or trip or stumble and I could no longer hide how burnt up and poorly maintained the inside of my body was. <br>Thankfully I'm doing better now and actually taking care of myself, but Burned Out was such a comforting resource for me in a very scary and painful time.

the line "I am burnt out, I smell of smoke, it seeps through her cracks and so I start to choke." really speaks to me about the times, especially in my last year of high school, when my health was falling apart. My chronic illnesses were going untreated, I was acting as though nothing was wrong while running on empty, and this line would play through my head in the moments where the pain and fatigue physically prevented me from doing something and I would fall or trip or stumble and I could no longer hide how burnt up and poorly maintained the inside of my body was.
Thankfully I'm doing better now and actually taking care of myself, but Burned Out was such a comforting resource for me in a very scary and painful time.


what i learned from this video is i’ve been singing a lot of these songs with completely wrong lyrics


Okay so I've always LOVED 'Red pushing Down on the Green' but I interpreted it as Lust pushing Down on greed.  It was the immediate imagery I got from it but you're explanation made me think of stop lights instead... And now I'm thinking about Taylor Swift hahaha 😂


I have always thought that “one will fold their arms, one will do the dance, really is no need, something wrong with me” is an anxiety inducing situation within a relationship where someone has said something slightly off beat, which makes the other emotionally “fold their arms” and clam up. Then, one will “do the dance” of apologising and trying to do whatever they can to “make it better”.

There “really is no need” as the one person should not have clammed up and folded their arms, but then the other thinks there is “something wrong” with them as they’ve put themselves in a miserable situation where they’ve upset someone without meaning to. Sounds like a bit of an emotionally manipulative relationship to me!


this isn't a lyrical thing but i was listening to before the line just now, and it's interesting how it's a song about a before and after, and yet there's this constant drone in the background throughout the whole song. a constant. i just thought it was cool. like, it's the first thing you hear in the song and also the very last thing you hear. i wonder if there's any meaning behind it


can i just say that ‘special girl’ makes me cry because i feel so seen. i sometimes feel too weird for my own good, but that song is like my new self-love anthem. i can be proud of things that i tend to habitually see as embarrassing or annoying.


watching this after non-sexualizing the sexual parts of the lyrics bc of how i cannot relate to them being an asexual to find out more of the parts i didn't know had sexual context<br>i LOVE that you shared their meanings for you but i will still let some of them have a different meaning to me. i love how we can do this in music <3

watching this after non-sexualizing the sexual parts of the lyrics bc of how i cannot relate to them being an asexual to find out more of the parts i didn't know had sexual context
i LOVE that you shared their meanings for you but i will still let some of them have a different meaning to me. i love how we can do this in music <3


omg i always interpreted “i carry the time we don’t talk in a backpack” to be about a breakup and not being able to talk to someone you miss and it weighing you down


YOU SHOULD COVER YOUR OLD SONGS OH MY GODDDD THEY SOUND SO GOOD


Oh how Monster helped me through my ex roommate's deteriorating mental health...and she blamed it on me :,)


Cool Girl and Monster comforted me so much when my best friend and I started drifting apart and fell off.🖤


I don't know your true meaning behind rainbow but I relate to it in several ways. I'm queer and non binary and also suspect I'm neurodivergent and it hits me in all the feels<br>I feel like I don't fit in this world and I'm all wrong and that song really puts in to words everything I'm struggling with

I don't know your true meaning behind rainbow but I relate to it in several ways. I'm queer and non binary and also suspect I'm neurodivergent and it hits me in all the feels
I feel like I don't fit in this world and I'm all wrong and that song really puts in to words everything I'm struggling with

yes! it's about anything that is a little outside of the norm and can cause pain and shame but is also so so beautiful


Ngl I've always listened to In The Middle in a totally different way than how dodie wrote it! And now I know! I'm excited to listen to it again to hear the threesome idea but I think it'll keep the meaning I gave it for me ❤


I made that promise to myself as well as a child, never heard anyone else talk about


someday i hope i can write lyrics and string stories together like you <3


Burnt out means so much for me because I think I try to be more normal for family than friends.  I was in such a dark time and I didn't want to ask for help. ( I really should've but I was too afraid.) and my mom could tell something was up and "smelled smoke".  I held on to that last line because I felt as it said the things I couldn't say in my writing. ( even though the only person that saw them was me, I didn't want to admit it even to myself) The only place I could be "myself" is my writing, and I was still afraid to put that line in there, because I was so afraid of my family somehow seeing it. I'm in a better place, and I've gotten help, and I still love Burnt Out.


“use the energy of anxiety… and just rewire it into horniness” dodie 2021


seeing you post so many videos in such a short span makes me miss watching your old videos 🥲 im so glad youre doing what u love but im so caught in the nostalgia aaaaaaa


I was the one who asked about guiltless and it's the one lyric in the whole song that I don't understand 😭😭

@doddleoddle ohh don’t worry! we respect ur boundaries <3

@doddleoddle no need to apologize dodie we respect your boundaries 1000%!! i just hope we didnt make you uncomfy in asking <33 much love

Oh no don’t feel bad!!! Sorry! Politicians basically change their answer to suit them and make you feel gaslit - so the word fit!

I think she explained in the replies to the pinned comment

@Tiffany She said she didn't want to talk about it, but I don't think y'all did anything wrong @ the ppl who asked

i also asked but good on them for keeping the boundaries they need

I always took it as like "if you try to compromise and keep everyone happy, people will realize you're not genuine and leave" but obviously idk how she meant it

me too 😭 I feel bad for asking now whoops


somehow this made me feel nostalgic for your songs lol better go listen to them again


thanks for the explanation of "sorry" I didn't really understand it but I like that it' s positioned after "four tequilas down" as if to apologize for what happened before.<br>also how beautiful is "before the line" !!! I fell in love with this song immediately, from a depressed person I could not have described it better,  see my emotions disappear like if someone "snatch the light" I LOVE IT 😍

thanks for the explanation of "sorry" I didn't really understand it but I like that it' s positioned after "four tequilas down" as if to apologize for what happened before.
also how beautiful is "before the line" !!! I fell in love with this song immediately, from a depressed person I could not have described it better,  see my emotions disappear like if someone "snatch the light" I LOVE IT 😍


I LOVE the way you were playing in the middle I want a cover so bad


this takes me back to analysis in english lit in high school but this feels so much nicer


Out of all of your songs, the line that I never understood was "I pinned each and every hope on you, I hope that you don't bleed with me" from Intertwined.


“talk about your taste in women, i’ll be in the middle, you two get along” to me is the feeling of when two friends are ignoring you constantly and you feel like you are there to be loved conditionally and to be humorous when it’s needed


it’s kinda interesting because being a fan of your music for so long allows me to recognize the complex emotions in the songs that i fell in love with 4-5 years ago. i interpret and understand lyrics differently as i grow older and i think feeling that growth is really beautiful


Usually, I'd be really mad at covid for making someone I love sick, but... I can't help but love all the extra dodge content... #ForgiveMeDodie 😭🤣


i was wondering what “flirting’s delicious,proved to be beneficial for mental health” means in if i’m being honest


Some two cents from someone who can't listen to guiltless most days because it hits too close to home:<br>I'm pretty sure the line 'a dark politician will end up alone' is about someone (a parent probably, but it can be anyone) who always has the impartial, 'correct' but emotionless response. It's never their fault because they've talked their way out of it. But people like that will never be happy and will never deeply connect with people - they'll end up alone.

Some two cents from someone who can't listen to guiltless most days because it hits too close to home:
I'm pretty sure the line 'a dark politician will end up alone' is about someone (a parent probably, but it can be anyone) who always has the impartial, 'correct' but emotionless response. It's never their fault because they've talked their way out of it. But people like that will never be happy and will never deeply connect with people - they'll end up alone.

By the way, this isn't speculating on any of dodie's personal stuff. This is me relating to art and feeling like I've caught the meaning because I've had such a similar experience.


Lots of lines in All my daughters really speak to me as a fairly young fairly insecure teacher at an all girl's school - how I care about them so much and am doing my best and kids can be so adoring - but there's that constant fear I am letting them down in some way and failing and they don't see the struggle and anxiety that I live through behind the scenes. Yay imposter syndrome ✨✨ Your songs help me to feel through those emotions thank you 💜


I got derealization at such a young age I literally don't remember a time before it. I know it exists, and exactly when it was, but it's so blurry.

@niv fecher yes exactly!!! you've put it into words so well. there's just so many emotions that relate to it and in a sense they're the "wrong" emotions because y'know we're MEANT to have these "positive" memories from being young or whatever, people look back on their youth all the time and say that they were the best years of their lives. but some of us can't do that and so we need to grow up and live in a different way, i guess? and that's okay because it just has to be.

and also very much yes to "human" it's about so many different things depending on whoever listens to it and i think it's really beautiful that it can be. like dodie said about "all my daughters" so many things bleed into one and intertwine that it's kinda impossible for it to be any other way than a lot?? not to be all tumblr 'web weaving' but things really do parallel and combine and everything feeds together! (also yeah i'm very much a rambler as well haha sorry about this it's very long)

@Caitlyn Salter yes yes yes!!! I listen to it and I  feel sad and angry and even somehow jealous and then ashamed, and it relates to something dodie said in the video about exploring your feelings safely, and being okay with not feeling the most "correct" way about a situation, I remember listening to "human" for the first time and being like "this is not just being in love, is it? It's almost about being obsessive and how when you're in a bad place and starting a relationship those things bleed into each other and feed each other (I'm very much rambling I'm aware but I just love dodie so much)

yeah, i came to say pretty much the same thing (not necessarily with derealisation, but mental health issues in general plus the occasional bout of derealisation). i don't have a clear line that i remember and so both 'before the line' and 'when' just break me a little (in a lovely way 'cause i love the songs) because i don't really have the "before" as strongly as i have what's been happening for so long

@Farabee Pushpita if you don’t mind me asking, what made it go away? You absolutely don’t have to answer if you don’t feel comfortable <3

I can relate, not with derealization, but with being disabled, a lot of people are talking about the experience of a clear "before" and "after"(and that's super valid and their lived experience)but I can't relate, I don't have a clear "before" just dealing with the actual thing and the better spots and the worse...

@Shachar Zidon Aww it's okay! I'm sorry too, derealization sucks.

@Rose Lalonde I'm so sorry, that's horrible. I got it at 10, but I only found out about it this year, at 14.

I got derealized when I was six, everytime I sing "gotta get it in my head / I'll never be sixteen again" there's this bitter humor to it because I can't imagine having sixteen whole years of clear memories


It's bizzare how one can still hear the taps and claps in that piano version of Special Girl


Would love to know if your instrumentals have any story behind them! Are they connected?