Melanie Martinez: Training Wheels Meaning

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Training Wheels Lyrics

Riding down, riding down
My hand on your seat
The whole way round
I carry band-aids on me now
For when your soft hands hit the jagged ground
Wheels aren't even touching the ground
Scared to take them off but they're so worned out
Promise I...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Jan 15th 2017 report

   Her crush doesn't want to move on to the next step. Not because he doesn't like her, but he's afraid he's still not ready for this relationship and might fall hard. She promises she wouldn't break his heart, but he's unwilling to commit. And so she 'explodes' getting pissed and annoyed as it's not like she wants to marry him or anything too serious or frightning, she just wants to be with him.

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Aug 20th 2020 report

   I believe this song is about Crybaby wanting to prove to her crush Johnny that she is willing to love and be with him without too much pressure along the way. Although she ends up doing this anyways hence why he ends up leaving her. Johnny likes her back but is afraid of getting hurt. Deep down, she desperately wants that commitment from Johnny but Johnny is deathly afraid of it because of all of his previous relationships. "You've been riding 2 wheelers all your life" the 2 wheelers being full blown relationships with commitment. "Its not like I'm asking to be your wife" she's trying to compromise but deep down she truly wants that commitment. "I wanna make you mine but that's hard to say, is this coming off in a cheesy way?" She wants to tell him straight out what she really wants but she knows it will scare him off and in the back of her head she isn't sure if he really wants her as much as she wants him. "Promise I wont push you straight to the dirt" she promises she won't hurt or wrong him, she's trying to explain her feelings without scaring him away "if you promise me you'll take them off first" the them she's referring to are the training wheels. The training wheels represent apprehension and uncertainty. She wants all of that tension gone so they can have a full blown relationship that's happy and healthy. In this scenario I speculate that although johnny likes her, he may just be using her. In the lyrics and video she talks about carrying bandaids on her NOW (meaning she didn't use to do this in previous relationships and its happened so much in their relationship that the bandaids or support/love/kindness is a given at this point and are needed at all times)for when his soft hands hit the jagged ground (when he's hurt) I believe the bandaids are a metaphor for when he gets hurt by other girls he is dating or flirting with, she's there for him to do damage control despite that its hurting her in the process and I also believe it's a metaphor for when he is hurt in this relationship with crybaby and feels boxed in and afraid, she tends to those wounds. In the end, she teaches him about commitment and trust and she teaches him to have healthier relationships without apprehensions (training wheels) but he just uses that confidence he gained through crybaby to woo someone else and in the end this puts crybaby in the same headspace and predicament Johnny was in at the beginning of the song. There are alot of people who do this to others and only entertain or are in relationships with them to gain confidence, a false sense of self worth and for healing. This is why we can't be these damaged men's therapists.

3. 3TOP RATED

   #3 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Mar 5th 2017 report

   She is friends with someone but she really wants to be more than that. and she knows he's ready for the commitment because his "training wheels" aren't touching the ground which means he feels the same way but is scared to admit it. And since he's scared she's helping him along the way by carrying band aids for when he falls over and keeping her hand on his seat?
4. anonymous

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   Oct 23rd report

   I feel kinda dumb reading all those comments, cause I thought the meaning behind this song was something like when you help someone to get through their fears and then they leave you. I mean I thought so, bcs she helped him to take off his training wheels and then there's this scene at the end of the videoclip when he is riding his bike towards her and she is standing there wanting to kiss him but suddenly he dissappears. Idk maybe I'm stupid haha
5. anonymous

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   Jan 5th 2022 report

   i personally think that training wheels is about cry baby having an obsession. she feels the need to put her body out or act a certain way for him to love her and want her. at the end once he disappeared i had this thought that we were in her imagination. she’s saying she will do anything for that boy to love her even if she doesn’t want to. she has these scenario that he’s really there but in reality there barley even talk. she became obsessed
6. anonymous

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   Sep 30th 2021 report

   I really feel dumb reading all your interpretations, because I thought it was about an abusive relationship where crybaby is too blinded to see that it's abusive. Like verbally abusive, or sexually/physically abusive.
7. anonymous

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   Jan 6th 2021 report

   idk but i personally feel like the girl loves the boy , she wants to go to next step not jus be friends? she carried bandaids so when hes hurt she can cure him, shes so in love with him that she likes everything the boy does and says to her . i feel like the boy is insecure about his feelings and is scared of being hurt and by "training wheels" it might dedicate to the insecurities and the girl wants to solve his problems and insecurities, she wants to end it and want to make him his and not let the insecurities drag him away from her? (dis much i ken interpret by listening to the song and by watching the official video i dont know and i really want to know what it means when the boy is there no more ,does it mean that the boy is dragged away from her by his fears despite all her efforts ? or does the boy leave after he is not insecure or scared anymore to some other girl/boy?)
8. anonymous

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   Jul 4th 2020 report

   I think the song is about Crybaby/Melanie likes this boy and she's ready to move to the next level but he doesn't know she has feelings for her and probably doesn't have feelings so she tries to help him with dating advice and after that he thinks he's ready and forgets about Crybaby as she tries to make a move. (I got some of this from other people so DON'T JUDGE ME!
9. anonymous

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   May 2nd 2020 report

   Crybaby has a crush or is talking to someone but he’s tentative because he doesn’t want to get hurt and she doesn’t know how to say exactly what she feels, even though she wants to jump in and fall in love or “take off the training wheels “
10. anonymous

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    Apr 9th 2020 report

    Melanie has a crush on Jhonny and she wants to do stuff with him and he's scared of the consequences
11. anonymous

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    Mar 30th 2020 report

    Okay...so. I wanna get something straight. THIS DOES NOT HAVE TO BE A LOVE STORY BETWEEN A BOY AND A GIRL! SHE COULD BE SINGING TO A GIRL! WHY DO PEOPLE FREAKING ASSUME! Now we've got that out the way on to the interpretation. This is actually one of my favorite songs of Melanie's. It's very beautiful, yet very wistful. She sings of a time where it was simple and when they could be friends without people assuming they were more.
    "Riding down, riding down
    My hands on your seat
    The whole way round
    I carry Band-Aids on me now
    For when your soft hands hit the jagged ground"
    This implies memories. Memories of when it was easy, and when they weren't lovers or partners. They were just friends. Friends who would help each other and love each other and who were just that. Friends. In a way, everyone needs that. A friendship can be even healthier than a romantic relationship. Not always, but it can be. They miss those times.
    
12. anonymous

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    Mar 19th 2020 report

    I think that this means that Crybaby is ready to become very intimate with the boy in the song. But he is scared and she promises to help him along the way so that he won't get hurt.
13. anonymous

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    Mar 16th 2020 report

    Crybaby likes this boy (Johnny) and wants to go to the next step in their relationship( take ing off the training weels) but he’s not ready for that. Crybaby’s says that she has band aids for if he gets hurt trying to move to a next step. Johnny calls crybaby “fucking dumb” cause of stupid shit she says about moving the relationship further, and how she lives when he calls her fucking dumb.
14. anonymous

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    Feb 23rd 2020 report

    Crybaby is in a relationship, and wants to take things to the next level. The boy is not ready yet, not because he doesn't love her, he's worried about the consequences. Crybaby tries to reason with him; it's not like she's asking him to marry her. She and him already have a good relationship: he doesn't mind how dumb she can be, and they trust each other. She promises she'll stay with him and never let go, but he's still not too sure.
15. crybabyy

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    Dec 22nd 2019 report

    I believe that this song is about wanting to go further in a relationship. Melanie is talking about her wanting to do “stuff” with the boy. I believe that they boy is her crush or boyfriend. They both like each other but are too scared to go further in their relationship. I hope this helps someone somewhere. If it helped leave a rating or something idk
16. anonymous

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    Nov 30th 2019 report

    I think it means that his training wheels(guard) are on/up and melanie wants to go to the next step in the relationship or be more serious and have him take his guard down (take his training wheels off).
17. anonymous

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    Nov 25th 2019 report

    I think that , metaphorically, they are both “ ridding a tricycle” and how both of them are friends, and both have training wheels, but Crybaby ( Melanie) has feelings for him and she wants to go to a further level and “ take off her training wheels” but he is afraid to take them off, and to take it to the next level with her.
18. anonymous

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    Aug 2nd 2019 report

    honestly? I feel like it’s about how they are both scared to fall for each other and they “take the training wheels off” but it seems at the end of the video that he disappears. So it kinda came off as her saying that she gave him all she had even though she was afraid and once he wasn’t afraid anymore, he moved on. So I feel like basically she was head over heels for him and he kinda got what he wanted and got confidence from her and then kinda forgot about her?

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