by SMF· Published · Updated
“Milk of the Sirens” is the final song on the playlist of the 16-track deluxe edition of Melanie Martinez’s “Portals”, which Atlantic Records made public on 5 April 2023 (with the original edition of the album coming out less than a week prior to that).
');var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; })();The song was written by Melanie Martinez and a song-composition duo team known as Kinetics & One Love, with one half of the pair, One Love, also producing the track.
Fans of Martinez were aware of this song’s existence since 2021, when its demo leaked. And reportedly, said leak is the reason why Sirens did not make the original, standard tracklist of “Portals”.
The Lyrics of “Milk of Sirens”
Interpreting this song requires some imagination on the part of the listener. For instance, sirens are creatures from the iconic Greek mythology, an ancient belief system that Melanie also references on “Nymphology” (which is another track from “Portals”).
');var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; })();They were believed to lure, i.e. seduce sailors off of their course and into an early grave. So when Melanie refers to “drink(ing) from the leche of sirens” (with “leche” being “milk” in Spanish), it seems that what she’s encouraging is something along of the lines of females intentionally using their power over men to subdue the “ones deserving to drown”.
And within context (i.e. based on the pre-chorus) that would be those who, most simply put, have a tendency to subjugate and abuse the fairer sex.
That said, it’s not abundantly clear what Martinez means by “let(ting) them drown” or other such terminology, such as “guillotine their heads”. But we will assume that she is not referring to women actually leading to the likes of male chauvinists and abusive patriarchs to their deaths.
Rather, what she is more overtly espousing is sistren being wise enough to identify such individuals and subsequently treating them accordingly, using their feminine wiles, if you will, to conjure up “a little havoc” in their lives and then sitting back to enjoy the show.
