“Lunchbox Friends” by Melanie Martinez

As with most of the “K-12” album, Melanie Martinez relays the sentiments of “Lunchbox Friend” from the perspective of a high schooler. And it speaks about fake friends, i.e. those who were cool with her inside the school (i.e. in the lunchroom) but outside don’t want anything to do with her. 

One of the contributing factors to this reality seems to be that the singer is not keen on the idea of conforming to dominant ideologies just to fit in.  And that scenario is actually a metaphor for her life on a grander scale, as in her interactions as a celebrity, specifically in terms of direct relationships she has with some people. And conclusively, she seems to be saying two three things in that regard.  One is that people judge her without actually knowing her.  Another is that she doesn’t appreciate the gossip-like nature of these individuals.And lastly, she is more interested in keeping it real than living up to other’s expectations. As such, Melanie is not interested in “lunchbox”, i.e. wishy-washy, friends. Instead Miss Martinez perceives friendship as something  which ideally would last a lifetime.