The Real Meaning Behind Demi Lovato's 'Melon Cake'

Posted by Reinaldo Massengill on Thursday, May 2, 2024

Demi Lovato opened up during a March 2020 conversation with Ellen DeGeneres about having an eating disorder, an issue she claims was made worse by her management team. "I just felt like my life was so — and I hate to use this word — but it felt, like, controlled by so many people around me," she told DeGeneres. "If I was in my hotel room at night, they would take the phone out of the hotel room so I couldn't call room service. Or if there was fruit in my room, they took it out because that's extra sugar." Lovato alluded this to in "Melon Cake," singing, "There was a time I was living as a prisoner inside my own mind. And there was a time where the cat and mouse tried to make me Barbie-sized, and I obliged."

According to Lovato's account, she was allowed to have fruit on her birthday — a watermelon cake with fat-free whip cream. "It kind of became this ongoing joke, but I just really wanted birthday cake," she admitted. When Lovato made Scooter Braun her manager, she finally got the dessert she had craved for so long. "I just remember crying because I was finally eating cake with a manager that didn't need anything from me and that loved me for who I am," she said. 

Lovato referenced this triumph in the tune, belting out, "Now I'm saying no more melon cakes on birthdays, no more barricades in doorways. Finally get to do things my way."

If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, please contact the National Eating Disorder Association's Helpline at 1-800-931-2237 or chat with one of their helpline volunteers on NEDA's website.

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