Plot

According to Melanie, the song is about conflict and how people in Los Angeles can be shallow or exploitative, especially around those in the spotlight.

Additionally, this song could also be about toxic people who drain and manipulate others for their own benefit. The lyrics describe the metaphor feeling of being surrounded by leeches, who push their way into the her life, and try to control them. It later questions how much more can these people take before there's nothing left to give, and the "luck of the draw" implies that sometimes we are unfortunately stuck with these toxic individuals in our life.

This song is a part of a series of tracks on the album which Melanie calls as "Conflict Songs". This song along with "BATTLE OF THE LARYNX", "THE CONTORTIONIST", "MOON CYCLE", "NYMPHOLOGY", and "EVIL" as well as presumably "POWDER" and "MILK OF THE SIREN" are the conflict songs that Melanie intentionally added on PORTALS. These songs are about conflict on Earth. According to Melanie on her interview with Apple Music:

"People describe a lot of the after-life to be like a school of sorts, projecting into past lifetimes with people they keep incarnating with, to put themselves in each other's shoes. Showing how they could've best dealt with conflict on earth for next time. These next few songs are about conflict on earth. I'd like to think we all plan these moments together prior to coming here, triggering each other to evolve." Melanie Martinez

leeches is the seventh track of the album "PORTALS" released on Maarch 31 of 2023