“Fire Drill” finds Melanie singing about people being artificial and constantly seeking attention, leaving behind their family lives and hiding their true personality to appeal to the likes of others and boost their popularity, keeping in line with the school themes from K-12.
The track was first released during the end credits of Martinez’s K-12 accompanying film on September 6, 2019. However, Melanie teased the track’s eventual release onto streaming service far in advance of its actual release date of June 26, 2020. Melanie planned to put “Fire Drill”, and “Copy Cat”, a single she released in collaboration with rapper Tierra Whack in February 2020, on her highly-anticipated EP After School. However, both singles were scrapped from the EP’s tracklist.
