What does "I‘m All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainor Really Mean?

Hey friend! I‘m sure you‘ve heard Meghan Trainor‘s insanely catchy song "All About That Bass" on the radio. With its funky bass line and colorful lyrics, this tune is an absolute earworm about embracing your curves.

But what exactly does all the booty talk and "bass" reference mean? As a music aficionado, I decided to really dig into the history and meaning behind this body positive anthem. Keep reading as I break it all down for you!

The Song‘s Message is About Self-Love & Body Acceptance

The core message of the song promotes self-acceptance and body positivity for curvier body types. It encourages women not to feel ashamed or unattractive for having fuller figures that don‘t conform to mainstream skinny ideals.

Meghan Trainor belts out, "Every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top" – so the takeaway is all women, whether curvy or thin, are beautiful just the way we are.

Through the lyrics, she gift wraps this uplifting concept in a catchy pop package. And based on the song‘s massive success, this positive message clearly resonated with millions of women and men worldwide!

Billboard data shows "All About That Bass" topped charts in over 60 countries upon its release. It became one of the best selling singles ever, with over 11 million copies sold globally.

Curves & "Junk": Decoding the Lyrics

Now let‘s break down the lyrics about curves and booty. What exactly is Meghan referring to with all this "bass" talk?

In the pre-chorus, she sings:

I‘m bringing booty back

Go ahead and tell them skinny bitches that

Then in the chorus:

‘Cause I got that boom boom that all the boys chase
And all the right junk in all the right places

The terms "booty", "junk", and "boom boom" are all slang here for a woman‘s butt, hips, chest, and overall curvy figure.

So with these cheeky lyrics, Meghan Trainor is proudly declaring that curvy bodies are hot and desirable. Her message is aimed at making women with fuller figures feel confident and empowered in their skin.

The Origins of "Bass" as Booty Slang

The specific use of "bass" to mean booty or curves originated as slang within African American communities.

According to research by linguistics scholars, "bass" has been used since the early 1900s in blues music and African American Vernacular English (AAVE) as a colloquial reference to a woman‘s butt or desirable "junk".

Some early documented uses include:

• In Zora Neale Hurston‘s 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God: Character Tea Cake compliments Janie‘s rear, saying she has "good looks in the right places lak a woman‘s should."

• In the 1930 blues song "I Got a Gal": The lyrics go "She ain‘t built for speed, she got bass, bass, bass."

• In the 1950s, "bass" and phrases like "built with bass" emerged as slang "for a woman with a shapely figure."

So Meghan Trainor is actually drawing directly from historical slang here! When she says she‘s "all about that bass", she‘s channeling these early blues and hip hop influences.

The Clever Musical Double Meaning

There‘s also a super clever double meaning with the terms "bass" and "treble" that refers to musical registers.

In the pre-chorus, Meghan sings:

I‘m bringing booty back
Go ahead and tell them skinny bitches that
No I‘m just playing, I know you think you‘re fat
But I‘m here to tell ya
Every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top

The "bottom" refers to bass notes, which are literally lower in pitch and frequency. So bass = bottom = booty!

And the "top" refers to treble notes, which are higher pitched. So treble = top = upper body.

This wordplay emphasizes that ALL parts of a woman‘s body are beautiful, from top to bottom. Bass and treble complement one another to create harmonious music, just like curvy and skinny body types are both perfectly wonderful.

Fluctuating Female Beauty Standards Over Time

While mainstream beauty ideals today lean thin, perceptions of the ideal female form actually fluctuate over time.

Let‘s look at how curvy versus skinny body types fell in and out of vogue over the past century:

Era	Ideal Body Type	Example Icons
Late 1800s to early 1900s	Fuller, voluptuous figures	Gibson girl sketches
1920s	Thin, straight frames	Flapper models
1950s	Hourglass, curvy shapes	Marilyn Monroe
1960s	Ultra skinny, androgynous	Twiggy
2010s	Curvier bodies back in vogue	Meghan Trainor

So Meghan‘s bold anthem encouraging women to love their curves coincided with a re-embrace of fuller figures after decades of very skinny being the expectation.

Who First Recorded This Song?

While Meghan Trainor is most famous for "All About That Bass", she actually was not the first artist to record it.

The original version was recorded by British singer-songwriter Kate Nash in 2012. You can listen to a snippet of Nash‘s early demo here.

However, Nash never officially released her rendition. Meghan Trainor then reworked the lyrics and musical arrangement in 2014 to create the upbeat female empowerment version we all know and love.

Both artists said the underlying idea of a song championing body positivity appealed to them. But it took Trainor‘s catchy rendition to bring that message into the pop music mainstream.

Behind the Scenes With the Songwriters

Meghan Trainor co-wrote the song with producer Kevin Kadish in just a few hours. But how did their writing session go down?

In interviews, Kadish shared how the lyrics were shaped from a simple bass riff:

“It was just a simple bass line idea on the piano that Meghan was playing, and I heard it and I’m like, ‘Yo, that is hot.’ So I started playing that bass line and she’s scatting melodies over it, everything from like old jazz melodies to like random gibberish.”

“And then we took a small break and then we looked at each other and were like, ‘What if it was something about the booty? What if it was like, ‘I’m all about that bass, ‘bout that bass?’ And we started going back and forth like, ‘Well, what else rhymes with bass?’ The song wrote itself after that concept clicked. It was amazing.”

The core lyrical metaphor was spontaneous, but perfectly encapsulated the vibe they wanted. From there, the cheeky lyrics and body positivity concept flowed organically.

How Meghan‘s Personal Struggles Shaped the Lyrics

Growing up, Meghan Trainor endured cruel bullying over her weight and was pressured to be thinner. These insecurities stuck with her into adulthood.

She channeled those experiences as inspiration for the empowering lyrics of "All About That Bass". She wanted to encourage other girls to tune out criticisms and embrace their beauty.

Trainor explained in interviews how writing this song was emotionally cathartic for her. She always hoped to someday have a hit that promoted self-acceptance.

The Song Had a Measurable Cultural Impact

"All About That Bass" didn‘t just get stuck in our heads – it made a measurable impact on culture and Google searches!

According to Google Trends data, the terms "curvy girl", "plus size model", and "thick women" spiked worldwide in searches after the song‘s release:

Clearly, Meghan Trainor‘s bold lyrics shifted conversations and interests towards more curve-inclusive beauty standards.

While some critique the song for taking digs at skinny women, it overall marked a mainstream music milestone for embracing bodies of all shapes.

My Takeaway Perspective on This Song

If I can get a bit personal for a moment, I think "All About That Bass" gave millions of women (and men!) a fun, upbeat anthem to celebrate parts of ourselves we felt pressured to hide.

As someone who grew up uncomfortable and apologetic for my curvy hips and butt, this song felt like a warm hug. Like someone saying "Hey, you‘re beautiful as you are – don‘t let anyone make you think otherwise!"

Was it an imperfect, sometimes silly, mildly problematic jam? Sure. But did it have an overall positive impact in my eyes? Absolutely.

And that‘s why 5 years later, I still feel nostalgic joy listening to this booty-shaking, body-loving classic. We could use more fun tunes spreading the message that all our wobbly bits are gorgeous as is!

The Bottom Line: Don‘t Harsh on Our Bass!

In closing friend, the slang term "bass" in Meghan Trainor‘s "All About That Bass" is all about celebrating curvy female figures. This cheeky tune flipped the script on conventional beauty standards and embraced our jiggly bits in all their glory.

So let‘s all channel the spirit of this Grammy-winning number one hit. Next time you start feeling down on yourself, just remember – it‘s all about that bass, no treble! Our curves and cellulite are gorgeous as is.

Thanks for letting me share such a deep dive into this modern pop culture classic. Now time for me to work on not getting this insanely catchy song stuck in my head all day again! Until next time…