Meghan Trainor: "My music saves young girls' lives"
Quote:
Trainor tells me about a recent incident when she did reject a man. He started taking photos of her on a club dancefloor then tried to dance with her when All About That Bass came on. Has she thought about pretending to be a Meghan Trainor lookalike? “I do! Everyone’s like: ‘You look like...’ and I’m like: ‘Yeah, but she’s waaay prettier. I wish I looked like her’.”
One of Trainor’s missions is to help girls love themselves. She understands the struggle for confidence because growing up, she was an “awkward” teen who never believed she could be a pop star. All About That Bass was actually a song about how “much I hated myself and wanted to love myself. I was insecure and in a dark place. It was, ‘I wish I was all about that bass’.” So it felt like a “stars-aligned” moment that L A Reid heard it and loved it: “That was destiny.” The success of the song gave her confidence, which she is thrilled has rubbed off on fans: “I’ve fans who say, ‘I love myself and can go to school now because of you — I used to stay home’. Mothers tell me: ‘You saved my daughter’s life’.” How do we give girls confidence? “Woman anthems! Nowadays, I think when I’m writing, ‘What do women need?’”
She has never been asked by her label to slim down, and tucks into afternoon tea after our interview. “I’ve been the same weight since high school. A lot of people look me up and down when I first met them and say, ‘Woah! You’re much skinnier in person’. That’s not a compliment.”
Trainor has said before that she’d love to be a judge on The X Factor and, as the interview wraps up, I point out there are three empty chairs now. “Really? Get me on that show! I want to do it so bad.” That shows how far she has come. Because when she was first signed, her publisher wanted her to be a contestant on The Voice. “I was too terrified. I’m so glad I didn’t do it, because that video would be viral and I would have lost immediately because I would have been shaking: ‘Hi-i-i, I’m Meg-g-g-han Tra-a-a-inor’. And I feel like I don’t have a good story. The best ones are ‘I’ve dealt with a lot’.”
I feel like that man inspired her to write No. I mean the lyrics seem to support that theory. And I'm actually really happy for her, her music inspires a lot of people.
Who's that sexy thing I see over there?
That's me, standin' in the mirror
What's that icy thing hangin' 'round my neck?
That's gold, show me some respect
These were the lyrics that helped save my life, thank you Meghan
Obviously AATB did influence young girls to become more secure and confident about themselves, and they've told Meghan about it. Meghan is just sharing about how glad she is to personally connect with her fans and be an inspiration to them.
I mean, that's great and all but her music is so transparent. Its seems as though she creates these feminist anthems for the sake of making them, versus the message coming from her heart. Her current music, at least.
What happened to her?