# "All About That Bass": harmless pop song or insult? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 16, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530 "2014-10-16T20:45:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/41 "2014-10-17T19:28:48Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Meghan could stand to lose 25 or 30. > Just sayin’. Just go 'head and move along. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/42 "2014-10-17T19:30:58Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > There were people who got upset with Randy Newman’s “Short People”. The more things change the more they stay the same. #CancelRandy ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/43 "2014-10-17T19:51:54Z")
What was bothering most about this song is that the verses sounded very familiar to me, but I just couldn’t quite place it. Then today, while out walking my dog, I figured out what it reminded me of. Phish’s [“Contact”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDhH1VWd9Uw#t=33). Reading the comments, though, led me to another song (which I had never heard of), which arguably sounds even more similar: some Korean pop group called Koyote’s song [Happy Mode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi9MPDK5Q10#t=36). Apparently that group is suing them. Now, this is partly why I’m always a little :dubious: about these musical rip-off lawsuits. I suppose it’s possible that Meghan Trainor ripped it off, but I bet it’s just coincidence, unless that K-pop group also ripped off Phish. (To me it actually sounds like a familiar Italian or Spanish type melody, but I can’t find any concrete musical references to that melody anywhere else yet.) As a sometimes musician, I believe these coincidences happen far more often that the average person would think. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/44 "2014-10-17T19:58:44Z")
Is being offended at the song symptomatic of “in shape privilege”? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/45 "2014-10-17T20:08:40Z")
I wonder what she would think of Queen’s “Fat Bottom Girls”? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/46 "2014-10-17T20:24:07Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > What was bothering most about this song is that the verses sounded very familiar to me, but I just couldn’t quite place it. Then today, while out walking my dog, I figured out what it reminded me of. Phish’s [“Contact”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDhH1VWd9Uw#t=33). I made it 42 seconds. I don’t think I’ve ever been high enough to listen to the whole thing. 😃 (I know Phish is not well known for their lyrics, but…wtf?) But yeah, definitely sounds very, very similar. As does that Korean abomination. I think it’s plagiarism turtles all the way down… ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/47 "2014-10-17T20:35:33Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > It doesn’t offend me; I just find it a little trite. But then, the “everyone is beautiful!” message tends to rub me the wrong way. It’s nice in theory, but the cynic in me finds it a little self-congratulatory. If everyone’s beautiful, does that word really mean anything? Well, it could mean that there are more and better variables in defining “beautiful” than just body shape. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/48 "2014-10-17T20:40:59Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I made it 42 seconds. I don’t think I’ve ever been high enough to listen to the whole thing. 😃 (I know Phish is not well known for their lyrics, but…wtf?) Yes, but you see the tires are the things on your car that make contact with the road while the road is the thing that takes you back to your abode. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/49 "2014-10-17T20:57:09Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I made it 42 seconds. I don’t think I’ve ever been high enough to listen to the whole thing. 😃 (I know Phish is not well known for their lyrics, but…wtf?) Yeah, you made it farther than I expected most to get. 🙂 I have a soft spot for Phish (as someone who typically hates “jam bands”) , but it’s a pretty shitty song. Then again, it’s also not meant to really be taken seriously. > [@](#): > > But yeah, definitely sounds very, very similar. As does that Korean abomination. I think it’s plagiarism turtles all the way down… Yeah, and I think it’s most likely coincidence, or possibly “subconscious” borrowing. I may have misreported that the group is suing Meghan Trainor. It looks like Koyote were just looking into legal issues, according to [this Buzzfeed article](http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/did-meghan-trainor-plagiarize-a-k-pop-artist#1bdj4o1). I’m kind of glad to see I’m not the only one who recognized that melody from Phish. I heard that song at a wedding and I found myself racking my brain trying to figure out why that melody sounded so familiar. I was thinking along the lines of some Spanish or Italian folk melody or something, and it just popped into my head all of a sudden today. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/50 "2014-10-17T21:15:25Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, and I think it’s most likely coincidence, or possibly “subconscious” borrowing. That’s possible, but it’s a pretty long string of notes all in a row. Seems closer to an infinite number of monkeys typing Hamlet than a plausible coincidence. You might be onto something with it being a traditional tune, though. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/51 "2014-10-17T21:46:28Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > That’s possible, but it’s a pretty long string of notes all in a row. Seems closer to an infinite number of monkeys typing Hamlet than a plausible coincidence. I wouldn’t say so. There’s a lot of patterns in music such that it’s not really comparable to hammering away random letters on a typewriter. Like I said, I think it happens more often than one might think. If you write a lot of songs, and have a good ear for melody, it’s only a matter of time that you hear a melody similar to yours on the radio, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/52 "2014-10-17T21:53:23Z")
Here’s an example. I have some 80s Youtube playlist in the background as I was typing that last post. The Human League’s song “Human” came on. [I heard this little riff](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1ysoohV_zA&list=RDljIQo1OHkTI&feature=player_detailpage#t=213). Wait a sec…I know that from somewhere. [Janet Jackson “Escapade”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFX3gQHIroU). (In reverse chronological order, though. The Jackson riff came after The Human League song.) Sounds pretty damned similar, no? I don’t think it’s an intentional rip-off, though. It’s just how things go. ETA: Actually, it looks like that might not be a complete coincidence, with the same producers on both the Human League album and the Janet Jackson one. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2014, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/53 "2014-10-18T04:54:07Z")
I’m looking at this in a slightly different context. The song’s not about being fat, it’s about being pear-shaped. Meghan Trainer isn’t really fat, but she is fairly flat-chested and in this society it’s perfectly fine to have a big butt if you are hour-glass shaped (see Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian, JLo etc) but heaven forbid you have a big ass and don’t at least buy a big set of plastic breasts to “balance you out”, because let’s face it, no amunt of exercise or dieting is going to get rid of your hips and thighs if that’s how you’re built. I also don’t think it’s such a horrible message to say that boys are attracted to all different shapes of girls. Her audience is teenage girls and they spend a lot of their time wondering if a boy is ever going to find them attractive. I’ll grant that the skinny bitches line could be taken as offensive, but to me she’s referring to the self-styled skinny bitches (like Bethany Frankel who was bragging that she could fit into her 4 year old’s clothes). I do know that my naturally thin friends don’t think of themselves as “skinny bitches” and wouldn’t be offended by this. (They are, however, offended when somebody tells them to “just eat a cookie”) I think the ones who are offended are those who work hard and do everything possible to fit into society’s ideal of female beauty (ie “stick-figure silicone Barbie doll”) and don’t like being reminded that not everybody actually prefers that shape regardless of what the fashion industry would have us believe. It’s certainly no more offensive that Fat-Bottomed Girls or Baby Got Back except that this time it’s the girl singing that she’s OK. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2014, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/54 "2014-10-18T05:32:40Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > \ > Now, on a related subject, I work in an office chock full of young professional type men and I have been, uh, surprised, to notice that the trend of the skinny trouser silhouette have infiltrated men’s dress wear as well. \ We were walking behind two young idiots in Walmart tonight - both of them in pencil-thin pants, one with a big ol’ white boy 'fro going on and bare feet, with two inches of his underwear showing. I feel pretty old, but I have to say it - what the hell are these kids thinking?!? > [@garygnu](#): > > Actually, apart from the awful title refrain, the song is pretty melodic and very reminiscent of late 50s or early 60s girl pop. My husband calls this style of music “Sock Hop Pop.” And, in closing, #SkinnyPeopleProblems ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2014, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/55 "2014-10-18T05:42:53Z")
The main problem with the song is that it’s catchy in a bad way. As in you get it stuck in your head, but the version in your head isn’t good. The good thing about the song is that people can finally realize that this isn’t a “black” sound. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2014, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/56 "2014-10-18T05:52:19Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > All I know is, every time I hear this song, I think to myself, “Well, every song needs _some_ treble. I mean, come on.” I read the lyrics just to see if the song was about fish. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2014, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/57 "2014-10-18T08:03:33Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I was thinking along the lines of some Spanish or Italian folk melody or something, and it just popped into my head all of a sudden today. > [@WhyNot](#): > > You might be onto something with it being a traditional tune, though. Yeah, I think there’s a traditional folk element to it. Not an exact melody match, but it’s reminiscent of Jay and the Americans [“Come a Little Bit Closer”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BXAZ0HEUHA) which tries for a faux-Mexican kind of a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Drummond\_Bays](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@Drummond\_Bays](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drummond_Bays)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2014, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/58 "2014-10-18T10:00:55Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Meghan could stand to lose 25 or 30. > Just sayin’. Only 10 or 15, chicks are better a little squishy and soft. Just sayin’. …She’s perfectly fine as she is, actually! Would definitely form babby. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2014, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/59 "2014-10-18T12:19:07Z")
And another thing! That _Unskinny Bop_ song can go fuck itself! By golly! The thin agenda must be crushed! Or is it the fat agenda? I’m confused. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2014, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530/60 "2014-10-18T13:08:21Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > What was bothering most about this song is that the verses sounded very familiar to me, but I just couldn’t quite place it. Then today, while out walking my dog, I figured out what it reminded me of. Phish’s [“Contact”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDhH1VWd9Uw#t=33). Reading the comments, though, led me to another song (which I had never heard of), which arguably sounds even more similar: some Korean pop group called Koyote’s song [Happy Mode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi9MPDK5Q10#t=36). Apparently that group is suing them. > > Now, this is partly why I’m always a little :dubious: about these musical rip-off lawsuits. I suppose it’s possible that Meghan Trainor ripped it off, but I bet it’s just coincidence, unless that K-pop group also ripped off Phish. (To me it actually sounds like a familiar Italian or Spanish type melody, but I can’t find any concrete musical references to that melody anywhere else yet.) As a sometimes musician, I believe these coincidences happen far more often that the average person would think. It reminded me as well of [Let it Grow](http://youtu.be/IN6mjNMNytY?t=6m8s) by the **Dead** though on listening again it is different (the second phrase is a scale degree higher instead of lower). In any case I agree with you on both accounts: when we’re talking about short melodic phrases (especially based on a I and a V chord, the absolute most basic of harmonic progressions), it’s far more likely a coincidence than a rip-off. AND, this also _feels_ to me like a traditional Spanish sound, though I’m also not sure where exactly that association comes from. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-about-that-bass-harmless-pop-song-or-insult/701530.md?page=4)