It’s a positive message, brought to you by a 5-man a capella group and a female pop singer.
If you’ve listened to Top 40 radio recently, you’ve probably heard It’s All About that Bass by Meghan Trainor. Not so hidden in the pop tune is a message, woman to woman, that you don’t have to fit the media mold of “beautiful” to be amazing.
It takes on a different meaning in the cover by a capella band Home Free. Described on popcrush.com as “barbershop-meets-country”, Home Free won Season 4 of The Sing-off and is known for their covers of a wide range of songs, including Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire.
In Home Free’s cover of It’s All About that Bass, subtle word changes make all the difference. They turn it from a pop anthem to a guys-to-girls song, telling women they’re perfect from bottom to top, they don’t have to be a size 2 to get love, and if they’re obsessed with their appearance can just keep moving on. The meaning is still there (along with digs at advertisers and their love of Photoshop). As Home Free says of the original, “…hopefully, her success will prove to be part of a much needed shift in the overall theme and vernacular of the current generation’s taste; a little less superficial commercialism, and a lot more substance.“
Home Free keeps the substance. But like the original, their musical style (country harmony) and video (look for the cameos by the horse and the unicorn) keep it from becoming an after-school special self-help lecture. It’s fun. It sounds great. And you’ll want to listen again.
Home Free is Adam and Chris Rupp, Austin Brown, Rob Lundquist and Tim Foust. The video was directed, shot, and edited by Kristine Slipson.
See original Meghan Trainor video here.
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C’mon..They’re just saying: Love your size/shape, despite bombarding by mind bending advertisements…
No disparaging words here about Home Free – they’re an awesome band with some serious skills. But check out this article (http://bigfitdeal.com/blog/?p=2325) and you might see why that song isn’t what they think it is.
Again, nothing but love for Home Free. But that song isn’t quite as “body-positive” as they think. I think we need to find a way to support one group without putting down another in the process.
Love Home Free, though…
Home Free is super talented, and they obviously had fun making this video. But isn’t this song saying that women who are thin, who do fit the stereotype of what society/media says a woman ought to look like, have less substance than those of us who are more than a size 2? I get that the song initially seems very body positive, but it’s actually saying that specific body types are better than others, that men like certain bodies better than others, etc. I wish Meghan Trainor (and, by extension, Home Free) had found a way to celebrate her body… Read more »
People over analyze EVERYTHING!…They’re just basically saying: love yourself the way you are, from the bottom to the top…PERIOD…..Home Free, you guys are awesome!! Your tight HARMONIES/5+ octave deepest smooth BASS & insanely good beatboxer’s BEATS are incredible…No one else sounds like you… Your latest vids are amaazing! SUMMER IN THE COUNTRY, WAGON WHEER/SONG OF THE SOUTH, HONEY I’M GOOD, WHAT WE AIN’T GOT, BUTTS REMIX (classier than it sounds & awesome!!), MOM, THINKING OUT LOUD/LET’S GET IT ON, EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY, I’VE SEEN, ANY WAY THE WIND BLOWS, ETC….You were awesome at the CMA FEST yesterday & your… Read more »