When I was a child I listened to the music my parents liked and it was not the “rock and roll” this Grandma loved. As soon as our grandchildren started listening to pop music, that was all I wanted to learn. I did not have grandparents, but somehow I knew being into grandchildren meant not only exposing them to our “rock and roll” and music we liked. This Grandma loves
what they love–and if I don’t, I learn to love it. It is no different with the new pop music. When Grandpa would put sixties on the car radio, I would switch to pop. Soon, Grandpa and I stopped listening to sixties. We now know all the new groups. We now know all the new songs. We just got out of the car after singing along with our eight and eleven year old grandchildren to the newest tunes on the pop station.
We are cool grandparents. Yes, we work at it. Seeing the smiles on the faces of our grandchildren that we know all the words to the songs they love warms my heart. And, we now listen to pop all the time. We read about pop and keep up with the newest trends. We love the combos of the pop and rap. Just listen to Pit Bull and Keisha, “Timber.” Yes, some of the themes are troublesome, but I know the some of the “rock and roll themes” were back when. What the grandchildren can get on the Internet. . . .
As the newest song came on the radio, “All About That Bass,” we turned to the mother of our grandchildren and asked her if she knew what the song was about. She had no clue. We told her and told her to listen to the words, and even she got it. Watch the video.
See, Grandpa and I really are the “bomb” or whatever newest term is for the best grandparents in the universe, if we do say so ourselves. I know she thinks we are a little over the top, but who cares. You can get older in years, and remain forever young.
When we first heard the song, “All About That Bass,” we liked it and learned the words, still not understanding the meaning behind the words “bass” and “treble” used in it. We had not heard of the artist, Meghan Trainor, before. But that is not unusual as we did not know about the new group, The Kongos, who are four South African brothers with the last name Kongos now living in the U.S. and their new great alternative song, ” Come With Me Now.” It is fabulous. Grandpa looked up the lyrics which he does for us. The first word is “whoa,” so you can sound cool too. Listen to it and watch the video.
Back to Meghan Trainor. How did we know so much? We can be smart just reading parts of the newspaper most others of long years, and others who consider themselves adults, ignore, such as “The Music Scene.” We learned the song is considered “doowop” pop. See, listen to it. We can all relate– to it and our grandchildren.
Here’s the article from the August 15, 2014 Miami Herald, The Music Scene “Size Does Not Matter for ‘Bass’ Singer,” so you can show your grandchildren how smart and cool you are.
Not everyone was initially enthusiastic about All About That Bass.
Meghan Trainor, the 20-year-old who is having a pop culture moment with the song about body acceptance, said she initially wrote the track and pitched it to other artists, but was turned away.
“Labels were like, `We love it, but you have to reproduce it. You got to get it more synth-y, pop-y,’ ” Trainor told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
Things changed when record executive L.A. Reid heard the doowop pop song and told Trainor she should be the voice behind it. He signed the budding songwriter to Epic Records after hearing her sing Bass while playing the ukulele.
Last week, the song jumped 20 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart to No. 8. The single has sold almost 400,000 copies so far in five weeks, and the music video, which has about 10 million views, has become a water cooler topic among young girls and parents.
Bass features standout lines like “It’s pretty clear, I ain’t no size 2,” “I’m bringing booty back” and “Yeah my momma, she told me don’t worry about your size.”
Trainor said Grammy-nominated producer Kevin Kadish, who has worked with Jason
Mraz, had the song title but didn’t know where to go from there.
“And I immediately thought, `Booty. Bass. Thickness,’ ” she said.
Trainor, who grew up in Nantucket, Massachusetts, recently moved to Nashville. She was signed to a publishing house in Music City, and wrote songs for Rascal Flatts and others. Now, she’s working on an EP and album to capitalize on her breakthrough.
Trainor is ecstatic and humbled that young girls have gravitated to the song.
“I tear up . . . because some girls are like, `I’ve hated myself. I hated life. I didn’t want to go to school. I get bullied. And then I heard your song and I cried,’ ” she said.
Bass has given Trainor a boost as well.
“I wish there was a song like this when I was 13,” she said, adding that she’s not always confident.
“It’s all mostly in my head. I would sit there in class like, `I know they are judging me right now. I know they’re picking on me.’ . . . So it helped me a lot, watching this video and seeing the comments that were positive.”
Let the parents of your grandchildren know the theme too, so they can have a discussion with the grandchildren about bullying. Not our job. Remember, we grandparents are about joy, not responsibility.
Speaking of joy, if you are getting the hang of it and enjoying the pop, listen to “Maps,” by Maroon 5, another new hit by Adam Levine. Watch the explicit version of the video and listen. We must also know the explicit versions if we can, so we can react appropriately to our grandchildren.
My new pop favorite is “Rather Be,” by Clean Bandit. Watch the video and listen.
And now follow along with the lyrics. Which of us grandparents would not rather be with our grandchildren and sing this with them!
“Rather Be”
[Verse 1:]
We’re a thousand miles from comfort, we have traveled land and sea
But as long as you are with me, there’s no place I’d rather be
I would wait forever, exalted in the scene
As long as I am with you, my heart continues to beat
[Pre-Chorus:]
With every step we take, Kyoto to The Bay
Strolling so casually
We’re different and the same, get you another name
Switch up the batteries
[Chorus:]
If you gave me a chance I would take it
It’s a shot in the dark but I’ll make it
Know with all of your heart, you can’t shake me
When I am with you, there’s no place I’d rather be
N-n-n-no, no, no, no place I’d rather be [3x]
[Verse 2:]
We staked out on a mission to find our inner peace
Make it everlasting so nothing’s incomplete
It’s easy being with you, sacred simplicity
As long as we’re together, there’s no place I’d rather be
[Pre-Chorus]
[Chorus]
When I am with you, there’s no place I’d rather be
[Bridge:]
Hmmmmmmmmmm, hoooooooooo
Be [9x]
Yeah-e-yeah-e-yeah-e-yeah-e-yeah, yeah, yeah
[Chorus]
When I am with you, there’s no place I’d rather be
I hope you now have a little more knowledge about what our grandchildren are singing—and ready to have fun with pop music with the grandchildren. We don’t have to love it all to love enjoying new music with those we love.
And watch the video and listen to the new song by Coldplay “Sky Full of Stars”. It is the favorite of the mother of our grandchildren. We can listen to pop and relate to the parents of our grandchildren as well with
Joy,
Mema
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