Meghan Trainor is back with yet another upbeat and empowering track. “Mother” is the follow-up single to her runaway song “Made You Look,” which quickly became a favorite on TikTok. “The fact that Meghan Trainor is literally Mother right now,” the accompanying music video, which is filled with all that’s glittery and glam, including Kris Jenner, announces.
But first, let’s rewind a little bit to how we got to “Mother.” Written by Trainor, Sean Douglas, Glan Stone, and Justin Trainor and sampling Pat Ballard’s 1954 track “Mr. Sandman,” the single was released on March 10 as part of the deluxe edition of her fifth major-label studio album, Takin’ It Back (2022). But all that glitters can sometimes get tons of criticism, and that was exactly what happened when Trainor shared a snippet of the song on February 27. The accompanying clip showed TikTok influencer Chris Olsen and husband Daryl Sabara dancing to the chorus: “I am your mother / You listen to me / Stop all that mansplainin’ / No one’s listenin’ / Tell me who gave you permission to speak / I am your mother / You listen to me.”
Due to its catchiness, critics reasoned that Trainor made the track solely to appeal to TikTok creators in order to have it go viral on the platform. In fact, a viral tweet accused the singer of participating in the “TikTokification of pop music.” If we’re being honest, it’s very likely that “Mother” being the follow-up single to the TikTok viral song “Made You Look” was why people assumed that TikTok virality has become her main motive. But if you ask me, Trainor has been making songs likely to go viral on TikTok way before the days of TikTok, remember: “If I was you, I’d wanna be me too.”
The release of “Mother” also follows the announcement of Trainor’s first book – themed around motherhood – named “Dear Future Mama.”
In a press release promoting the song, Trainor revealed that it came about as a result of the treatment she keeps getting in the entertainment industry despite having been in the industry for over a decade. “This song is my response to being in the industry for almost a decade now and still finding myself in situations where I am talked down to or made to feel like my opinion isn’t valid,” Trainor said in a statement. “It’s for anyone who is in a situation where they feel like they are being mansplained to and want to take their power back.”
So shush, Meghan Trainor is Mother.