Children React to "All About That Bass"

Whenever I’m in the car with my kid cousins, I’m always surprised when I hear them singing the lyrics to some of the nation’s top radio hits. Songs like "Call Me Maybe" and "Shake It Off" aren’t all that shocking, but when you hear anyone younger than 13 (and maybe even that’s too young) belting out songs like "Rude Boy", "Teenage Dream", or "Partition" it makes you cringe a little. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all over those songs, but it is a little awkward. It’s like how everyone in my generation used to sing Shaggy’s "It Wasn’t Me" but had no idea what it meant. However, whether PG or not, it’s still amusing to see how children respond to today’s music, and when kids reacted to Meghan Trainor’s "All About That Bass" in a recent YouTube video, it was especially hilarious.

The video, which was created by Fine Brothers Production, a YouTube channel that posts numerous reaction videos to various pop culture related topics, features children ranging in age from 6 years old to 13 watching Trainor’s music video.

Expectedly, many of the young viewers were excited to see the video to their favorite song whereas some were not too keen. In particular, 10-year-old Dash was not about that bass when he flopped his head on the table and asked if this is what our world had come to and said it was “painful.” 13-year-old Thomas had a similar reaction when he asked if the video would ever end.

However, Tyler and Lucas (my favorite little guy with the intense eyebrows) were especially pleased with the upbeat pop song even singing the lyrics word for word. Lucas, of course, admitted to not understanding the message of the song about loving your body and embracing your curves, but that’s OK because he’s sassy and fabulous. It’s a good message to know, but at least the song isn’t about something sexual.

The negative and positive reviews were split 50/50 but I guess that makes sense considering not all children like pop music. As someone who dances around in my room to this song, I’m not that offended by the critics because they are kids after all. Most of the boys and girls old enough to understand the song even knew that it was about respecting your body and the difference between “bass” and “treble” in Trainor’s song lyrics.

Toward the end of the video, the creators interviewed all of the subjects and discussed the meaning of the song and how the kids felt her message is important for our society. With children being so impressionable, it’s crucial that we help them learn how important it is to feel empowered no matter what your size is and to always love yourself. On the other hand, I hope they also come away from this knowing that while we shouldn't fat shame, it's not good to skinny shame either. Yet even so, it looks like Trainor is doing a good job at reaching out to a younger audience.