TRANSCRIPT: Meghan Trainor
MEL DOYLE: Meghan Trainor is all about being real. Her gift for songwriting, her stunning, sometimes sassy voice and her authenticity haven't just made her a tearaway international success. She's also become an inspiration for people of all shapes and sizes around the world. And this week, there was another stunning example of her determination to be herself. She pulled the video for her latest release because she'd been photoshopped to look thinner. In London and LA, we found Meghan at her most forthright and candid and at the top of her game. Here's PJ Madam.
Ow!
MEGHAN TRAINOR: My friend showed me that she has this folder on her phone of six different apps that she uses to 'correct' herself, she says. Like, photoshop herself to be perfect, where you can contour your nose, make your teeth whiter, squish in your body. And she showed me. She's like, "Watch what I can do." And I just looked at that and was like, "We're screwed. We're screwed."
I thank God every day
That I woke up
feeling this way... #
PJ MADAM: Meghan Trainor is a woman who's true to her word. She discovered a few days ago that her latest video had been photoshopped to make her look slimmer. She hit delete and hit back on social media.
MEGHAN: Hey, guys, I took down the Me Too video because they photoshopped the crap out of me and I'm so sick of it and I'm over it, so I took it down until they fix it! My waist is not that teeny. I had a bomb waist that night. I don't know why THEY didn't like my waist. But I didn't approve that video and it went out for the world, so I'm embarrassed.
I'd wanna be me too... #
PJ MADAM: Meghan's bold move came as a surprise to some, but to not us, because when we sat down in London with the straight-talking pop star, we learnt why she's deadly serious about encouraging women to embrace who they really are.
So bless me, baby
Achoo! #
MEGHAN: It was the magazines that shook me. Like, I'd go to the grocery store with my mom and we would just stop and stare and be like, "Ugh! Why is she so perfect?" And it wasn't like, "Oh, she's beaut..." It was like, "Ugh! What is that? Why is she so..."Why does she look like that?"
PJ MADAM: I heard the story about you in the sixth grade and there was a guy that you had a little crush on.
MEGHAN: My best friend.
PJ MADAM: He made a comment about your weight. Is that true?
MEGHAN: Yeah, yeah. I thought we were getting somewhere, 'cause we were flirting all the time, but I guess that was just us being best friends. And I wore a really tight pink shirt, and I was feeling thin that day, 'cause everything was tight, and he said, "You know, you'd be..." Like, he tried to make it a compliment, but it was not. He said, "You'd be really hot if you were, like, 10 pounds lighter." And I at first was like, "Is this a compliment?" I was like, "No." And I went home and, like... didn't want to eat. I felt awful. I was like, "I love this dude "and he just told me to my face that I'm not acceptable "because I'm 10 pounds heavier than what I should be," and it stuck with me for life.
PJ MADAM: What does that do to your confidence?
MEGHAN: It crushed me. It's one of those things growing up, like, you get picked on. You remember those forever, you know? And you don't want to, but it's just...for some reason, we as humans keep those memories.
PJ MADAM: File them away.
MEGHAN: Oh, yeah.
PJ MADAM: And do you feel like it's...great irony that now, from that moment, you're a pin-up girl for female empowerment, particularly female body issues?
MEGHAN: It's crazy to me. It's like...it's like the movie was written and I'm just in it. (LAUGHS)
PJ MADAM: It's about you!
MEGHAN: Yeah! It's crazy.
PJ MADAM: Where's that boy now?
MEGHAN: Still home.
(BOTH LAUGH)
I see the magazines
working their photoshop
We know that ain't real
Come on, now, make it stop
If you got beauty, beauty
Just raise them up
Every inch of you is perfect
from the bottom to the top... #
MEGHAN: All About That Bass saved my life, made all my dreams come true.
Because you know I'm all
about that bass, 'bout that bass
No treble
I'm all about that bass,
'bout that bass
No treble
I'm all about that bass,
'bout that bass
No treble
I'm all about that bass,
'bout that bass... #
MEGHAN: All About That Bass blew up because it was so...talked about. I remember the first tweets ever that were about All About That Bass, were, "Do you think this is bashing body sizes or helping people?" And I was, like, retweet. "What do you think? Let's talk about it." So I think the fact that they were talking about it made it number one so fast, 'cause people were sharing it on Facebook - "What do you think? Is this a terrible song or is this an anthem?" Mostly positive, but we did get a lot of negative, and they warned me in the beginning, "You might get some backlash for skinny bitches." And I was like, "Will I?" Yeah, it was bad.
You know, I won't be no
stick-figure silicone Barbie doll
No... #
PJ MADAM: All that controversy helped All About That Bass hit number one in 58 countries. It's been viewed on the internet more than 1.3 billion times.
Bass, bass, bass, bass... #
PJ MADAM: Meghan picked up a swag of awards, including a Grammy for Best New Artist.
MAN: Meghan Trainor.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING)
PJ MADAM: That's her biggest fan - her dad, Gary.
MEGHAN: He whispered to me, "You made it." And that's our inside thing that we have, 'cause when I got a publishing deal, I'd be like, "Dad, I'm famous. "I'm flying to California, man! I made it!" And then I got a record deal and was like, "I totally made it, didn't I?" And he's like, "Yeah."…(TEARFULLY) Oh, I'm a mess! Hi! I love you so much. Thank you, Atom Factory and Troy Carter, for managing me, and my mom and dad for always believing in me. I'm a mess. I have to go cry!
GARY TRAINOR: I'm Meghan Trainor's dad. (LAUGHS) I'm Meghan Trainor's dad and I'm very proud to be Meghan Trainor's dad. I think it's a great opportunity for me to reflect on how important it is to believe in somebody, even if it's your own child - yes, believe in them and love them and hang with them.
MEGHAN: Aunty Lisa and the cousins. Other cousins. We're a lot of family.
PJ MADAM: In what some might view as being uncool or a bit daggy, Meghan has kept her dad and the rest of her family close by during her rapid rise to pop stardom.
But I feel better
when I'm dancin'
Yeah, yeah... #
GARY: And I've had parents and children come up to me and say, "Yes, your daughter has saved my life." And that's very special. Sure it is.
MEGHAN: (SINGS)
PJ MADAM: Her brother Ryan films her packed concerts.
RYAN: The most amazing thing about it is the fact that I, you know, got to grow up with her and seeing her kind of develop into this amazing, confident pop star idol that she, like, has always been the whole time and she finally is letting it out. That's the coolest thing for me. It's, like... the whole time, we were like, "Meghan, you're a pop star.
Like, roll with this." And she'd be like, you know, "I'm just gonna write songs behind the scenes." And I was like, "Alright, but you're gonna be a star, "like, sooner than you think."
So I'm gonna love you
I'm gonna love you
Like I'm gonna lose you
Like I'm gonna lose you
Yeah, I'm gonna love you
Ohh-oooh
Like I'm gonna
BOTH: # Lose you. #
PJ MADAM: Is it true that you said you always thought that you had the talent but felt that you didn't have the right look?
MEGHAN: Yeah. I just was too insecure. Put the idea down. Because I didn't look like Britney Spears.
All around the world
Pretty girls... #
MEGHAN: Everyone was gorgeous. Everyone was beautiful. Even when I was a teenager, I noticed the pop stars were really pretty and then I found out secrets, like,
"Oh, they didn't write those songs. "They weren't a part of it." And I started writing because I thought that's what they were all doing, and then when I found out they didn't, I was like, "OK, well, at least I'm ahead of the game and can do this." And my first job was just 'songwriter'.
PJ MADAM: I got a text message from my 15-year-old niece. I wrote, "What is it that you like about her?" And she wrote, "Her voice, her songs, her body confidence. She is relatable. She has nice hair."
MEGHAN: (LAUGHS) That's great!
PJ MADAM: How does that make you feel?
MEGHAN: Wonderful. Amazing. 'Cause I just...it's like I wish someone was doing that when I was growing up, you know?
Hey, baby,
don't you bring them tears
'Cause it's too late,
too late, babe
Oooh
You only love me when you're here
You're so two-faced,
two-faced, babe
Oooh... #
PJ MADAM: Would you say the most important instrument is actually that of your voice?
MEGHAN: Yeah, absolutely it is, and you don't understand how delicate it is until you break it. Yeah. Which is terrifying. And voice is so cool for me for producing and writing songs, because when I have an idea in my head and I can't play it on the piano or I can't get it out, I'll sometimes just record it with my vocals. So a lot of songs, like Watch Me Do, you'll hear me singing, like...# Dum dum dum dum dum-dum. # And we just made that an instrument. # Dum dum dum dum dum-dum. #
PJ MADAM: Meghan did have a real scare with her most precious instrument last year.
BOTH: # I won't take you for granted
'Cause we'll never know it... #
PJ MADAM: Pushing her voice to the limits, she suffered a vocal cord haemorrhage and underwent surgery, posting Instagram photos before and after.
MEGHAN: There's days when I wake up, I'm like, "Oh, no! What's going on?" And after that scare, it's really a psychological thing. I feel like anytime I feel pain, it's all mental, but I'm like, "It's broken again and I have to get surgery." Like, I immediately freak out. But I'm probably OK.
PJ MADAM: But when we visited her in Los Angeles making that controversial new video, she revealed her vocal cords were still not 100%.
MEGHAN: My voice is not great, to be honest. I'm having trouble.
Uh...but we're gonna work on it and we're gonna see doctors and...we're gonna figure it out.
My name is
No
My sign is
No
My number is
No
You need to let it go
You need to let it go
Need to let it go...
PJ MADAM: In an industry where success can be fleeting, Meghan is evolving as an artist, changing her sound and her style.
MEGHAN: I've been cute and adorable, and I want to be sexy too.
PJ MADAM: A genuine role model for saying yes to being herself.
Untouchable, untouchable
Untouchable, untouchable
Ah, ah
to the no, no, no, no. #
