Disclaimer: This album includes some explicit content on both the normal and “clean” versions of the album. I do discuss some lyrics with curse words, but I have censored them in this article. There were also no pictures listed under the Creative Commons license that I could use, so no pictures, sorry!
Welcome to our first article analyzing albums!
Today we are analyzing “Timeless” by Meghan Trainor. Before I introduce Meghan Trainor as an artist, I want to outline how I’m going to do these posts. Each song will have a section and essentially I will have two paragraphs to give you an overview of the production and the lyrics. Then I’ll give you a favorite lyric and where in the album it ranks based on those categories. Now that we’ve got that, onto introducing the artist!
We all know “All About that Bass” which was Meghan’s debut single and took number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for several weeks. She was 20 years old at the time and it was actually the 10 year anniversary of this song coming out on June 30, 2024. It sold 11 million copies worldwide. Her debut album “Title” debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 and included singles like “Lips are Movin’” and “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” featuring John Legend.
Since the start of her career, Trainor has released five studio albums with her label, including “Title.” She has received various accolades including Best New Artist at the 2016 Grammy Awards. Trainor is married to actor Daryl Sabara who is known for the Spy Kids movies. They have two kids together, who are the cutest little kids you’ll ever see. Trainor also has a podcast called “Workin’ On It” that Sabara is a frequent guest on. As if Meghan Trainor couldn’t get any cooler, she also wrote a book on parenting and pregnancy called “Dear Future Mama”. Now that you know probably more than you ever thought you’d know about Meghan Trainor, let’s get to her newest album “Timeless.”
Overview
Timeless
Tracks: 16 Time: 44 min, 27 sec Genre: Pop
Track 1: To the Moon
The first track on the album is “To the Moon”. It was cowritten by Meghan Trainor, Federico Vindver, and Jacob Kasher Hindlin. Federico Vinver is listed as the only producer on this track.
This is such an interesting album opener because it’s very different than a lot of her other music. It piques your interest and makes you wonder what else is coming. It’s so hard to not go into depth about the song but at a first glance production-wise, there is a lot of fun stuff going on. It’s a nice blend of acoustic and electronic sounds. The vocal effects on “my love’s gonna take you to the moon” and the rest of the chorus are really interesting. Probably a lot of vocoder, which is something we talked about in my post about selfmedicate by dontknowher. We hear a lot of backing tracks to layer that sound as well as some echoes on certain parts. The sound is a little more straightforward in the bridge. Overall it’s a very interesting blend that I’m really impressed with.
As far as lyrics go, it’s not very lyrically rich and that’s not a bad thing! It’s good to have songs that feel a little more “brainless” to casual listeners. I love the space theme, obviously, and the Star Wars reference to “galaxy far, far away” is impeccable. This is a great album opener and I think it sets the stage for the rest of the album really well.
Favorite Lyric: “The girl of your dreams, From a galaxy, Far, far away”
Overall Rank: 13
Track 2: Been Like This ft. T-Pain
Next we’ve got “Been Like This” ft. T-Pain which was written by Meghan Trainor and Gian Stone. Stone is the sole producer on this track performed by Trainor and T-Pain.
If there’s one thing that Meghan Trainor loves, it’s her brass instruments. Her producers are experts on combining old swing vibes with modern beats and sounds. In this song she’s got lots of brass with a choir of herself going through the chords in the background. T-Pain comes in with his famous auto tune sounds, which is popular among rappers. There’s lots of fun layering and changes in the beats. If you listen hard, the panning is something you will enjoy. It pulls focus to where it’s panned and it’s a fun addition. This song is fast, fun, and great to jam out to.
There are so many great one liners in this song. Choosing a favorite lyric was genuinely a battle. This song is definitely on the simpler side of lyrics, but a little less so than “To the Moon” because of those one liners. Some highlights are “Run your mouth, but I’m on your lips,” “Ain’t nothin’ new, still that b**,” “Trippin’ over these Grammys, but who needs a stand, When their reservation got levitation for two?,” and “I’m a pop star, I’m a wifey, Put an X by my name if you don’t like me.” It’s truly just a super fun song that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed listening to.
Favorite Lyric: I’m gonna go with “I’m a pop star, I’m a wifey, Put an X by my name if you don’t like me”
Overall Rank: 4
Track 3: Crowded Room
“Crowded Room” is definitely more of a callback to her older stuff, while still maintaining her new sounds. It was written by Meghan Trainor, Federico Vindver, and Emily Warren with Federico as the producer.
One thing I’ve noticed with most of her songs is that she’s played a lot with distortion on her vocals, which is becoming more and more popular (bridge of The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived by Taylor Swift, anyone?). Most of the time it’s not my favorite because it’s either too intense or just doesn’t fit the feel of the song for me. I think it really works for this song. There might also be a second track of the melody that has some vocoder on it to give it that specific sound.
“Crowded Room” has some super cute lyrics including many references to Cupid. Some honorable mentions on this one are: “finally found the one I wanna lose” and “Excuse me, Cupid (Hello, Cupid) I said ‘Why’d you hide his love away? When I know he was worth the wait.’” They’re simple but short, sweet, and to the point in a cute way.
Favorite Lyric: “Excuse me, Cupid (Hello, Cupid) I said ‘Why’d you hide his love away? When I know he was worth the wait’”
Overall Rank: 15
Track 4: Whoops
“Whoops” is one of the songs I’ve been obsessed with since the album came out and was used heavily in album promotion aside from the singles. It was written by Meghan Trainor, Grant Boutin, and Gian Stone with both Boutin and Stone as producers.
This song is so catchy and it also has lots of layers to unpack. First, I am in love with the a cappella start with all the layered voices and the simple beat in the back. I think it’s such a different way to start a song like this. Second, the precorded voice with the “it’s the real difference between an adult and a child” is so clever. She does this a couple times on the album and it’s such a fun little detail. When the beat and the bass come in it really provides a lot of depth and taking it out again in the next verse was the right move. It keeps you interested before they drop the beat again. They do the same thing on the bridge and then they have one of my favorite things in pop music… a key change! If a pop song has a key change, I will probably like it. That is what sets “Whoops” apart from all the other songs similar to it.
For the lyrics, I love that they began with the chorus and I’m glad this is a super literal song. There aren’t any frilly metaphors that mess up the meaning. Some of the best lyrics from this song are: “We had a good thing, With cute-a** nicknames,” “And she got ‘bout half, Of my looks with no class,” “Pictures on your phone, That’s called an uh-oh,” “And she got ‘bout half, Of my looks with no a^^,” and “W-H-O-O-P-S, night night b** you made your bed.” Overall it’s an easy listen that keeps you interested the whole time.
Favorite Lyric: I have to go with “Pictures on your phone, That’s called an uh-oh.” It’s so funny to me for no reason.
Overall Rank: 7
Track 5: Crushin’ ft. Lawrence
If you need a self-love song look no further. “Crushin’” is the perfect self-love song with some absolutely great vocals. It was written by Meghan Trainor and Grant Boutin with Boutin being the producer.
Before we even talk about the production on this, we need to mention Lawrence’s vocals. Take the sweetest, jazzy vocals you can think of and it’s probably not as amazing as the ones on “Crushin’.” As the album goes on, you’ll find that a lot of the production is similar. Some people hate it when that’s the case, but I love sonically sound albums. It feels like one work of art rather than a bunch of different ones slapped together. One thing I loved about this song was the amount of piano you can hear. You don’t get too many pop songs with heavy piano unless they’re ballads and this makes me happy. The vocal layers add so much to the whole picture and I adore the descending chromatic line in the prechorus.
Remember when I said this was the perfect self-love song? Yeah that’s all in the lyrics. The accompaniment is happy, but that could go to so many happy songs. The lyrics make it unique and amazing. Here’s a list of what I think are the best ones: “Bought a blue bag from Tiffany’s, Just to let me know that I think of me, ‘Cause I never met nobody who could love me this way,” “Oh, took me way too long, To find the one-of-one (Uh-huh), But I finally see her (Where she at?), When I look in the mirror,” “She cool, she could get it (Hey), She crazy, but I dig it (I dig it), And I never met nobody who could love me this well,” and “She might be needy, She will never leave me, I think she’s cute as h***, If I do say so myself.” I’ve loved listening to this song on days when I need a mood boost because it’s an instant mood boost.
Favorite Lyric: “She might be needy, She will never leave me, I think she’s cute as h***, If I do say so myself” but specifically when Lawrence sings with Meghan Trainor.
Overall Rank: 3
Track 6: I Wanna Thank Me ft. Niecy Nash
“I Wanna Thank Me” ft. Niecy Nash was one of the singles for the album and is another condifence boosting song. This song was written by Meghan Trainor and Federico Vindver who also produced the song.
This song has a lot of fun things going on in the background and I’m really excited to talk about it. We’ve obviously got the spoken voice recording at the beginning with the applause that I love. Then you’ve got some stop-and-go vocals toward the end that are great. If you’re curious about what they sound like, they’re in the backing vocals for “numb” by dontknowher. What I really want to talk about are the fun percussion instruments spread throughout the whole song. You’ve got a vibraslap making the fun buzzing sound, some glockenspiel floating around, and towards the end, something that sounds like a wood block. Then of course, you’ve got Niecy Nash featured as part of the choir. Production-wise, it’s a straight forward song, but it’s got fun layers to listen for and unpack.
As it is another confidence boosting song, I love most of the lyrics. If I could, I’d put the entire song in here. Since I can’t, here are the honorable mentions: “I wanna thank me for lookin’ like this, For workin’ my a** off, can’t do it like me, y’all wish,” “I ain’t hatin’ on myself no more, that’s dumb,” “I’ma act like the whole d*** world’s my stage,” “And so I’d like to take a second to remind me I’m sexy, Gotta be my own bestie when the world tries to test me,” and “Doin’ what they say can’t be done.” I always put this on when I need to feel good about how hard I’ve been working (which, let’s be honest, has been really hard).
Favorite Lyric: “I’ma act like the whole d*** world’s my stage”
Overall Rank: 12
Track 7: Love On Hold ft. T-Pain
T-Pain is back for “Love on Hold” and there is a lot to unpack lyrically in this song. This song was written by Meghan Trainor and Grant Boutin, who also produced.
I love the somewhat salsa-feeling beat in this song. Meghan Trainor always has amazing dance tracks (which we will talk more about later). As far as production goes, it’s a pretty similar song to everything we’ve talked about something. What I want to talk about is the percussion tracks. The first drum fill is mindblowing. The claps fit the song perfectly and then you’ve got things like cowbell to fill out the sound more.
I think “Love on Hold” is one of the best songs lyrically on the album. There’s a few instances of wordplay that make it an interesting listen. One example of that is right at the beginning when Meghan sings, “You only call me for the booty, When I’m tryna be your boo thing.” I also enjoyed the storytelling aspect of T-Pain’s verse. Some great lyrics from that and the rest of the song are: “I only call when that tequila done got me in a chokehold (In a chokehold), That’s a direct violation of the Bro Code (Bro!),” “He got my game on a thousand, at this point, I’m just playin’ offense, I’m not done workin’ your feelings, baby, step into my office,” and “Let’s take a look, let your baby cook, I bet I can make a book on how I’m gaslightin’ your head.” Obviously, both characters are on opposite sides of the story and it keeps you hooked.
Favorite Lyric: “I’m not done workin’ your feelings, baby, step into my office”
Overall Rank: 9
Track 8: Forget How to Love
“Forget How to Love” has such an R&B feel to it and I think that’s a nice break from what we’ve heard before. It was written by Meghan Trainor, Justin Trainor, and Ryan Trainor with Justin being the producer on the track.
Let’s not waste any time before we talk about the alto vocals we’re getting from Meghan on this track. I think her range is such an underrated part of her music and it’s awesome to hear how much her vocals have grown since “All About that Bass.” Another thing that sets her vocals apart in this track is it sounds like there’s more reverb on the lead vocals and some very tasetful distortion added in different places. The choir in the background is such a perfect addition to this song and they shine in the bridge when the bridge and bass are out. Speaking of the bass, the bass line is absolutely delightful in this song. It’s moving in the best way and takes the song to the next level.
This song is also very literal lyric-wise. She’s definitely calling out whoever hurt her in this song. Some honorable mentions from this song are: “And all you wanna do is make me feel unworthy, mm (But I’m worthy),” “Just because you’re drowning in your pain That don’t mean I gotta feel the same,” and “(‘Cause you be) Breakin’ hearts like it ain’t a crime, (You should be) Locked up ‘cause you don’t think twice, (Tell me) How do you sleep at night? (Oh, oh).” To be completely honest, the lyrics did not hit me until I did this article and I’m really glad I wrote this so I could hear that.
Favorite Lyric: “Just because you’re drowning in your pain, That don’t mean I gotta feel the same”
Overall Rank: 16
Track 9: Rollin’
I’ve been waiting to discuss “Rollin’” because it’s another song I’ve been addicted to ever since this album came out. It was written by Meghan Trainor, Federico Vindver, and Jacob Kasher Hindlin with Vindver as a producer.
Not only does this song have a sick saxophone solo at the end, but it’s got a killer bass line and beat. The low brass fill out the sound and give it a little bit of a marching band feel in the best way. One thing we’ve seen multiple times on this album is taking out the beat and bass on the verse. It happens again in this song and it really highlights the lyrics. I’m also dying over the fact that we’re having another alto moment from Meghan. There are a lot of fun sounds happening in the background including an extremely deep voice during the chorus, little bubble popping noises, and whoops. Overall I think this is a great callback to her favorite styles and instrumentations while maintaining a unique sound.
As I said earlier, this song has been on repeat for me and that’s because of the lyrics. Though just scratching the surface (because who can get that deep in a 3-4 minute pop song?), it calls out sexism in the music inudstry especially. I’ll let the lyrics speak for themselves: “Another day, another man tryna mansplain somethin’, I see his lips move, but they ain’t sayin’ nothin’, nah,” “And when a guy goes hard, he busy, But when a girl pulls up, she b**y,” “And if it makes no sense, then you get it, This one is for the girls out there with opinions,” and “Excuse me, sir, you got me laughin’ so hard that my tummy hurts, Tell me, did you buy your first house by your twenty-first?, ‘Cause I did.” “Surface level” or not, these lyrics spread an important message.
Favorite Lyric: “Excuse me, sir, you got me laughin’ so hard that my tummy hurts, Tell me, did you buy your first house by your twenty-first?, ‘Cause I did”
Overall Rank: 8
Track 10: I Don’t Do Maybe
This literally the song that’s in the dance scene of the spy movies. It’s got that Argentine Tango feel, while still keeping it fresh and poppy which makes it extremely marketable in Hollywood. I got so excited talking about tango I almost forgot to say the title: “I Don’t Do Maybe.” It was written by Meghan Trainor, Gian Stone, and Jason Evigan with Stone and Evigan as producers.
I’m literally in love with the tango feel of this song. It makes me want to learn Argentine Tango so bad. The castanets are a classic tango instrument and they’re incorporated really well in this song. There’s also a beautiful trumpet solo at the end that solidifies the tango vibe. One thing I appreciated was the vocal bass line at the start and then layering in more instruments on the same line. The “I know, I know” line works perfectly without the accompaniment behind it and in terms of dance, gives a perfect natural break for someone to put some character into a performance. Meghan’s vocals that float over everything add so much texture and are so beautiful. It’s amazing to see how much she’s grown vocally.
The lyrics match the tone so well for this song. They’re sassy and decisive, which fit the accompaniment so well. Honeslty they’re borderline aggressive, but in the best way. Here’s some examples: “And I get that you want me bad, You ain’t gotta explain all that, I know, I know,” “Don’t love me just to lead me on,” “My time is precious, don’t waste it,” and “Don’t make a promise you can’t keep.”
Favorite Lyric: “My time is precious, don’t waste it.”
Overall Rank: 5
Track 11: I Get It
“I Get It” is another one of our dance songs. It’s a little bit of a stretch, but this song could be a perfect samba. “I Get It” was written by Meghan Trainor, Federico Vindver, and Jacob Kasher Hindlin with Vindver listed as the producer.
We get Meghan’s trademark brass with this song that has a low-key start to it. Once the beat comes in, we hear that the higher tone hit is panned to the right with the lower tone hit panned left. Another thing I loved was the bass in the first half of the chorus. It almost sounds like you’re outside a loud party and all you can hear is the bass. They most likely achieved that by using an EQ Filter to dampen the noise and make it sound further away. It also helps that the bass isn’t super sharp in terms of tone. The ramping up to the first verse and the last pre-chorus are so perfect. It gives the audience a sense of anticipation because you don’t know exactly when the beat will drop again.
One thing I noticed about this song very quickly was how reassuring the lyrics were. It very quickly became a favorite for me. Some of the best lyrics include: “Baby, this love is overwhelming, I get it, You wanted forever once you felt it, I get it,” “Don’t be afraid of getting deeper, dive in it,” “You knew right away I was a keeper, admit it,” and “When your heart does that thing, You don’t have to explain, ‘Cause I feel the same, I get it.” I hope you can see how these lyrics would feel reassuring to listen to.
Favorite Lyric: “When your heart does that thing, You don’t have to explain, ‘Cause I feel the same, I get it.”
Overall Rank: 6
Track 12: Sleepin’ On Me
“Sleepin’ On Me” is track 12 and was written by Meghan Trainor, Scott Harris, and Grant Boutin with Boutin listed as the producer.
I feel like this track is very similar to “Crowded Room” in the verse melodies, but not so similar that you feel like they’re the same song. The production, again, is straightforward in this song. One thing I did notice listening to this song is that the background voices are split into stereo tracks. So they’re not center, but they’re also not panned in only one direction. You hear them in both ears but they sound further away. It’s a pretty common technique to add to the story telling of a song.
The lyrics are super fun in this song. We’ve obviously got the common expression about “sleeping on” something, which in this case is Meghan. If you don’t already know what that is, it’s essentially not paying attention to something really awesome or important. Some other lyrics that contribute to the overall theme are: “So think before you speak, ‘Cause talking s*** is cheap,” “And how do you even miss me, When I’ve been here the whole time?,” and “I bet you was asleep, Sleeping on me.”
Favorite Lyric: “So think before you speak, ‘Cause talking s*** is cheap”
Overall Rank: 11
Track 13: Hate It Here
Our next song is “Hate It Here” and it was written by Meghan Trainor, Justin Trainor, and Gian Stone wiht both Justin and Stone listed as producers.
I think one of the most creative parts of this song is that it makes the acoustic sounds we’re used to sound a little more electronic. You’ve got the heavily filtered guitar and the clipped vocals in the beginning that really sell that effect. All the things you’re used to get flipped into something new. Same with the beat. Throughout the album we hear more acoustic-sounding drums and this beat sounds a little more electronic supporting a very club vibe, electronic bass. It’s definitely a great dance song which is funny since it’s about wanting to leave a big party.
I will be honest the “wanna leave, wanna leave, wanna leave” really hit deep in my soul. We’ve all felt the feeling of just “ugh I want to not be here” and I think that line really got the feeling. Another honorable mention is: “Won’t you rather be at home with me?”
Favorite Lyric: “Wanna leave, wanna leave, wanna leave”
Overall Rank: 14
Track 14: Bestie
Another self-love track coming through! “Bestie” was written by Meghan Trainor, Grant Boutin, and Gian Stone with Boutin as the producer.
This has the same vibe as “Hate It Here” in the sense that it’s a little more elctronic than some of the recent songs on the album. This song has a very strong cha-cha beat that I’m loving. The drums are way more acoustic-sounding than “Hate It Here” which helps the dance feel. I love the bass line on this song. It moves a lot without be super complicated. Other than that there’s not too much going on with the song production-wise at first glance. I might have this album on repeat, but my production brain hasn’t been on for my car rides.
I think the lyrics is where this song really shines. Here are some of my favorites: “Look at myself like, ‘Ooh, she cute,’” “‘Bout to get high off an ego boost,” “‘Cause I, I am the only one, Who’s been there since day one,” “I wanna be my hype girl, my cheerleader, That’s right, girl, I’m here for ya,” and “Eat the cake when I want to, ‘Cause I don’t know how long it’s been since I.” That last lyric is especially relatable to me. Like yeah I’m gonna eat the cake if I want to.
Favorite Lyric: “‘Cause I, I am the only one, Who’s been there since day one”
Overall Rank: 10
Track 15: Doin’ It All For You
“Doin’ It All For You” makes me so happy, you don’t even know. It’s such an adorable love song and was written by Meghan Trainor, Justin Trainor, and Chris Gelbuda with Justin as the producer.
The simplicty of the beginning is something I really like in this song. Just the guitar and vocal with some muted echoes throughout. It’s the perfect beginning to the song. Once the rest of the instrumentation comes in it feels very full and rounded out. Another thing I love in this song are the swells to the silence. It makes the beat drop more impactful since there’s absolutely nothing but vocals before it happens. I especially love this effect when the key change happens! It’s such a well done key change with some extra reverb on the solo vocals to give it a bit more depth.
As for the lyrics of the song, all of it makes me think of my husband, Trevin. It’s all just super full of love and makes me incredibly happy. Some of my favorites are: “I can’t wait ‘til the day we say ‘I do,’” “Baby, there ain’t a thing I wouldn’t do I’m doin’ it all, doin’ it all for you,” “‘Til the end of time (‘Til the end of time), Forever ain’t enough,” “Kinda crazy what love can make you do,”and “I wasted time with only fools (I should’ve known), I should’ve known it was always you.”
I think this is one of my favorites overall for the album. It’s just such a sweet song and I love it so much.
Favorite Lyric: “I wasted time with only fools (I should’ve known), I should’ve known it was always you”
Overall Rank: 2
Track 16: Timeless
Let me just say, I am so glad she ended Timeless with the title track. “Timeless” was written by Meghan Trainor, Gian Stone, and Federico Vindver with Stone and Vindver as producers. While Stone and Vindver were composers on this track, Trainor was the only lyricist, which makes it so special.
This song is giving me major “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” vibes in the instrumentation, but so much better in my opinion. It’s shifted from “I might lose you” to “this is forever and we both know it.” I’m loving the brass per usual as well as the choir in the background. Adding the organ puts it over the top as a gospel feel and it’s so perfect. The bass line rocks, the melody is a slay (haha). I love that when the key changes, we get a huge drop. Nothing and then everything and it makes it so special. I’m also in love with the saxophone line in the end. Every little detail contributes so much to this song.
By my own rules, I’m not allowed to put the whole song as my favorite lyric, but know that the whole thing is my favorite. Here are some highlights: “so I’m gonna hold you for the rest of my life, As long as you love me on the other side,” “‘Cause we don’t know how long we’ve got, Here on this rock, But you and me, we’ll never stop,” “You and I, baby, we’re timeless,” and “We could be foolish (oh), And we can pretend (we can pretend), Even our best days (even our best days), They won’t come to an end.” Meghan and Daryl honestly have such a special love and it’s so evident in this song. Also holy vocals, Meghan, this is incredible. The riff choices are superb and she uses her whole range in a beautiful way.
Favorite Lyric: “So I’m gonna hold you for the rest of my life, As long as you love me on the other side.”
Overall Rank: 1
Conclusion
Timeless is, in fact, a timeless album. I have a feeling I’ll be listening to it for a long, long time. Meghan Trainor keeps getting better with age and if you haven’t listened to her new music, you absolutely need to.
As always, leave suggestions for songs and albums! Make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow my Instagram account!
See you guys next time!