Made You Look (Meghan Trainor Song)

"Made You Look" is a song by American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor from her fifth major-label studio album, ''Takin' It Back'' (2022). Trainor co-wrote the song with Sean Douglas and its producer Federico Vindver. Epic Records released the song as the album's second single on October 21, 2022. A doo-wop song which fuses 1950s music with contemporary styles, it was inspired by Trainor's insecurities about body image, and encourages listeners to embrace their natural beauty and confidence.

"Made You Look" received mixed reviews from music critics, who directed positive commentary towards the throwback production, but criticized its lyrics. In the United States, the song peaked at number 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Trainor's first top 20 single since " Me Too". It reached the top 10 in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam. The song's music video, which premiered on ''Candy Crush Saga'' in October 2022, features bright colours and cameos by social media influencers. Trainor performed the song on television programs such as ''The Today Show'', ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'', and ''The Drew Barrymore Show'' in 2022.

Background and release

Meghan Trainor achieved commercial success with her debut major-label studio album ''Title'' (2015), which produced three top-10 singles on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. She struggled while creating her third album ''Treat Myself'' (2020), rewriting it four times as an attempt of "adapting to what's going on in the music industry" after the preceding singles underperformed. After the former album's title track attained viral popularity on video-sharing service TikTok in 2021, Trainor announced her intention to pivot to its doo-wop sound on her fifth major-label studio album, along with the influence of her pregnancy. Trainor released the single " Bad for Me" in June 2022.

Trainor wrote "Made You Look" alongside Sean Douglas and Federico Vindver. The song was inspired by her insecurities about body image after her pregnancy and an exercise where her therapist asked her to look at herself naked for five minutes. Trainor pitched the lines "I'll make you double take / Soon as I walk away / Call up your chiropractor just in case your neck break", a reference to how Trainor's husband Daryl Sabara bends his neck to look at her when she leaves a room. Other lyrics were inspired by the things he does to treat her well. Wanting to create another "self-confident banger that healways do son eralbums", Trainor studied the relatability of her song "All About That Bass" (2014) while writing the track.

"Made You Look" was serviced to hot adult contemporary radio stations in the United States as the second single from ''Takin' It Back'' (2022) on October 31, 2022. The song was sent for radio airplay in Italy on November 18, 2022. On December 9, 2022, its a cappella version, featuring guest vocals by Sri, Scott Hoying, Elyse Myers, and Chris Olsen was released alongside an accompanying music video. A choreographed dance routine by TikTok users Brookie and Jessie set to "Made You Look" became a trend on the platform, following which around two million user-generated videos also used the song. Trainor and Olsen had been gaining popularity on TikTok leading up to this, regularly sharing clips and other content together.

Composition and lyrics

"Made You Look" is two minutes and 14 seconds long. Vindver produced, programmed, and engineered the song. He plays the keyboards and percussion, Jesse McGinty plays the baritone saxophone and trombone, and Mike Cordone plays the trumpet. Jeremie Inhaber mixed the song, and Randy Merrill mastered it at Sterling Sound in New York City.

Musically, "Made You Look" is a doo-wop song, which fuses 1950s music with contemporary styles. Vindver incorporated horns into the song's instrumentation to achieve the style. Along with layered harmonies, it prominently features the bass and brass instruments, which ''Riff''s Piper Westrom thought harken back to the sound of ''Title''. "Made You Look" has a call and response hook; Peter Piatkowski of ''PopMatters'' described it as a "spiritual sequel" to "All About That Bass" due to their shared "pouty, surly delivery and the girl group arrangement".

The lyrics of "Made You Look" discuss the theme of self-love; Trainor encourages her female listeners to champion their natural beauty and confidence. She namechecks high-end luxury fashion houses, including Gucci and Louis Vuitton, and insists she looks better donning just her hoodie and "hotter when ermorning hair's a mess". Trainor declares that onlookers would find her walk jaw-dropping and become obsessed with her once they "get a taste"; she also uses the slang term "14-karat cake" to refer to her backside.

Critical reception

"Made You Look" was met with mixed reviews from music critics. ''Rolling Stone'' placed the song at number 69 on their list of 2022's best songs, with Tomás Mier positively comparing it to Trainor's previous work, and praising the "unforgettable lyrics and catchy production". Martina Inchingolo of the Associated Press thought she sounded "loud rand sexier" on it. Writing for '' Far Out'', Tyler Golsen believed "Made You Look" achieved a correct balance between nostalgia for early Trainor music and older pop music in general. Although he refused to call it a good song and stated he probably would not listen to the song again, he thought it was "certainly ..a Meghan Trainor song" and praised her branding efforts.

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine cited the inclusion of the fashion house names in "Made You Look" as an example of moments on ''Takin' It Back'' where Trainor's devotion to bringing back ''Title''s spirit means "that the attitude and melody can occasionally seem preserved in amber". Marsella Evans of ''Plugged In'' criticized the song's obsession with physical beauty and the idea of seeking attention by taking off one's clothes, also accusing parts of it of promoting materialism; she was positive about the lyrics that encourage valuing natural beauty.

Commercial performance

"Made You Look" debuted at number 95 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 issued dated November 5, 2022. The song earned 9.3 millions streams in its second tracking week and entered the Streaming Songs chart at number 49, becoming Trainor's first entry since " Me Too" (2016). It peaked at number 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming her first song to enter its top 40 also since "Me Too". In Canada, "Made You Look" reached number seven on the Canadian Hot 100. The song charted at number two on the UK Singles Chart, becoming her first top-10 single since "Marvin Gaye" (2015). It received a Silver certification in the United Kingdom from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

In Australia, "Made You Look" peaked at number three. The song reached number two in New Zealand and earned a Gold certification from Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ). It became Trainor's first top-10 hit on the ''Billboard'' Global 200, charting at number six. Elsewhere, "Made You Look" peaked within the top 15, at number two in Singapore, number three in Belgium, Ireland and the Philippines, number five in Vietnam, number seven in Norway, number 11 in Hungary, and number 13 in the Netherlands.

Music video and promotion

The music video for "Made You Look" was released on October 20, 2022, exclusive to ''Candy Crush Saga'' for 24 hours, followed by a wide release the following day. She described it: "I knew for this music video that I wanted it to be bright, fun colors. That's my thing, always ... but I wanted this to feel like (an) elevated (version of 'All About That) Bass,' more saturated." It depicts her showing out various outfits at a press conference, driving in a car, and dancing in a room. Cameos include TikTok influencers Hoying, JoJo Siwa, Drew Afualo, and Chris Olsen as dancers, and Sabara as the car driver. An alternate version of the video featuring only Trainor's dance sequence was later released, titled "Made You Look (Again)".

On October 21, 2022, Trainor performed "Made You Look" live for the first time on ''The Today Show''. Three days later, she reprised the song on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon''. Trainor sang it as a medley with "Here Comes Santa Claus" for '' The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration'' on November 27, 2022. On December 13, 2022, she performed "Made You Look" on ''The Drew Barrymore Show''.

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''Takin' It Back''.
*Federico Vindver – producer, songwriter, programming, engineering, keyboards, percussion
*Meghan Trainor – songwriter
* Sean Douglas – songwriter
*Jesse McGinty – baritone saxophone, trombone
*Mike Cordone – trumpet
*Randy Merrill – mastering
*Jeremie Inhaber – mixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

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2022 singles
2022 songs
Body image in popular culture
Epic Records singles
Meghan Trainor songs
Doo-wop songs