"Bad for Me" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Single by Meghan Trainor featuring Teddy Swims | ||||
from the album Takin' It Back | ||||
Released | June 24, 2022 | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 3:33 | |||
Label | Epic | |||
Songwriter(s) |
| |||
Producer(s) |
| |||
Meghan Trainor singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Teddy Swims singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Bad for Me" on YouTube |
"Bad for Me" is a song by American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor, featuring guest vocals from Teddy Swims. It was released on June 24, 2022, as the lead single from her upcoming fifth major-label studio album, Takin' It Back (2022). Trainor, Ajay Bhattacharyya, and Stephen Wrabel wrote the song, and Stint and Frederico Vindver produced it. A pop song, "Bad for Me" has lyrics about distancing oneself from a toxic relationship with a family member. Thom Kerr directed the music video for the song, which depicts Trainor and Swims navigating an illusory set of flowers interspersed with panoramic imagery. They performed it on the television show Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
Background
Meghan Trainor released two major-label studio albums in 2020, her third, Treat Myself, and her fourth, A Very Trainor Christmas.[1] She struggled while creating the former, rewriting it four times as an attempt to "adapt to what's going on in the music industry" after its preceding singles underperformed.[2] After Trainor's 2014 song "Title" attained viral popularity on video-sharing service TikTok in 2021, she announced her intention to pivot to the doo-wop sound of its 2015 parent album of the same name on her fifth one, in May the following year, along with her pregnancy's influence on it.[3] In June 2022, she began teasing a song titled "Bad for Me" as the lead single from it.[4] The song was released on June 24, 2022, and features guest vocals from American singer-songwriter Teddy Swims.[5][6][7] Trainor revealed that it is about a toxic relationship, along with its lyrics "Please don't make promises that you can't keep/ Your best intentions end up hurting me/ No matter what, I love you endlessly". She appeared without makeup in the teaser, which Portal Popline's Leonardo Rocha interpreted as emblematic of the lyrics's sincerity.[8][9]
Composition
Trainor wrote "Bad for Me" with Ajay Bhattacharyya and Stephen Wrabel, strangers to her at the time, about a personal situation she experienced. She stated: "Toxic relationships can be in your family and you can step away from them and it sucks. But it's doable." That night, Daryl Sabara suggested that the song is the right one for Trainor to record as a duet with Swims, who she had wished to collaborate with for a long time. Swims, friends with Bhattacharyya and Wrabel, responded to the proposition: "I would be honored to be part of this", and they recorded it in Trainor's home studio the following week.[10] "Bad for Me" is a pop song. People's Jeff Nelson characterized the song as "sad-girl pop". Trainor considered it more personal than her other songs as it involved another person; she refused to name the subject but dispelled the idea that it is about her brother Ryan.[11] Jacob Uitti of American Songwriter included "Bad for Me" in the magazine's weekly rundown of the best new releases in music: "[The song] is a powerful pop masterpiece from the standout songwriter."[12]
Music video
Thom Kerr directed the music video for "Bad for Me", which premiered the same day as the song. In it, Trainor and Swims navigate an illusory set of flowers interspersed with panoramic imagery; American Songwriter's Tina Benitez-Eves interpreted it as an illustration of the song's lyrics about dissociating from toxic relationships.[13]
Live performance
Trainor first performed "Bad for Me" live with Swims at Jimmy Kimmel Live! on June 24, 2022.[13]
Charts
Chart (2022) | Peak position |
---|---|
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[14] | 19 |
UK Download (OCC)[15] | 57 |
Release history
Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Various | June 24, 2022 | Epic | [16] | |
United States | June 27, 2022 | Hot adult contemporary | [17] |
References
- ^ Rowley, Glenn (October 7, 2020). "There Are Only 78 Sleeps Until Christmas, So Check Out Meghan Trainor's Two New Festive Tracks". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
- ^ Feeney, Nolan (January 14, 2020). "Pop Music Is Changing, So Meghan Trainor Did Too". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 4, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
- ^ Jones, Brian (May 12, 2022). "Meghan Trainor Reveals How She's 'Taking It Back' for Upcoming Album". Pop Culture. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
- ^ Dee, Erika (June 15, 2022). "Meghan Trainor New Song 2022: Diss Track on 'Toxic,' 'Therapy-Landing' Relationship?". Music Times. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
- ^ "Meghan Trainor sings about a 'very toxic relationship' in upcoming new single". KQMV. June 9, 2022. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
- ^ "Meghan Trainor sings about a 'very toxic relationship' in upcoming new single". KSTP-FM. June 9, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
- ^ @Meghan_Trainor (June 17, 2022). "#BadForMe ft. @teddyswims 6/24 💖" (Tweet). Retrieved June 17, 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ Rocha, Leonardo (June 15, 2022). "Meghan Trainor mostra trecho de canção inédita no TikTok". Portal Popline (in Portuguese). Retrieved June 16, 2022.
- ^ "Meghan Trainor compartilha trecho de música inédita" (in Portuguese). Terra. June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
- ^ Mier, Tomás (June 22, 2022). "Meghan Trainor Is Confidently 'Takin' It Back' as a New Mom on Upcoming LP". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
- ^ Nelson, Jeff (June 24, 2022). "Meghan Trainor Talks Mom Guilt, Oversharing and Family Drama Behind New Single 'Bad for Me'". People. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
- ^ Uitti, Jacob (June 24, 2022). "New Song Friday! Hear New Music from Kane Brown, Meghan Trainor, WILLOW, Wolf Alice H.E.R. and More". American Songwriter. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
- ^ a b Benitez-Eves, Tina (June 24, 2022). "Meghan Trainor Owns Motherhood and Matrimony on Upcoming Album 'Takin' It Back'". American Songwriter. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
- ^ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. July 4, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
- ^ "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
- ^ "Bad For Me [Explicit] by Meghan Trainor feat. Teddy Swims". Amazon. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
- ^ "Hot/Modern/AC > Future Releases". All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on June 21, 2022. Retrieved June 21, 2022.