"Better When I'm Dancin'" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter

Meghan Trainor Meghan Elizabeth Trainor (born December 22, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to prominence after signing with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing her debut single " All About That Bass", which reach ...

for the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

to the film '' The Peanuts Movie'', based on the popular comic strip of the same name created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. Trainor co-wrote it with Thaddeus Dixon and co-produced it with her brother, Justin. Epic Records released it on October 14, 2015, as the first and only promotional single from the soundtrack. Backed by an instrumentation of salsa-inspired drums, the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

song has

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influences and optimistic lyrics that were inspired by Trainor's fans. "Better When I'm Dancin'" peaked at number 76 in Australia, and at number one on the US

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart,

certified Platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in both countries.

Philip Andelman Philip Andelman is an American music video director and photographer. Andelman has directed music videos for many notable artists, see below. He has received nominations for his works from the MVPA, VMAs, and CMT awards including MVPA Director o ...

directed the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

, which was released on October 14, 2015. Trainor has performed "Better When I'm Dancin'" live on several shows, including ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh in ...

'' and ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series ''Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...

''. It was performed during her MTrain Tour (2015).

Background and release

In July 2015, Trainor embarked on the MTrain Tour in support of her debut major-label studio album ''

Title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

'' (2015). She accompanied herself on a ukulele and wrote "Better When I'm Dancin'" in "a short amount of time" on her tour bus. She approached American record producer Thaddeus Dixon to produce the song, against the wishes of her label Epic Records. Dixon recalled that Trainor said "if Thaddeus isn't producing it, I'm not doing it", and "stuck up" for him. Ultimately, Dixon ended up co-writing "Better When I'm Dancin'" with Trainor, while the latter co-produced it with her brother Justin Trainor. In an interview with ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of proper ...

'' that month, Trainor revealed that she was recording the song for ''The Peanuts Movie'' soundtrack. According to her, she was approached to soundtrack the film due to her ability to write "a song about confidence". An

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

version of Trainor was used to promote the announcement on her

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account. A 20-second clip of "Better When I'm Dancin'" was made available on October 9, 2015. The song was released for digital download and

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content i ...

on October 14, 2015, being offered as an instant download with the soundtrack's pre-order. It was released to Italian

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

stations on October 23. Trainor contributed an additional song called "Good to be Alive" to the

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

edition of ''The Peanuts Movie'' soundtrack. "Better When I'm Dancin'" was released as a

7" Vinyl In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...

single on February 26, 2016, with the song "Bang Dem Sticks" as its

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

Composition

"Better When I'm Dancin'" was inspired by Trainor's fans, who "make erfeel like a star on that stage". The song is about confidence and releasing your insecurities on the dance floor, and has been described as a "classic confidence-boosting tune". A

song, it has a peppy beat and optimistic message, along with instrumentation of salsa-inspired drums. "Better When I'm Dancin'" strays from Trainor's usual

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

-influenced musical style, being described as "breezy and harmless" with traces of

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture in the late 1970s, as DJs began altering ...

. The song is written in the key of

D major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : ...

with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

of 128 beats per minute. In the verses, the song follows a

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

of D–D/F–G5–D/F–Em7–Asus, and Trainor's vocals span from G₄ to D₆ in the song.

Reception

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

's Robbie Daw wrote that "Better When I'm Dancin'" would make listeners realize that "everything heythought heyknew about Meghan Trainor was a dark and twisted lie", calling it the "most un-Meghan Trainor song we've heard so far". Carolyn Menyes of ''Music Times'' stated that the song is "perfectly fitted for a children's movie but won't break much out of that space", the reason being that it is "overly cutesy". ''

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'' included it in their list of the Top 10 Worst Songs of 2015, criticizing how little the lyrics relate to the ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ' ...

'' franchise and noting that their "attitude of high-spirited joy aren't ( sic) matched by a blandly indifferent delivery". "Better When I'm Dancin'" received a nomination for the

Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Song in an Animated Film The Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Song in an Animated Film is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA). It is presented to the songwriters w ...

at the 2015

Hollywood Music in Media Awards The Hollywood Music In Media Awards (HMMA) is an award organization honoring original music (Song and Score) in all forms visual media including film, TV, video games, trailers, commercial advertisements, documentaries, music videos and special pr ...

, and won the Radio Disney Music Award for Best Song That Makes You Smile at the 2016 Radio Disney Music Awards. "Better When I'm Dancin'" topped the US

chart, as well as the Kid Digital Songs chart. The song attained a Platinum certification from the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

(RIAA). It also charted at number 93 on the Canadian Hot 100. "Better When I'm Dancin'" reached number 76 in Australia, achieving a Platinum certification in the country. Additionally, it peaked at numbers 99, 29 and 17 on Venezuela's

Record Report Record Report is the official singles chart for Venezuela founded in 1990 which ranks songs based on airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times ev ...

, Pop General and Top Anglo charts, respectively, and received a Gold certification in Poland.

Music video

Directed by

, the video premiered on

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple ...

on October 14, 2015. It features Trainor with appearances from

Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

Charlie Brown Charles "Charlie" Brown is the principal character of the comic strip '' Peanuts'', syndicated in daily and Sunday newspapers in numerous countries all over the world. Depicted as a " lovable loser," Charlie Brown is one of the great America ...

, among other characters from ''Peanuts''. Several of Trainor's relatives traveled to Los Angeles to appear in the video, including her aunt and uncle, Lisa and Burton Toney, and their three children. Her high school friend Lily Harrington and father Gary Trainor also made cameos, while her mother filmed the making of the video. In the music video, Trainor wears a red, long-sleeved dress and performs choreography at locations such as a diner and a street corner. Her relatives are also featured dancing. The beginning of the video was filmed in

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

, which changes to bright colors during shots of Trainor's family. Menyes compared the video's transition, from black and white to the "big, colorful comic world" of ''Peanuts'', to ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar/ ...

''. Writing for Idolator, Mike Wass described it as "a suitably lighthearted affair", commenting that its "retro look" is similar to Trainor's previous music videos, with the singer "rocking vintage fashions and working behind the counter of an old-school diner".

Live performances

Trainor performed "Better When I'm Dancin'" and "Good to be Alive" during selected shows of her MTrain Tour, such as on July 24 in Los Angeles and August 6 in Boston, prior to their release. On November 5, 2015, she played it on ''

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'', and the following day on ''

''. She also performed the song on the ''

'' season 21 finale on November 24, 2015, followed by her collaboration with

Who Is Fancy Jake Hagood (born March 29, 1991), better known as Who Is Fancy, is an American singer. He co-signed with Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta on Big Machine Label Group and Dr. Luke on Prescription Songs. His single "Goodbye" was released in e ...

and

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

, " Boys like You".

Track listing

* Digital download # "Better When I'm Dancin'"2:56 *7" Vinyl # "Better When I'm Dancin'"2:56 # "Bang Dem Sticks"3:00

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. *

lead vocals, producer, programmer, recording engineer * Justin Trainorproducer, programmer * Brandon Brownbass * Kendall Gilderguitar * Dave Kutchmastering engineer *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work. Life and career ...

mixing engineer

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{authority control 2010s ballads 2015 singles 2015 songs Meghan Trainor songs Songs written for animated films Songs written for films Music videos directed by Philip Andelman Songs written by Meghan Trainor Peanuts music Songs about dancing Songs written by Thaddeus Dixon Tropical songs Epic Records singles