Wondering what song you heard in the workshop? Wondering what songs were intended for play (if a song didn’t get played, there just wasn’t enough time to play it – there’s over seven hours of fatness!)?
When making a ‘zine, I’ve always found it inspirational to listen to music I thought it would be awesome to play a list of fat-positive songs during the fat queer/trans* ‘zinemaking techniques workshop I coordinated at NOLOSE 2011.
Without further ado:
Big and Chunky – will.i.am
Make Your Own Kind of Music – Cass Elliot
Make Your Own Kind of Music (Remix of Cass Elliot) – Mathieu Bouthier & The Muttonheads
Fat Girl – Creamy Goodness
Fat Boys – Fat Boys
Pop Goes the World – Gossip
Big Girls Don’t Cry – Edie & The Eggs (Edith Massey)
Middle of the Sea – Stacy Bias
Lulu’s Back in Town – Fats Waller
The Fat Man – Fats Domino
Fat Bottom Girls – Vitamin String Quartet
Big Red Caboose – Kristie Agee & Big Potential
That What Makes My Baby Fat – Faye Adams & Joe Morris Blues Cavalcade
I Don’t Want To Get Thin – Sophie Tucker
Happy Being Fat (Featuring Little Eva) – Big Dee Irwin & The Diamonds
Jolly Fat Man – Tony Sacco
normal is – arjuna greist
I Wrote the Book – Beth Ditto
Don Juan Highway – Creamy Goodness
Lost Control – Tricrotic
Where You Is – Fat Daddy Holmes
The Ones Who Love You – Toshi Reagon
Fat Bottomed Girls – Queen
Scooter Phat Ft. God-Des – Nedra Johnson
Baby Phat (ft. Devin The Dude) – De La Soul
Big Girl Things – Angela
Sista Big Bones Anthony Hamilton
I’m Super – Big Gay Al
Video – India.Arie
Curvy Girls – The Jolly Rogers
You Are What You Love – Austin J. Austin
Three Hundred Pounds of Joy – Howlin’ Wolf
A Big Butter and Egg Man – Louis Armstrong
Big Girl (You Are Beautiful) – MIKA
Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others – The Smiths
Switcheroo (Live at MWCAC) – Creamy Goodness
King Size Papa Julia Lee
Toast – Creamy Goodness
F**k Machine – Nicky Click
Vallejo Bridge – Creamy Goodness
Panini Puakea – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
Kindness – Toshi Reagon
Fat Bottomed Girls (Glee Cast Version) – Glee Cast
I’m The Fat Man – John Greer & His Rhythm Rockers
Thick Girls – 2nd II None
Big Girls Are Best – U2
Bearded Clam – Fatty & The Hamslappers
It Takes A Great Big Woman – Lynne Jordan & The Shivers
Drop That Booty – Nicky Click vs. Timezone LaFontaine
Big Bottom – Spinal Tap
Perfect 10 – The Beautiful South
You’re the One for Me, Fatty – Morrissey
Just What I Needed – Toshi Reagon
Heavy Women – Ray Schinnery
Passion (Ragga Remix) – Cardenia
All For Me – Cass Elliot
Just Enough – Toshi Reagon
Big Love – Toshi Reagon
Girl For All Seasons – Northern State
Hey, Fat Girl – Rosco Gordon
Fat Meat Is Good Meat – Kristie Agee & Big Potential
Colors – Toshi Reagon
Meat On Their Bones – Kristie Agee & Big Potential
Thick Girls – Terrell Carter
A Huggin’ and a Chalkin’ – Hoagy Carmichael
Fat Man Louie & The Fat Men
My Big Fat Baby Sonny Hall & Echoes
Different (Craiguito Remix) – Cass Elliot
Little Bitty Man – Lou Walker
Fat Boys (A Love Song) Uncle Bonsai
I Got the Feeling – Two Tons O’ Fun
Feel It (Phunkk Mob Remix) – Two Tons O’ Fun
It’s Raining Men – The Weather Girls
Big Fat Mama – Chuck Higgins
Another Fat Song – Uncle Bonsai
Suffragette City – David Bowie
Big Fat Blonde – The Rainmakers
Dare to Be Fat – Root Boy Slim
They Call Me Big Mama – Big Mama Thornton
Big Legged Woman – Jimmy “Mr. Blues” Williams
Masturbation Song – Stacy Bias
Big Fat Mama – King Perry
Fat Mama Blues – Stomp Gordon
Big Leg Mama – Van Walls & The Rockets
Fat Fat Fat – Don McKinnon
Not A Girl – Nomy Lamm
I Hate/I Love – Toshi Reagon
Fatty Patty – Lee Pickett & The Screamers
I Need a Miracle – Grateful Dead
Roly Poly – Joey Dee & The Starliters
Big Fat Mama – Gene Phillips & His Rhythm Aces
Big Fat Mamas Are Back in Style Again – Bull Moose Jackson
Coney Island Washboard Woman – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
Spit – KISS
Tubby Tilly – Larry Verne
Skin & Bone – The Kinks
Miracle – Nomy Lamm
Fit, Fat and Fine – Candye Kane
Unskinny Bop – Poison
Fatty Hattie – Ray Gerdsen
Whole Lotta Rosie – AC/DC
Egyptian-Ella – Willie “The Lion” Smith
High Femme Girlfriend (featuring Cindy Wonderful) – Nicky Click
I’m the Toughest Girl Alive – Candye Kane
Dimestore Diamond – Gossip
Fat Mama – Ronnie Molleen
That Big Fat Mama – Paul “Georgia Boy” Kimble
Kana’i Aupuni – Kamakawiwo’ole
La ‘Elima – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
Big Legged Mamas Are Back In Style Again – Taj Mahal
Big-Boned Gal (Remix) – k.d. lang
Fat Gal – Merle Travis
Chunky People – Hargus “Pig” Robbins
Now That We Found Love – Heavy D & The Boyz
Big Huge World – Tricrotic
Dressed In Black – Gossip
Cruel Intentions (feat. Beth Ditto) – Simian Mobile Disco
I Like ‘Em Fat Like That – Louis Jordan
Heavy Cross – Gossip
Fat Gal – Otis Redding
Whole Lotta Rosie – Alexx & the Moonshiners
Big Leg Mama – James Freeman
Big Poppa – Notorious B.I.G.
Whole Lotta Rosie – Mandowar
Belly Up – Nomy Lamm
Set Adrift On Memory Bliss (Radio Edit) – P.M. Dawn
Get On the Floor and Dance – Nicky Click
Whew!
To create this list, I exhausted the resources in my own music collection, and then I relied heavily on Wayback Machined pages from the FaTGiRL website (which was at that time a subarea of the Fat!So? website)*, the Dimensions Magazine Mostly Fat-Friendly Lyric Archive, Nomy Lamm’s website, and Max Airborne’s website. A large trove of overwhelmingly-fat-positive, fat-related Blues songs exists at the unfortunately-named Doctor Fuckwit site. I also took songs from the top-5/10-songlists and comments made at the lovely Big Fat Deal Blog and the recent not-so-lovely-but-still-useful Gothamist post.
My criteria for inclusion are songs that are fat-positive in nature, that is to say, songs that are supportive of worth/health at every size, fatness, fat people, and/or a particular aspect of fat culture. I chose to place more emphasis on songs that have queer/trans* themes, and on music by queer/trans* people. The Dimensions Magazine folks asked folks to send in “songs that make you feel good about being fat,” and I liked that guideline, but I realize what makes one person feel good about being fat is different from what makes another person feel good about being fat (or any other body size/shape). I chose songs from a broad range of musical styles, from the early 20th century to the present year. Much like ‘zines themselves, songs about fatness are not new. I chose songs by fat artists that either focus on fat liberation, or reflect the amazing range and artistry of fierce, fearless fat musicians. Also: I included some fat musical artists who I have a giant crush on. I read all the lyrics available, listened to every song I could find (and some songs required a lot of hunting and digging to find), and made an individual assessment on whether I felt that each song/artist belonged in this list. And although I worked on this list for about a month, I certainly didn’t find (or have time to look for) “everything.” There are also a few songs and a few bands (like any recordings from Twisted Kishka, Obeast, Bucktooth Varmints, Barbara Millward’s “Food Police,” Arlis Tyner’s “Big Fat Woman,” the “By The Pound” album by Lardass, et cetera) that I would have liked to find and perhaps include, but which I couldn’t locate.
My standards for fat-positive, fat-friendly, or fat liberation songs for this list may be different from yours. Creating a playlist sometimes implies an unexamined approach to its contents, so it may appear that this is the case, but I hope not. For instance, just because the original Queen version “Fat Bottomed Girls” is on this list, it doesn’t mean I am comfortable with the racist lyric, “heap big woman”** (which is also just one reason I did not include “Ms. Fat Booty” by Mos Def). Including “Big Poppa” by Notorious B.I.G. doesn’t mean I am comfortable with sexist language. Though there are some cases where I didn’t include a possibly fat-positive song because an artist also created fatphobic media (as in the case of Adam Ant/Adam and the Ants, with an unreleased song called Fat Fun that is so tasteless, it taints my view of their size-friendly “Five Guns West” and “Prince Charming”). Or because I included songs where fat people are portrayed as being jolly, jiggly, eating, compartmentalized into individual body parts, or as food-metaphor-like creatures with superhuman strength, it doesn’t mean that I think stereotypes are okay (don’t get me started on South Park). And lastly, there are otherwise lovely songs that include jabs at people who are not fat, and this isn’t cool with me, either.
We have to start somewhere, though. Let’s open a dialogue between the fat-related media that exists, and the fat-related media we wish existed. Let’s talk about imagery, words, ideas, and other things we want to reclaim, and let’s talk about the things we do not to reclaim. What are the holes and detriments to the existing body of work?
In addition, the songs that were more than a little ambiguous or straight-up fatphobic (like these) went into another playlist that I’ll post here, later on. What songs would go on either of YOUR lists (or on a fat-ambiguous list)?
(PS, you can listen to or download the audio for the Fat Unicorn ‘Zinemaking Techniques Workshop instructions and resource guide list HERE.)
* In addition, the songs at the Waybacked FaTGiRL link were “initially compiled from a discussion on the soc.support.fat-acceptance newsgroup.” One thing that shocked me when I visited this group is that it is still in use today…but not for its original purpose. Soc.support.fat-acceptance is currently a posting wonderland of racist, fatphobic, homophobic bigotry. I wonder when the shift occurred?
** The Glee cast recording version of “Fat Bottomed Girls” includes a changed lyric, “hey big woman.” And the Vitamin String Quartet version is (as expected) 100% instrumental. Score.
