Meaning Of Lizzo’s Hit Song “About Damn Time”

Lizzo released About Damn Time in the spring of 2022, and it gained a lot of popularity with more than 114 million views on YouTube. If you’ve been trying to figure out the meaning of her hit song, we will tell you all about it below!

How Was “About Damn Time” Written? 

Lizzo had nearly completed her album Special but felt that there was something missing from it, and from reports, she wanted an uplifting positive song to be on the record. Blake Slatkin, the co-writer of About Damn Time said that it all began with just four piano chords, and from there, a baseline was formed. Eventually, a demo had been created to share with her. 

Lizzo heard this demo in the studio, and she then put together melodies and hooks that went with the chords. It went through some changes including a whole different chorus before it was completed in the studio, which took around four months altogether and 30 different studio sessions. 

So What Is “About Damn Time” All About?

Lizzo - About Damn Time [Official Video]

The song About Damn Time was released in April 2022 as a single for her LP album Special, which dropped in July 2022. When we look at the Instagram post that she wrote when she promoted the track, she asks everyone whether they were feeling stressed but also feeling sexy, and then dropped this song as how to solve those problems. 

From that, we can gather that About Damn Time is about letting go of your stress, fears, anxieties, and nerves, and just celebrating life and who you are. In the song, she says “Turn up the music, turn down the lights,” and this line is all about having a party or having fun, and turning down the lights could refer to letting go of fears or the things racing through your mind. 

Lizzo wanted to write a track for people that would make them feel good and feel like we’ve survived given the last few years and all of the hardships we’ve all been through. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she had released Cuz I Love You the year prior, and quickly, her music became the face of the pandemic with everyone blaring her tunes to get them through. 

She had felt that we had all been through a lot of trauma and hard times because of the pandemic, lockdowns, financial stress, and other issues. This wasn’t just an American issue, it was a global pandemic that affected us all, so writing About Damn Time was about wanting to celebrate where we are now three years later. She looked at it as a cathartic song to just reflect, think about the way our lives have changed, and how it all impacted our mental health. 

What’s The Personal Story In The “About Damn Time” Lyrics? 

For Lizzo, About Damn Time was personal because she has always been criticized online, and it’s only gotten worse for her in the past few years. Some of the hate comes from online trolls who have gone after her because of her weight and how she looks. 

She has also been open about her struggles with mental health issues since she suffers from anxiety and depression. A lot of her mental health issues stem from online hate, and it has caused her quite a bit of anguish throughout her career.

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In the track, she discussed the pressure she feels and how she has been trying to live up to the reputation she has as far as creating good music goes. She felt pressure to live up to her 2019 album, so trying to write the perfect song with the best lyrics and choosing the right words was stressful for her. 

You can hear in the lyrics how she has reflected on all of those feelings that led her to be stressed out. She realizes she’s just not the same person, but that new person could be even better, and that was very personal for her. She is singing about triumph and about overcoming those fears of getting back out there on stage and performing once again. What’s great is at the end of About Damn Time, she figures out she’s alright and everything will be just fine. 

She also said in an interview that this track is about popping the champagne bottle and just celebrating. Celebrating that we have our first black Supreme Court Justice, the end of the global pandemic and getting back to our normal lives as much as possible, and just celebrating our triumphs.

Did Lizzo Release A Music Video For “About Damn Time?” 

Lizzo released a music video for About Damn Time, and Christian Breslauer directed the video. In it, she is seen attending a “Stressed and Sexy” support group, which makes perfect sense given her Instagram post where she asks people if they’ve been stressed but also feel sexy. It’s funny because when it was her turn to share in the group, she just ran out of the group meeting and started to sing her feelings instead. 

She is known for dancing so in the video, she dances around in an office building, and that’s when her boring sweatsuit changes into a jumpsuit that has sequins on it. You can see her just dancing down the hall, and there is a dance floor that appears. She begins to play the flute, which is one of her many talents. A swimming pool can be seen, and that’s when she decides to start walking on top of the water. 

How Did “About Damn Time” Do On The Charts?

Seen as a positive uplifting song about triumph and letting go of everything in the past, About Damn Time was on the Billboard Hot 100 in the number one position for a total of 16 weeks, although it debuted at number 50. The track became the first number-one song on the charts to have “damn” in the title, and it was her fourth Top 10 hit in her career. 

Not only did it hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100, but it hit number one on the Adult Top 40, Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, Mainstream Top 40, Rhythmic chart, and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It also made it to 10 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, number 13 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and 40 on the Adult Alternative Songs chart. 

Final Thoughts On The Meaning Of “About Damn Time” 

About Damn Time is a track that’ll make you feel good about yourself and gives you the encouragement to embrace your flaws. Whether you’re going through anxiety and depression or you’ve had a tough time with your weight or have faced other issues in your life, this song is about learning to love yourself and let go of your fears or your past to shine brightly as the person you’ve become.

Lizzo made this track as an anthem to unite people together and as a song that can help people heal from traumas that we’ve all experienced in our lives. It should be sung at the top of your lungs because we’ve all earned the right to be happy and celebrate the fact we made it through a global pandemic, and while we’re forever changed from that experience, we’ve come out the other side better for it as we continue social progress to make the world better for all.

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