It Ain't the Meat (It's the Motion)

"It Ain't the Meat (It's the Motion)", also known as "It Ain't the Meat", is a rhythm and blues song written by Henry Glover and Syd Nathan. It was first recorded in 1951 by the Swallows and released by King Records. It was later covered by Maria Muldaur in a 1974 version that has been credited with popularizing the song's title phrase as a proverb referring to the importance of a man's sexual technique over the size of his penis.

"It Ain't the Meat (It's the Motion)"
Single by The Swallows
B-side"Eternally"
Released1951
GenreRhythm and blues
LabelKing
Songwriter(s)Henry Glover and Syd Nathan

Versions

Original

The song was first recorded by the Swallows in April 1951 and released as a single on King Records. In its initial release, the song was a minor hit.[1]

The song has been re-issued on several compilations, including:

  • "Risque Rhythm" (Rhino, 1992), a compilation of classic R&B songs featuring sexually suggestive lyrics.[2]
  • "Risque Blues: It Ain't the Meat" (King, 1996)[3]
  • "The King R&B Box Set" (King, 1996)[4]

Covers

The song has been covered by various artists, including:

Lyrics and double entendre

The song, as originally released in 1951, repeats the chorus, "It ain't the meat, it's the motion, Makes your daddy wanna rock." The song begins by describing a skinny girl: "Now I had a girl so doggone thin, No meat, no bones, she was just all skin." It then moves on to a heavier girl: "You find some girls who are big and fat, Some fellows don't like to see them like that, But I like to see 'em big and tall, The bigger they come, the harder they fall."[13]

Maria Muldaur

Although the original version of the song by The Swallows referred to the "meat" on a woman,[13] the song's title has developed into a common phrase used to refer to the importance of a man's sexual technique over the size of the penis.[14][15][16] In 2012, "The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs" noted that the phrase had "entered the oral tradition as a proverb."[15] The authors credited a 1974 rendition of the song by Maria Muldaur with popularizing the phrase as a slang reference to the penis.[15] In 1964, James Baldwin referred to the phrase as "a very rude expression" for the fact that "if you do know how to make love, or if you are in love with somebody, the size of your member doesn't matter."[16]

In 2014, Salon rated It Ain't the Meat as one of the 19 greatest double entendre songs of all time.[17]

References
  1. Fox, Jon Hartley (2009). King of the Queen City: The Story of King Records. University of Illinois Press. p. 105. ISBN 9780252034688.
  2. "Risque Rhythm". New York Daily News. July 5, 1992 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Risque Blues: It Ain't the Meat". Allmusic. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  4. "The King R&B Box Set". Allmusic. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  5. "Waitress in a Donut Shop". Allmusic. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  6. "Meet Me Where They Play the Blues". Allmusic. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  7. "I Don't Want to Go Home". Allmusic. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  8. "Below the Belt". Allmusic. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  9. "Blues It Up". Allmusic. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  10. "Auto Focus". Allmusic. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  11. "Sex, Trucks & Rock 'N' Roll". Allmusic. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  12. "Love Swings". Allmusic. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  13. "It Ain't the Meat, It's the Motion". Musixmatch. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  14. Cynthia Heimel (1983). Sex Tips For Girls. Simon & Schuster. p. 187. ISBN 0671449974.("Stop any girl on the street and ask her if she cares if a man is well hung, and she will look at you aghast. 'Of course not,' she'll say, 'it's not the meat, it's the motion.'")
  15. Charles C. Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder, Fred Shapiro (2012). The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs. Yale University Press. p. 165. ISBN 9780300136029.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. Baldwin, James; Bondy, Francois (January–February 1964). "James Baldwin, as Interviewed by Francois Bondy". Transition (12): 18. JSTOR 2934484 – via jstor.
  17. Noah Berlatsky (June 28, 2014). "The 19 greatest double entendre songs: From "It Ain't the Meat" to "Let Me Play with Your Poodle," the sneakiest sex songs in the history of music". Salon.
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