Mean What I Mean by AlunaGeorge

Album: I Remember (2016)

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Songfacts®:

This reggaeton-tinged track was written by AlunaGeorge's Aluna Francis with synth-punk singer-songwriter Amanda Warner, who records under the name of MNDR. Warner is best known for her collaboration with Mark Ronson, "Bang Bang Bang."
The song came from a real situation that Francis went through, where she was trying to fend off an intimidating person making advances. She explained to BBC Radio 1's Annie Mac that the guy wouldn't take no for an answer:

"It's a very genuine place I'm singing from. I was in a situation, I said 'no'; and the person I was like, 'I know what you mean, and you mean yeah because you're just playing hard to get'. I freaked out. I was like, 'Oh My God, I've got to get out of here!'

You go through these situations and, at the time, I personally don't think to myself 'oh, this is going to be great material'. I'm in the moment and I'm freaking out or I'm having trouble or whatever. Then you're in the studio and you've still got those feelings from that situation, that you didn't resolve quite as well as you'd like to have done. And that's where I really pull my lyrics from. Like, OK, if I went back to that situation, what would I have needed to handle it better? And that's where this song really comes from."
The track also features verses from Chicago singer and rapper Dreezy and Brooklyn MC Leikeli47.
Want another song with a similar theme of a girl fending off unwanted advances? How about Meghan Trainor's "No."
Francis told the BBC she wanted throw in the feel-good factor to enhance the song's power. She explained to the BBC: "That adds in the [idea that] I've already won. I live in 2016, so what I'm going to do is apply what I've learned to this situation and enjoy the results."

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