“The Fat Song” — For Morgan Spurlock

Rest in Peace Morgan Spurlock. In the summer of 2003, before contemporary social media (even before MySpace), some time before his Oscar-nominated documentary film “Super Size Me” was released, Morgan did something special — he put a classified ad on a film industry job board website, asking songwriters to submit songs that could be used as an end title for his upcoming film. He left his direct contact information, the name of the film and the subject — no non-disclosure agreements, just the challenge.. As a budding young film composer who was always on the heavier side, and as someone who went through a period of eating in USSR’s first McDonald’s in my old hometown of Moscow, Russia, I felt an immediate kinship with his experiment — so I decided to compose a brutal song about being fat, brutal but also uplifting and somehow beautiful, a song about people who are misunderstood.

I heard back from Morgan a few days later on to thank me for the song, but that the production decided to write their own song due to time constraints. A couple of years later, we met at Sundance – just a brief hello.

I’ve held back the song demo for almost 22 years — maybe it’s time for you to hear it?

Thank you for the inspiration, Morgan. Hope that the food is better up there.

“The Fat Song”
composed and performed by Ljova (2003)

So many songs out there ’bout being thin
Just bones and flesh spread tightly ’round your skin
Give me some lovin’
Show me you care
Won’t you please squeeze my tummy
I’m your teddy bear

You know I fancy staring at your belly button
The color of your eyes is one I’ve long forgotten
I’ll be your pillow
You’ll be my friend
It’s one relationship that’s bound to never end

Let’s just lie here
You and I
Let’s eat our dinner
And then eat the pie
There’s so much wonder in being fat
Please don’t look at me
… not quite like that

Look on the inside
It’s that which counts
I’m great like lettuce
In large amounts

Bring me your hunger
I’ll satisfy
I’ll feed your children
Till they die

I know that you will love my personality
So drop your shallow Jane mentality
I am just like you
and you’re just like me
Please don’t be frightened
By what you see

Let’s just chat here
You and I
Let’s eat three courses
And order a pie
There’s so much wonder in being fat
Please don’t look at me
Please don’t look at me
… quite like that

So many songs out there ’bout being thin
Just bones and flesh spread tightly ’round your skin
Give me some lovin’
Show me you care
Won’t you please squeeze my tummy
I’m your teddy bear

©2003 Ljova Music (ASCAP)