The Katy Perry Debate
It all started a couple of months ago with an email from Steve Perkins - ChartBlog reviewer and a man who likes his pop with extra sugar (and spice, and all things nice). He'd just seen the videos to 'I Kissed A Girl' and 'UR So Gay' by Katy Perry, and was trying to work out what he felt about it all. We had a chat about it, and then another one a week later...and then another one...and another...
Fast-forward to today, and Katy Perry has gate-crashed the charts (on downloads alone, no less), and let's be honest, now EVERYONE is bickering about whether they approve of her or not, right?
So, to try and move the debate along a little bit, here are the highlights of the discussion. Let's call it The ChartBlog Katy Perry Think-Tank.
For the record, we've both since changed our minds.*
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Steve Perkins says: There's something very contrived about this girl, and I'm not entirely sure I care that much for her voice, but this song is sort of catchy.
Fraser McAlpine says: Hmmmmm. To me, she seems to be an American remix of Kate Nash or Lily Allen, only without any of Kate Nash's very human flaws or charm. There's nothing perky about it, that's my problem.
Steve Perkins says: I think I'd like it better if I thought she actually meant it, rather than she's just doing it to be CONTROVERSIAL. There's something contrived about Kate Nash/Lily Allen too, but at least with them you get the impression they're genuinely telling stories about the world as they've experienced it.
Fraser McAlpine says: Also, they have better one-liners than "you're so gay and you don't even like boys".
Steve Perkins says: Even "you say I must eat so many lemons because I am so BITTAH"? :D
Fraser McAlpine says: I liked that one... It's the kind of stupid thing people say when they're rowing. Plus it wasn't the chorus! The Katy Perry line is closer to those dreadful Michael Bolton/Meatloaf songs where there's a massively long-winded setup. Like "said I loved you but I lied", where he has to go on and explain himself in the next line...life's too short!
Steve Perkins says: I'm sensing one-hit wonderdom for her. Hazel said that she's listened to the whole album and 'UR So Gay' and 'I Kissed A Girl' are actually the highlights, which should give you some idea...
Fraser McAlpine says: You've got to hand it to her in one sense. Someone on her team (or indeed her) has realised that attention-grabbing songs like these, especially ones which flirt with taboos, are always going to be successful. And they're right!
Steve Perkins says: Although I hate it, I was singing it ALL EVENING last night. I was singing it in a silly voice to make fun of her, but I was still singing it. That can't be good.
Fraser McAlpine says: I'm at a loss to nail exactly what is missing, what crucial factor would elevate these songs from being total cack to...anything else. I'm struggling a bit, cos all the terms are rocksnobspeak, but there's a really important spark which doesn't seem to be there.
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There. I think we've all learned a lot from this frank exchange of views.
If, however, you don't feel that your feelings have been represented within this mighty meeting of minds, please add your comments below. In the meantime, here's a brief summary of important things to remember.
GOOD NEWS! It's a lethally catchy bit of fun!
You can thank Cathy Dennis for this. She's got an astonishing ear for things which will wedge in people's brains forever. Remember 'Toxic'? 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head'? 'About You Now'? Well, that's because Cathy WANTS you to. She's a melody ninja, and this song is a musical throwing star, aimed right at your cerebellum.
BAD NEWS! It's a painfully smug tease-athon!
The last song which was this cocksure about its own 'edginess' (as if 'edgy' and 'any good' are somehow interchangeable) was 'Hanky Panky' by Madonna. A record which could have been massively improved if all the heavy-handed (!) and crowbarred-in references to spanking were taken out, and replaced with a tune. 'I Kissed A Girl' is only 30% as outrageous as it likes to think it is.
WEIRD NEWS! The "cherry chapstick" thing!
How can two words cause such confusion and bewilderment? I mean I KNOW what chapstick is, I know you can get different flavours and that cherry is one of them. But am I alone in wondering if a "cherry chapstick" isn't, y'know...something else? There's just something weird about it. It sounds like an innuendo, and if the song was called 'I Kissed A Boy' it definitely WOULD be (and the song wouldn't get played on the radio ever), but it isn't. I'm so confused!
Over to you!
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* He hates it. I quite like it.
Comment number 1.
At 6th Aug 2008, NLondon wrote:I agree with Steve on this one, its the kind of silly season song we see every summer.
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Comment number 2.
At 8th Aug 2008, HazelChartblog wrote:Katy Perry makes me generally very sad for the world. Ten years ago or whenever, Tori Amos had a massive dancefloor stormer hit about a miscarriage; these days we're making out like the idea of doing something you can see any time you go down the pub/to a club (ie: straight girls kissing other girls, usually just for the lads'-mag-attention-grab factor) has somehow become edgy. It's hardly a taboo-busting breakthrough openly lesbian hit, what with all the 'hope my boyfriend don't mind it,' 'it's not what I'm used to, not how I should behave' and 'it felt so wrong, it felt so right' ...this might be a stupid question but does anyone actually think 'ooh, kissing a member of my own gender, kinky?' What the hell, people.
Also: substandard glam stomp, poor lyrical construction, attitude of superiority caused by the fact most of the songs on the album are terrible self-indulgent/glorificating paeons to the idea that she used to be a tomboy and when she was a teenager she may have felt slightly ugly for ten minutes, unlike every other teenager ever...
Also, this might just be me but the cherry chapstick line brings up mental images of coldsores for reasons I can't quite discern.
Overall: DO NOT WANT.
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Comment number 3.
At 9th Aug 2008, DecalanBurv wrote:I completely disagree with this. This is a brilliant, catchy song and there's really nothing wrong with it. She is fantastic and if you look her up you get the feel that she probably has "kissed a girl" and is actually basing this song on an actual experience.
Her album is actually fantastic and "i Kissed a Girl" is probably one of the worst songs on it. She has other songs that are realllyy good, should give them a listen. (
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Comment number 4.
At 10th Aug 2008, Kat wrote:Gaw, it's just a fun song about having a bit of fun. What's the harm? Better to sing about something that is a bit different and have people criticize you for being contrived and controversial than have an entire album full of 'Oh, I found a boy on a beach, he was cute, I'm in LOVE!' or 'my boy broke my heart, I cried and then realised I was a strong person so moved on'. They've been done, often badly.
That's what I think I like about KP, most of her songs are just a tad different than the majority, it's refreshing and sometimes hilarious ('you're so sad maybe you should buy a happy meal' ?). Besides, they can be quite catchy, even if she isn't the best singer on the planet.
I LIKE the fact that her songs are mostly self-indulgent because that's mostly how people behave normally. I guess it's evolution or something but it seems natural to give the most attention to events which directly affect yourself. Doesn't mater how common whatever you're feeling is either, the younger you are the more likely it is that you'll feel like the first person who has ever felt that way. So self-indulgent songs might not consider the bigger picture, but they're far simpler and more honest for that, I think.
The cherry chapstick thing is just literal as far as I'm concerned, it's a very girlie thing so kissing a girl wearing it would be obviously different than kissing a guy (especially since when you're out guys normally taste like beer). Plus cherry chapstick is scrummy.
Maybe Katy or the record company decided she should sing a bunch of crazy songs to get attention. I don't care. Just like I don't particularly care whether an artist's entire reason for recording an album is to make truckloads more money that they don't even need. If you stop and ignore all the reasons behind it then it's just a song about a girl who kisses a girl 'cause she wants to see what it's like and how she felt about it. It's just kinda normal and experimental.. not really controversial, just playful.
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Comment number 5.
At 10th Aug 2008, Alice_the_goldfish_ wrote:The main problem with this song is that, honestly, it's not very good. It's mediocre at best and kind of catchy, but just really BLAH.
Also, it's the most contrived song I've heard in a long time.
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Comment number 6.
At 19th Aug 2008, thranjax wrote:Hi!
regarding "I Kissed a Girl", surely the only burning question is When are you going to do a Lyriscope on it, and will it be a girl or a boy who takes on the task?
Thranjax
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Comment number 7.
At 19th Aug 2008, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:All I can say is that the experiments are taking place, and that we will provide a full lyriscope report on this song (and probably Kid Rock's too, thinking about it) as soon as the results come in.
Thank you for your patience. Beep!
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Comment number 8.
At 7th Jul 2009, spirit wrote:Ha ha , I found the Katy Perry debate. (The red hot poker song .)
Loved the bit when Steve Perkins said..
" I'm sensing one hit wonderdom for her ."
Fast forward 10 months later,and Hot and cold was top 3 in dozens of countries around the world , I kissed a girl number 1 in dozens of countries and thinking of you and waking up in vegas being top 20 hits in many areas around the world.
Katy Perry won best international female at the 2009 Brit awards.
The hard work now starts on whether she can capitalise on the immense success of her arrival with the next album.
The first single release from her new album will have to be huge in all senses to do this.
Now to find the post where you said Lady Gaga would be a one hit wonder..... lol
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