If you don't know who Katy Perry is, I have two things to say. First, can I move in with you in that rock you've been living under? Second, Katy Perry is this singer-songwriter pop artist who is inexplicably popular, as well as thoroughly annoying. Just in case you really need to be reminded , here is a rundown of her big hits:
(For the record, I will use whatever I can get as far as music videos. If that means AMVs, yes I will use them. I really think that its important to get the experience before I talk about it.)
So yeah, you get the idea. Shallow, bitchy, superficial, kind of offensive to homosexuals. (Yes, "I Kissed a Girl" is offensive to homosexuals. I really don't want to go into the reasons why i consider it a step backward for gay rights, because I have bigger fish to fry.)
Probably the most interesting part of Perry's persona is how she writes her own songs. Needless to say, she does not remotely match the excellence of other famous singer-songwriters. But goddamnit she makes money, and that's really all that matters in the pop music industry.
Now I have one tiny little monkey in the wrench of my opinion, and I really don't know what to think about it. I have never thought of Perry as a good songwriter. To be honest, I can listen to Hot n Cold, but that's because of the production, not the vocals or lyrics. But with this song, which is number one in the nation right now, she may have completely derailed my opinion of her as a songwriter:
Damn.
I didn't know she had it in her.
I mean, the songwriting is really.....good.......
The lyrics are pretty good, overall（the bridge is somewhat....lacking....in this department), but the production is stellar, and everything about this song is so hard to hate.....except Katy Perry. She just kills it for me with her awful, awful vocals. For those of you who like everything about this song, including Perry, I know what you're probably going to say. Perry is not trying to be a good singer, she's concentrating on being a good songwriter, and her voice comes after that. If you ignore her vocals, you can enjoy the song. My response is this: This has been done before, by much better musicians, so I can't blame Katy for trying. It's just where somebody like Bob Dylan understood his limitations and worked with them, Perry thinks she's Leona Lewis. This song is so obviously beyond Katy Perry's reach, its baffling how she thought she could even remotely hope to sing this in this key, and in this voice. If you can't reach the high notes, then just transpose your song to a lower key. Yes, you may sacrifice some of the production, but the overall result will be much more pleasing to listen to, because vocals, in a song like this, are much more important than production.
But yes, i do think that this song is salvageable, despite Katy Perry's shortcomings. To be honest, I did buy the song on iTunes, and I've played it quite a few times. And believe me, nothing is more frustrating than hearing Last.fm tell you to listen to Ke$ha, because she's listed as similar to Katy Perry. (My last.fm profile is here, for the record: http://www.lastfm.jp/user/emozombie0 )
So, I really don't know where to stand on this one. From the shallow, annoying, and offensive "I Kissed a Girl", to the awe-inspiringly uneven "Firework", Katy has come a long way. I'm going to claim ambivalence on this one.
That's all I have to say about that, folks. Check in for "On Justin Bieber", later this week. Happy New Year.
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