First you may want to look at the lyrics here. So the first way to look at this song is the common way of this is a religious song. As I've said before, Katy was raised Christian and her first record was actually a Christian/Gospel record. This song is seen by most (as I'm sure she intended) as a throwback to that version of herself. I'll go line by line and explain: The first stanza can be interpreted in two ways even with the religious meaning. I see it as she is feeling new and different from who she was around the time of her gospel record, but in the Christian religion, believing in Christ is seen and felt as a rebirth of the person and so, hence, the phoenix which is a bird that dies and is reborn. In this view, the other lines in the stanza about marching to a different beat could be about how she is doing her own thing but basically has to swallow her pride and admit she made a mistake. A mistake about what? We'll find out. The road less traveled many times refers to the christian life and the other lines are very clearly biblical.She is battling over a life changing choice and it is only a choice that she can bear or make. The lines "It's never easy to be chosen, never easy to be called. Standing on the front line when the bombs start to fall, I can see the heavens, but I still hear the flames calling out my name." are also really heavy if you look at the song in this matter. The first two lines are referring to many of the people who have been chosen by God in the bible. The "standing on the front line" part refers to a major battle she is having internally-probably a moral battle. And of course the heavens and flames thing is about how she wants to live a Christian life but feels like she is being tempted by the world in her career. The chorus, talking about the war is the moral war she is facing that was mentioned right before. She doesn't want to lose her career but feels conflicted about her life and her beliefs. That's the jist of the song. The second verse is about how she needs the strength of God (making a reference to Esther) to make her choice about what to do in this predicament. And at the end, she still asks the question, "Who am I living for?".
Personally this isn't how I like to look at this song so for those who don't want to think of this song in religious terms I have provided an alternate way of looking at it. The phoenix reference can be seen as a simple rebirth of the self, turning yourself into a new person. I still see the song as an internal battle, but a different sort. It's a battle between the old and new person, perhaps someone who has reformed and their old habits wanting to come back and it's a battle that the person is constantly fighting and "suiting up" for. And instead of the heavens and flames in a literal/or religious sense, I choose to see them as simply the good and bad parts of us that are always battling. We always have to make the decision to do either the right or the wrong thing and it is always a battle. And that's how I see this song. The chorus: I can't ignore this war is exactly how it's meant. It's a battle we ALL face, regardless of our religious beliefs...the battle between right and wrong.And we need to recognize the war and pick a side (hopefully the right one!) and we need to choose right now who we are going to live for; the you who wants to be successful and live a happy life or the you who wants to throw it all down the drain. For me, that's what this song's all about and I think in this sense, it's truly inspiring.
On Katy's California Dreams Tour, her live performance of this song showed her being tugged at and pulled on by bright glowing "chains". Demonstrating the constant battle and how difficult it is and how we are pulled in so many different directions because even if the battle is internal, it can be affected by outside forces. I thought it was a really cool way to show the meaning of the song in a very artistic way.
Love Always,
-Autumn the Purrfect KatyCat
P.S. You can listen to the song here and watch it live below!
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