So I know I said I was thinking about doing this on tuesday, but now I have actually gone and done it. I created a music blog! It's going to have a wide variety of artists that I like and want to teach the world about.
Don't worry, KatyCats Korner will still be up and running but I won't be posting on here nearly as often. And you'll probably be able to get Katy info as well as learn about her remaining released songs on my other blog if I don't post them here.
I hope this isn't too disappointing for anyone. I feel that I am simply running out of material here and need to expand my musical writings to some of the other artists that I love.
I hope you all check it out as I will be posting on it for the first time tonight. You can click here to go straight to it if you like.
Love you all,
-Autumn the Purrfect KatyCat
So, I've found that I am actually running out of Katy Perry songs to write about. Shocking, I know. So I decided to just try and find a little news on her and other than her relationship with John Mayer (gag), there really isn't much these days. I am considering creating another blog just about music and artists that I like- rather than just Katy.
What I found when I went searching was that ex-husband Russell Brand is working on a "tell-all" book about their 14 month marriage. I think it will be interesting to hear his side of this story because from her side, it seems like he wasn't putting much effort into their relationship while she was on her California Dreams tour. He says that he "can't leave out that big chink of his life." It will also include more information about his sex and drug addictions. As I said, it should be...interesting.
In other news, Katy's cat Monkey turned three. She posted a picture of some cat nip for him as a birthday present, saying it's 21 in cat years. She isn't the only one to share those kinds of pictures, either.
The most recent bit of news about Katy is that she went to a music showcase to support her brother David Hudson, going by the stage name of Hudson. He performed his new single, "Chained". Seems she isn't the only one in the family with musical talent!
That's basically it. As I said, there isn't much news on her lately and I refuse to write any further about her relationship with John Mayer because of my burning hatred for it. If you don't already know about that you can click here to go to that post and read all about it.
If I do end up creating a music blog, I will carry over my remaining Katy songs to that blog, as well as post them here (most likely). So those of you who would rather just read on Katy can do so.
So when I did my researching about Katy's past career-wise, I was inspired to talk about "Ur So Gay", not only because it was technically the "first single to be released" though only digitally, it also has a lot of controversy about it.
The song was first released as a free digital download on the Capitol Records website on November 20, 2007. It was never expected to go big, and never did. It was mostly to get Katy introduced online and see what the reception of this song would be like. It was more of a novelty single.
Basically if you look at the lyrics here, you can see that this song only really has one meaning. She's talking about a guy who is just really lame. He complains all the time, he isn't into the same things she is, he doesn't pay attention to her, he's narcissistic, and selfish. She is saying he's a straight guy who is so self absorbed that he can't handle her. It's a "boyfriend-skewering song" and nothing else. Katy Perry is really involved in gay rights and has a strong supportive stance. She would never right a song that was intentionally homophobic. In fact at the last Trevor Project's annual awards ceremony, she was given the hero award and had this to say:
"The real heroes are the folks...at the call centers. (They're) incredibly inspiring. I grew up in a very intolerant environment. For a long time, I was told that people who are lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender or questioning were an abomination. As I've grown
up, I've freed myself from the mindset.
There was some perspective growth in my family. I believe in
change...believe that sexuality is fluid - nobody introduces me as, 'This is Katy Perry, she is straight.' I hope in the future that we will all grow beyond labels, beyond treating gays as a novelty friend group."
Nonetheless, some critics see these lyrics as highly homophobic. I can understand this at first glance and I can understand this if you don't know who Katy is as a person and where she stands on things like this. But I don't think that writing a homophobic song is something that Katy would ever purposefully do.
So, that's all there is for me to say on this one. Katy has more love in her heart for the world than anyone I have ever known. She is loving and accepting of everyone. So don't let some possibly "homophobic" lyrics throw you off because that was never her intention.
So, the Grammy Awards were on Sunday night, and I decided to do a post about Katy not only at these Grammys, but also Grammys in the past.
As for this year, there was a dress code of sorts. There are tons of articles out there saying how Katy "barely passed" this dress code, but I think this dress wasn't too revealing (comparatively speaking) and it looked beautiful on her. It's floor length and the only risky part is right there in the collar. Anyway, Katy was nominated for her song "Wide Awake" for best pop solo performance. She was up against Adele, Carly Rae Jepsen, Kelly Clarkson and Rhianna. Adele got the award.
She didn't get the chance to perform at this year's Grammy Awards, so let's go back in time to last year. Last year was really tough, and the Grammys were shortly after Katy's divorce. But she looked gorgeous and I personally loved that her blue hair coordinated with her blue dress.
The 2012 Grammys were a very big performance for Katy. This is where she debuted her song, "Part of Me". Her performance started with her chart-topper, "E.T" and then transitioned into "Part of Me". It's an edgy performance and really quite amazing. She was nominated that year for "Firework" for Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance but, she didn't win a Grammy that year either. You can watch her performance below.
Then at the 2011 Grammys she was still with Russel Brand. Her red carpet outfit was meant to resemble that of an angel and i think she pulled it off well. She looked completely...angelic. Her performance was even sweeter. She sang the song "Not Like the Movies" and similar to her tour performance, she was sitting in a swing with video playing in the background. But this time it wasn't cartoons, it was footage from her wedding to Russel Brand. She then continued on with "Teenage Dream". The album "Teenage Dream" was nominated for two Grammys: Album of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album. The song "Teenage Dream" was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance, and "California Gurls (feat. Snoop Dogg) was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. She did not win any of these.
Back in 2010, she was still with Russel Brand, and her red carpet dress was this sheer and gold dress and it was stunning. I particularly am fond of her hair and makeup in this outfit. I like how the inner corner of her eyes are done in gold. They really make it pop and bring the whole thing together and it is beautiful. I say this because it's not a very well remembered look of hers, though it was really beautiful.
She also wore this dress tat evening which is not only very sexy but also shows a very glamorous side to her. The entire front of the dress is covered in sequins. It's fantastic!
She also performed the song "California Gurls" at that Grammy Awards. There was a lot of silver that night.
She was nominated for one award that night: "it was for "Hot n Cold" for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Sadly, she did not win that year either.
Back in 2009, Katy was big, but she had just gotten big. This was the first Grammy Awards she had ever been to. She came out on the red carpet looking absolutely stunning. Her hair gave a sort of vintage feel and the dress was simply gorgeous. It was intricate yet seemed simple and so very glamorous. She looked like an old time film star. It was amazing.
And this is where the famous "fruit dress" came to the world. She was nominated this year with "I Kissed a Girl" for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. She didn't win here either, but her performance is forever remembered.
I mean, the girl came onto the stage in a giant banana. How could it not be a memorable performance?
So, yes, it's true that Katy has not yet won a grammy, but I think it's in her near future. She has been nominated for 10 total, so maybe 11 will be her lucky number. She certainly deserves it.
Love You All, KatyCats!
-Autumn the Purrfect KatyCat
So, like I said on Tuesday, I'm going to talk about Katy's history in the music business. I've said before, she's been through a lot in this department. She's been pretty much dropped by three different record labels before she got to where she is today.
She was signed to the independent Christian label Red Hill Records at the age of 15. Sadly for her, this album failed. It was released in 2001 and only sold about one hundred copies total.
At 17, Katy left her home of Santa Barbara for Los Angeles. That's where she met Glen Ballard. He is a really famous producer! He was the producer for people such as Michael Jackson and Alanis Morisette. Alanis Morisette had a HUGE influence on Katy and this is what she did: She knocked on his door and he asked her if she was a writer- she said yes, he asked her if she wanted to play him a song- she said yes. He was blown away. Ballard helped her to develop her songwriting over the next few years that she was with him. She was writing, writing, writing. Ballard said she probably wrote over a hundred songs in the time that she was with him. The album was supposed to be released in 2004, but then it changed to 2005. Ballard said he couldn't get the label to pay attention to her, and she was dropped. Some of her songs did go places though. A song called "Simple" was used on the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" soundtrack.
After she was dropped, Katy was signed to Columbia records. Though, Columbia didn't really understand her ideas or visions for her career. Instead they wanted to team her up with a group of producers called the Matrix. They didn't understand her style either. They had just recently had big success with people like Avril Lavigne and Britney Spears. They tried to tell her "Oh, be more like Avril Lavigne, be really angry on this one" or "She should be the next Christina Aguilara" and things like that. But the whole time, she kept saying "I don't want to be the next anybody. I just want to be the first Katy Perry." But Columbia didn't want to drop her because they were afraid she would go off and get famous somehwere else.
Well, Columbia's publicity executive stole Katy's files and took them to Virgin Records and recommended her to their chairman, Jason Flom. He became convinced that she would be the next breakthrough star. At the start of 2007, he began negotiating with Columbia which resulted in Katy being dropped by them and signed to the newly formed Capitol Music Group which was created by the merger between Virgin and Capitol.
At Capitol, they loved Katy's ideas and went with it. They had her working with Dr. Luke, which resulted in her songs "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot N Cold", which were her two biggest hits from her first album! In order to establish her image, they released the video of "Ur So Gay" to introduce her into the market. And on May 6, 2008, her first official single, "I Kissed a Girl" was released. And we know the story from there! It was one of those songs where the minute it was played on the raido, everyone had to have it.
Well, that's it! That's the story. Here's the video for "Ur So Gay"
Hope you all like :)
Love you all, KatyCats
-Autumn the Purrfect KatyCat
What is it you're looking at, here? Yes, it is a very very young Katy. I decided to do a little history lesson today on what it was like for Katy growing up. I learned a lot of this from the "Part of Me" movie. I'm telling you- it's a great movie and I advise all to watch it. So, let's start!
Katy was raised in a 100% pentecostal Christian environment. She was the daughter of two pastors and therefore was incorporated into their ministry. She sang in churches (that's where she got her start) from the ages of nine and seventeen. She was allowed to listen to strictly gospel music. She relied on her friends as a teenager for cd's of "secular music" as her mother called it. She was very very sheltered. She said in her movie "Growing up in our house consisted of a lot of church activities and hanging out with a lot of church kids." Katy has said also that she "didn't have a childhood." She wasn't allowed to read any books besides the Bible and God-related books. She wasn't allowed to even say "deviled eggs" or "Dirt Devil" as a kid.
There are a lot of rumors to this day that her parents have "disowned her" or something crazy like that. These things are simply not true. Katy has a great relationship with her parents and the love each other. Katy has said this of her relationship with them "I think sometimes when children grow up, their parents grow up. Mine grew up with me. We coexist. I don’t try to change them anymore,
and I don’t think they try to change me. We agree to disagree. They’re
excited about [my success]. They’re happy that things are going well for
their three children and that they’re not on drugs. Or in prison." I think it's awesome that though Katy has found her own path in life, they have found a way to coexist. In Vanity Fair magazine, she said this, which I think shows a lot about what she learned about who she is from her experiences as a child:
“I come from a very non-accepting family, but I’m very accepting,” Perry
says of her religious beliefs as an adult. “Russell is into Hinduism,
and I’m not [really] involved in it. He meditates in the morning and the
evening; I’m starting to do it more because it really centers me. [But]
I just let him be him, and he lets me be me.” Perry says she didn’t
stick with the mold growing up. “I have always been the kid who’s asked
‘Why?’ In my faith, you’re just supposed to have faith. But I was always
like…why?” she says. “At this point, I’m just kind of a drifter. I’m
open to possibility…. My sponge is so big and wide and I’m soaking
everything up and my mind has been radically expanded. Just being around
different cultures and people and their opinions and perspectives. Just
looking into the sky.”
Now as far as music goes, Katy did start singing from the time she COULD sing, but got serious about it at the age of 9. She was copycatting her older sister, Angela. Angela would sing along to cassette tapes and whenever she wasn't around, Katy would steal them and practice them. She'd put on performances for her parents. That's when they decided to put her into vocal lessons. She continued on until 16.
And that is where I will leave you for the night, KatyCats. On Thursday I will go a little more into her later teenage years and into her developing career.
I don't know if you can tell, but I love the Katy songs that people don't really know. So here's another! This one (also off of the "One of the Boys" album) is called "If You Can Afford Me". This is a really fun and funny song of hers but it also shows a lot of her self-confidence and self-worth. So, let's dive in!
As usual, in order to follow along with my lyric breakdown, I suggest you click here. So, some people think this song is about her being a gold digger, but I think it's the exact opposite. I think references to money in this song are being used metaphorically. I think she doesn't care about money at all. I'll explain my theory. Let's start with these lines- "If you want me, It takes more than a wink, More than a drink, More than you think..." and "If you want me, I'm not a piece of ass, A one night stand, A storage shed..." could possibly mean that she CAN'T be bought with money. It takes more than that- it takes real love and affection to be with her. Then the lines "If you want me you’re gonna have to break the bank tonight" and " If you wanna ride,Just name your price,Don’t play cheap with your heart" mean that she wants this guy to give her all his love. She doesn't want him to hold back and she doesn't want him to give her only a little piece of his heart. "Cause some don’t have the patience,Some call me high maintenance,But you pay the bill,‘Cause that’s the deal" mean that she knows she isn't perfect and some people can't put up with her for one reason or another. He'll have to deal with some things about her that he can't change, but she will be worth it. That's what love is! You see all the bad sides of a person and you love them anyway! And by high-maintenance, she's talking about the amount of effort he will have to put into the relationship- not the amount of money. The lines "If you want me,Then stop begging,I don’t put out for charity,If you want me there’s no discount price,Tonight" are talking about how she isn't going to compromise for anything less than the love she is looking for. And the lines "But I don’t need your dollar bills,
I just want something real,
‘Cause nothing's free,Except loving me" clearly indicate that she isn't after money and that money isn't what she's talking about in this song. "Don’t make a betif you can’t write the check" could mean that she is asking for full commitment and that she doesn't want anything less than that. She's asking for him not to promise her anything he cannot give her. And the last lines here to analyze are "‘Cause I can be bought but you’ll pay the cost,If you can afford me". Here I think she's saying that she is available but only if he is willing to do what she needs and be what she needs because she won't settle for anything less.
So now for my life lesson- don't settle. That is what Katy is trying to tell us all in this song. We need to be confident in ourselves and confident about what we want. We shouldn't settle for anything less than everything we desire in a partner. And relationships help us to figure out exactly what it is we DO want. But once we know- NEVER settle for anything less than that because you're only hurting yourself if you do. Also, don't let anyone try to treat you like you're less than what you're worth. Know that you are a beautiful, wonderful individual and that you deserve the best. Because as she's said before- you're a firework. It's as simple as that.
Love You, KatyCats,
-Autumn the Purrfect KatyCat
P.S. Feel free to check out my new "FAQ's about Katy" page! Also, just so you all know, I will be starting a tutorial session soon. My sweet 16 is Katy themed and I will be giving you all tips on how to have a wonderful Katy party! This will include costumes, decorations, and other little things. I hope you will all enjoy that! Thank you!
It's been a while! It feels good to write again, though. So this is another Katy song that isn't very widely known- "I'm Still Breathing". This song was on the "One of the Boys" album and a song that I adore. Its message is confusing to some. Some people seem to think that Katy is talking about suicide. To me, that seems a little dark and a little too shallow for her. I think this song is more about a relationship (as most songs are).
So, you can find lyrics here and follow along with me. The lines "say something funny, say something sweet, but don't say that you loved me." are a clear indicator that this is about a dying relationship. It's about a love that she wants to save, but knows there is no hope. Here she's telling him not to say at her "funeral" that he loved her because she knows at that point it will not be true. He would be lying. I think it's also that those words would crush her at this point. She wants it to just be over. That's why she says the words "already lost our grip, best abandon ship". And her message is really clear in this verse: "So as I write this letter, and shed my last tear, Know it's all for the better that we end this here, let's close this chapter, say one last prayer, but don't say that you loved me". She's crushed by the fact that this relationship didn't work out. She also didn't think that she would be able to live through her lose. She thought that nothing else in her life would matter- and she has discovered that this is a little true. That's where the line "I'm still breathing, but we've been dead for a while" comes in. She didn't think that that would even be possible. It's a very damaging thing for her, and yet she finds herself still breathing, still alive, still carrying on. It seems a somewhat confusing state to be in, and yet a definite one because there's nothing she could have done to save their relationship.
I think that in this particular song there's sort of a message you have to figure out for yourself. Especially if you're in this kind of relationship. If you know it's falling apart and you know that there's nothing you can do to save it, then let it go. Because it's not worth the pain to keep pretending you can keep it up.
Love you all, KatyCats,
-Autumn the Purrfect KatyCat
