For ages I've been trying really hard to write a critique of why I really detested the hit single I Kissed A Girl by Katy Perry, but I've given up time and again as I never got it right. Sometimes I felt as if I came across as a musical snob, while on other occasions, I felt I could be accused of some sort of homophobia.This is what I wanted to say:-
Sometimes music isn't just about music and lyrics.
It's about context.
You could easily dismiss 'I Kissed A Girl' as little more than a catchy pop song.
The question is, should you?
Is music just entertainment or should it have some kind of social or moral responsibility? Now, I'm more than aware that last sentence makes me sound like an old fuddy duddy and spits in the face of everything that rock and roll is supposed to stand for but hey, maybe I am. Maybe I'm overanalysing it. Taking it too seriously. Either that or I'm a closet Daily Mail reader in disguise and this post should simply read 'Ban This Filth!. You see, while it may attempt to pass itself off as some kind of lesbian liberation anthem, I can't help but find this song insulting and derogatory. Sung by the kind of social tourist that Pulp lampooned so well in 'Common People'. Yet we're supposed to accept that or ignore it because it comes wrapped in a slick, shiny bubble gum pop wrapper. We're meant to accept it because flirting with lesbianism has been deemed cool. We're meant to accept it because Katy Perry is an attractive, non threatening female. And we're meant to accept it because she's straight. I mean, imagine if she actually was gay. But then why waste your time imagining that?
Oh wait, no, that's what we're supposed to do isn't it, because the whole thing is cynically designed to titillate us. So long as we remember that she's not actually gay. This is the same kind of faux lesbianism that floods the insides of so called lads mags. The media constructed myth that lesbians are okay so long as they're attractive to men. A lipstick lesbian cliche. Besides, we all know they love a bit of cock really, right guys?!?!
Wrong. This song does nothing to advance the acceptance of gays and lesbians in society. It trivialises an important issue. Mocks it. Leaves a series of outdated attitudes in it's wake while strengthening stereotypes and doing lord knows what damage to both gay and feminist movements. But then what do I know? I mean, I'm not a girl and I'm not a gay girl so what do I know? Why should I worry? Why should I care?
Well I care because I worry what this song says to the kids it's aimed at. In the same way that I worry about the over sexualised lyrics and imagery that a band like The Pussycat Dolls portrays to impressionable young girls. What are vulnerable girls supposed to take from this? That this is how they have to behave to attract boys? And what of those who are questioning their sexuality? Are they supposed to assume it's just a phase? Won't it just add to their confusion? Or am I missing the point? Maybe it is just a bit of fun?
Like I said, it's all about context. If this song were written and sung by a lesbian then yeah, maybe it would be a proud, defiant anthem. A celebration. But it's not, it's about context. And if you don't believe that context alters a song, listen to this version by Travis. It's the reason why I'm ranting a year and a half after the song came out and I think you'll get a whole different take on it. No strangers to interesting cover versions, here Travis give the song a treatment that manages to start out seemingly innocent, coy and sweet yet somehow ends up seeming strangely creepy and sinister.
mp3 : Travis - I Kissed A Girl (live in session)
The above bit of writing is courtesy of the ever readable Coxon Le Woof over at To Die By Your Side which was one of the first blogs I ever started reading and one that sets a standard of quality that we all should be striving for.
And here's another interesting Travis cover:-
mp3 : Travis - Hit Me Baby One More Time (live)
Oh and is it just me or does the start of the Britney cover sounded like the dreaded and dreadful Hotel California?????
11 comments:
well ... Tart, what do you think?
Here's some video footage of a Norwegian radio broadcast:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqAysAhc_to
Fran is telling interesting things, for example that he imagined the song written by a gay guy out of a gay man's perspective, which makes the lyrics very interesting.
Great post as usual!
I share your concern - but I thought she was singing 'cherry chopstick' - so wadda I know?
So, I asked my 13 yr old daughter about this song.
"It's a bit lesbianified, but it's poppy" she carelessly offered.
When pressed, she said that Katy Perry is 'bi' because 'in a magazine it said that she fancies her friend'. 'Lady Gaga is bi too'.
With that matter-of-fact assessment, she was gone and back onto MSN.
On closer inspection I find that Ms Perry (whose album is entitled 'One Of The Boys' by the way) revealed that she goes to gay clubs to flirt with lesbians.
"I get hit on when I go to gay clubs, but I hit on women too. Beautiful ones. I'm attracted to cool, alternative women. But I'd only ever have a drink with them. I'm such a tease!"
So, looks to me like if you're an uncool, plain lesbian with a cold sore, you may as well top yerself!
Just to over-egg it a mega-ton, Cathy Dennis was another of the song's co-writers - yet we don't seem to challenge her fabricated gender-bending or gamering objectification. Perhaps too many years have been built in between us?
I like the girl Pink though. She seems to mean what she sings. Is this fair or rational or am I completely missing the mark? Like you Coxon, I'm more than willing to learn.
Perhaps Katy's biggest sin is that her heart isn't in it? In music, as in life .. that's all most of us ask for.
I applaud this level of analysis - popular culture of any kind is never without social and cultural implications. I, myself, have had similar arguments ready for anyone who liked this song or found it harmless. The gender performance and play operating here crosses over into sexuality and complicates any sort of attempt at exaggeration or camp sensibility. And I witnessed enough girls participating in faux lesbianism to turn guys on that this kind of attempted provocation just isn't provocation at all.
Jim the million dollar question "Is music just entertainment or should it have some kind of social or moral responsibility?
That is up to you I am sure the majority of people who read your blog myself included who tend to like to analyse our music will find offence in this song but on the other hand there are millions of people buttering their toast at breakfast quite happily singing this song our choice ? their choice?
But is the real offence taken from the fact that this is purely a commercial product designed only for sales.
After all did we all run around with the same disgust when The excellant Divinlys sang about touching themselves no we said brilliant song no offence taken.
So I go back to your original thoughts "musical snobbery" perhaps!
I have to complement you for an excellant thought provoking post
Son of the rock
Well.... here's one bi-dyke-cock-lover's point of view: sure Katy Perry has every right to go around saying she's bi, straight or Martian, I don't care and neither should anyone else as to what label she chooses. BUT, what she's representing is a real phenomenon. And it's reflected in the attitude of many 13 year olds (and older!) where sexual identity isn't a big deal to them, it's as meaningful as your choice of haircut. And it's NOT a big deal because it's not a real identity. Katy Perry is a celebrity. She doesn't live a real life with another woman as her partner or even with another woman as her occasional lover. She doesn't deal with the everyday realities of people's prejudices. And her video and song don't register those realities either. They're meant to be entertaining. So at face value, they are.
Are they dangerous because they're not realistic? In the same manner, are songs and videos that depict physical aggression or tension between two people for entertainment purposes with no real consequences, dangerous? We'd probably argue yes. But there's often no obvious population to defend in that case. Most violence and aggression is man on man.
It's true that there is a certain cache about being female and bi as long as you're attractive on the heterosexual hotness meter. And we joke about the "bi above the waist" girls, hahah! Yeah, kissing is great, but stay away from the coochie!.... fakers!
So you see, those aren't real bisexual women either. They don't live with the stigma of having more than one lover or having had lovers of both genders in their past (and futures). Yeah we joke that it's cool to do your own thing but honestly, most people's morals are not that elastic. So being bi means you either don't disclose to others that you have more than one lover or you have one lover at a time and you choose which gender you're going to be with for now, or from now on. There's a reason I use a pseudonym.
Frankly it does set us back 30 years for the simple reason that it allows the reality of prejudice to continue to be hidden and avoided. Us "ugly" dykes, queers, and butches don't get the kind pass that the Katy Perrys get, believe me.
And no, I'm not attempting to come off bitter here. I live my life the way I wish and I'm very glad to live in a big city where the stigma is less noticeable. But songs like this only fuel close-minded people's jokes about what my life should look like, instead of what it does look like.
Please don't think that I have any more right to define this than any one else. I just have an opinion like all the rest of you, and I speak from where I stand, that's all.
my two cents, xoxoxo,
Tart, (who's lived with her woman for almost 16 years now)
U R So Gay, one of her previous singles, annoys me much more.
Katy Perry's music and lyrics come off terribly cynical and calculated to me. I too felt uncomfortable with "I Kissed a Girl" from the first time I heard it and immediately found myself lumping it with more schoolboy lesbian fantasy ideals than a track that was empathetic to lesbians on any level. Music for the masses...the masses at their lowest common denominator.
Quality backing vocals from Mark and Lard on the Britney cover.
Biggity Biggity Bong!
"because the whole thing is cynically designed to titillate us"
That handful of words perfectly sums it up for me, as do your words Echorich:
"Music for the masses...the masses at their lowest common denominator"
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Never heard this but I saw it in HMV and I thought it was a cover of the JILL SOBULE song of the same title but it's NOT
Sounds like gross pig ignorance to use somebody else's idea
Her song is quite attractive as its like a 50s one with the Carribean beat and has a pretty harmless lyric
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