Chapter 4: Ur So Gay: Tools & The Women Who Love Them
The Ur So Gay video, (watch it, it's right up there!) tells the hipster/LA version of Barbie & Ken. Katy sings and plays guitar in front of a pastoral backdrop, complete with smiling clouds. We watch the story of the relationship develop between Barbie, a cute blonde who finds douchemaster, Ken on FaceSpace (I wonder what that's supposed to be) and asks him out.
The song, while it stirred up some controversy, is supposedly about Perry's ex-boyfriend, who apparently enjoyed driving hybrids, drinking vegan coffee with soy milk and wearing houndstooth and lots of guy-liner. Katy's Barbie is shown changing her appearance to get the man of her dreams (which always works.)
While Katy is making some obvious statement about men and women's roles and motivations in catching/chasing the opposite sex, she might also be making a statement about pop music in general. The backdrop and scenery of the music video is sweet and infantilized, even the usage of dolls suggests an innocence... to the eye anyway. If you listen to the lyrics, however, they suggest something much deeper and darker.
I hope you hang yourself with your H&M scarf
While jacking off listening to Mozart
You bitch and moan about LA
Wishing you were in the rain reading Hemingway
I suggest that this, being Perry's first official music video, is setting an overtly sarcastic tone in her lyrics, mixed with the irony of the images that will continue in her videos to come. Shall we see if the theme continues?
This is AWESOME. I’ve always thought of Katy Perry as not-your-typical-popstar, even if her songs are pop sound to the nth level. It’s not just because she reminds me of Zooey Deschanel. Just by looking at her, and how she does this sexy-sultry-sex siren image with so much enjoyment, I never even thought for a moment she’s one of those dumb popstars. And yeah, her lyrics speak volumes even with the bubblegummy dancey-tuney melodies.
The Ur So Gay video, (watch it, it's right up there!) tells the hipster/LA version of Barbie & Ken. Katy sings and plays guitar in front of a pastoral backdrop, complete with smiling clouds. We watch the story of the relationship develop between Barbie, a cute blonde who finds douchemaster, Ken on FaceSpace (I wonder what that's supposed to be) and asks him out.
The song, while it stirred up some controversy, is supposedly about Perry's ex-boyfriend, who apparently enjoyed driving hybrids, drinking vegan coffee with soy milk and wearing houndstooth and lots of guy-liner. Katy's Barbie is shown changing her appearance to get the man of her dreams (which always works.)
While Katy is making some obvious statement about men and women's roles and motivations in catching/chasing the opposite sex, she might also be making a statement about pop music in general. The backdrop and scenery of the music video is sweet and infantilized, even the usage of dolls suggests an innocence... to the eye anyway. If you listen to the lyrics, however, they suggest something much deeper and darker.
I suggest that this, being Perry's first official music video, is setting an overtly sarcastic tone in her lyrics, mixed with the irony of the images that will continue in her videos to come. Shall we see if the theme continues?
This is AWESOME. I’ve always thought of Katy Perry as not-your-typical-popstar, even if her songs are pop sound to the nth level. It’s not just because she reminds me of Zooey Deschanel. Just by looking at her, and how she does this sexy-sultry-sex siren image with so much enjoyment, I never even thought for a moment she’s one of those dumb popstars. And yeah, her lyrics speak volumes even with the bubblegummy dancey-tuney melodies.