WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.860 Welcome back to another custom -tailored deep 00:00:01.860 --> 00:00:04.700 dive. If you are joining us right now, you are 00:00:04.700 --> 00:00:06.820 probably someone who loves looking past the surface 00:00:06.820 --> 00:00:09.019 of things. Oh, definitely. That is why we are 00:00:09.019 --> 00:00:11.039 here. Right. You know, you hear a massive pop 00:00:11.039 --> 00:00:14.300 song on the radio, you hum along, maybe tap your 00:00:14.300 --> 00:00:16.719 steering wheel a bit. But a part of you also 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:19.399 wonders, like, what is the actual story behind 00:00:19.399 --> 00:00:22.320 this three -minute cultural phenomenon? And today 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:24.339 we have an absolute... Perfect case study for 00:00:24.339 --> 00:00:26.899 that exact question. We really do. We are diving 00:00:26.899 --> 00:00:30.699 into Katy Perry's 2012 mega hit, Part of Me. 00:00:30.820 --> 00:00:34.399 It is such a remarkable story to pull apart because 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:37.439 on the surface, Part of Me is just this colossal, 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:40.939 inescapable. pop anthem. Inescapable is definitely 00:00:40.939 --> 00:00:43.460 the word for it. Right. So just to set the stage 00:00:43.460 --> 00:00:45.539 with some baseline facts, it dropped on February 00:00:45.539 --> 00:00:48.920 13th, 2012, and it served as the lead single 00:00:48.920 --> 00:00:52.100 for the reissue of her third studio album, which 00:00:52.100 --> 00:00:54.640 was titled Teenage Dream, The Complete Confection. 00:00:54.679 --> 00:00:56.920 And the song absolutely exploded the second it 00:00:56.920 --> 00:00:58.700 hit the airwaves. Exploded is an understatement. 00:00:58.759 --> 00:01:01.200 It went on to become the 20th song in the entire 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:04.260 history of the Billboard Hot 100 to debut straight 00:01:04.260 --> 00:01:07.939 at number one. Which is wild. It really is. Debuting 00:01:07.939 --> 00:01:09.959 at number one is a completely different beast 00:01:09.959 --> 00:01:12.640 than just climbing the charts over time. It means 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:14.959 the cultural anticipation was already at a boiling 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:17.219 point before anyone had even heard the final 00:01:17.219 --> 00:01:19.519 mix. Yeah, but the journey to get to that top 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:21.920 spot was anything but a straight line. Not at 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:24.900 all. Okay, let's unpack this. Because our mission 00:01:24.900 --> 00:01:28.620 for this deep dive is to explore exactly how 00:01:28.620 --> 00:01:33.890 a leftover shelled track transformed into a record 00:01:33.890 --> 00:01:36.590 -breaking cultural flashpoint. A massive flashpoint. 00:01:36.709 --> 00:01:38.849 Yeah, a flashpoint that somehow managed to spark 00:01:38.849 --> 00:01:42.549 intense debates about feminism, about military 00:01:42.549 --> 00:01:46.629 propaganda, and even theology. It just proves 00:01:46.629 --> 00:01:48.989 that pop music is rarely as simple as a catchy 00:01:48.989 --> 00:01:51.469 hook. Exactly. There is an entire world of strategy 00:01:51.469 --> 00:01:53.989 and timing and public perception wrapped up in 00:01:53.989 --> 00:01:56.109 those beats. So to really understand the DNA 00:01:56.109 --> 00:01:58.209 of Part of Me, we have to rewind the clock quite 00:01:58.209 --> 00:02:00.329 a bit. We have to go back two full years before 00:02:00.329 --> 00:02:02.760 it affects us. took over the radio back to early 00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:04.879 2010. Right when Perry was in the thick of the 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:06.780 writing sessions for the original Teenage Dream 00:02:06.780 --> 00:02:08.979 album. Yes. And I know she was collaborating 00:02:08.979 --> 00:02:11.020 with some absolute heavyweights in the pop music 00:02:11.020 --> 00:02:13.520 world at that time. We are talking about hit 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:16.680 makers like Dr. Luke Max Martin and Bonnie McKee. 00:02:17.020 --> 00:02:19.780 So what did the actual writing process look like? 00:02:20.330 --> 00:02:23.669 for this specific track? It was incredibly intense. 00:02:23.969 --> 00:02:26.030 They were working out of a Conway Recording Studios 00:02:26.030 --> 00:02:28.530 in Hollywood and Playback Recording Studios up 00:02:28.530 --> 00:02:31.750 in Santa Barbara. And the creative energy in 00:02:31.750 --> 00:02:35.110 those rooms was just producing massive, generation 00:02:35.110 --> 00:02:37.870 -defining hits. Like California Girls and Firework. 00:02:38.169 --> 00:02:40.449 Exactly. So Perry had this casual friendship 00:02:40.449 --> 00:02:42.810 with Bonnie McKee and she brought her in to help 00:02:42.810 --> 00:02:45.009 flesh out a concept she was calling part of me. 00:02:45.090 --> 00:02:47.110 And McKee actually ended up staying awake all 00:02:47.110 --> 00:02:48.909 night writing the lyrics, trying to perfectly 00:02:48.909 --> 00:02:51.550 capture the vibe Perry was going for. Wow. All 00:02:51.550 --> 00:02:54.150 night. Yeah, all night. So the next day, McKee 00:02:54.150 --> 00:02:56.849 presents the song to Perry and Perry listens 00:02:56.849 --> 00:02:59.430 to just the third line of the song. Just the 00:02:59.430 --> 00:03:01.789 third line. Just the third line. She stops and 00:03:01.789 --> 00:03:04.750 is so incredibly thrilled by what she hears that 00:03:04.750 --> 00:03:07.229 she literally shouts, we're buying you a car. 00:03:08.300 --> 00:03:10.680 That is the ultimate validation. You write three 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:12.539 lines of music and someone offers you a vehicle. 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:15.379 Right. It is the dream scenario. But here is 00:03:15.379 --> 00:03:18.719 the part that blows my mind. You have this undeniable 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:22.659 banger, a song you love so much, you're screaming 00:03:22.659 --> 00:03:25.039 about buying cars, and then it just disappears. 00:03:25.960 --> 00:03:28.479 Why didn't it make the album? Well, what's fascinating 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:30.800 here is that the decision to shelve the track 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:33.539 was purely structural. What do you mean by structural? 00:03:33.960 --> 00:03:36.759 Well, Perry made a very deliberate and honestly 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:40.020 somewhat ruthless editorial choice. She felt 00:03:40.020 --> 00:03:42.400 the song, despite its obvious potential, just 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:44.740 didn't fit the overall composition of that specific 00:03:44.740 --> 00:03:47.319 album. Interesting. Yeah. She wanted the original 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:50.539 Teenage Dream record to be a, quote, nice, complete 00:03:50.539 --> 00:03:53.659 package. Adding part of me would have meant removing 00:03:53.659 --> 00:03:56.139 another track to make it fit. And she wasn't 00:03:56.139 --> 00:03:58.699 willing to compromise the sonic flow of the album 00:03:58.699 --> 00:04:01.319 she had envisioned. Exactly. That is an incredibly 00:04:01.319 --> 00:04:04.439 tough call for an artist to make. To just put 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:06.939 a guaranteed hit in a drawer for the sake of 00:04:06.939 --> 00:04:09.419 album aesthetics. Very tough. But the internet 00:04:09.419 --> 00:04:11.780 never lets anything stay hidden forever. Oh, 00:04:11.819 --> 00:04:14.419 definitely not. In December of 2010, a full demo 00:04:14.419 --> 00:04:17.819 of the track somehow leaked online. And fans 00:04:17.819 --> 00:04:20.699 obviously went into overdrive. The rumor mill 00:04:20.699 --> 00:04:22.579 started churning with everyone guessing it was 00:04:22.579 --> 00:04:25.300 a leftover cut and basically praying for a re 00:04:25.300 --> 00:04:27.819 -release. And it sat in that leaked, unofficial 00:04:27.819 --> 00:04:31.040 limbo until 2012 when it finally got a reworked 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:33.459 production, tweaked lyrics, and an official release. 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:35.920 And ironically, that polished final version leaked 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:38.579 again just two days before its massive official 00:04:38.579 --> 00:04:41.279 premiere. The music industry can be incredibly 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:44.120 chaotic to manage. It really can. But, you know, 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:46.100 it makes you think about your own life, especially 00:04:46.100 --> 00:04:48.660 for you listening right now. Have you ever had 00:04:48.660 --> 00:04:51.899 a brilliant idea, maybe a massive project at 00:04:51.899 --> 00:04:54.959 work, or a creative endeavor, or a big personal 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:57.620 leap, but the timing just felt entirely wrong? 00:04:57.800 --> 00:04:59.759 Oh yeah, we have all been there. Right, you knew 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:01.939 the idea was golden, but the environment simply 00:05:01.939 --> 00:05:05.019 wasn't ready to support it. This song is the 00:05:05.019 --> 00:05:07.040 ultimate example of trusting the timing of your 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:10.060 work. It really is. If Perry had forced it onto 00:05:10.060 --> 00:05:12.220 the original album, it might have been completely 00:05:12.220 --> 00:05:15.319 overshadowed by California Girls. By waiting 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:17.420 two years, she gave it the space to become a 00:05:17.420 --> 00:05:20.199 phenomenon of its own. The timing aspect is crucial 00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:23.360 because when it finally did drop, the musical 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:26.100 anatomy of the final product was perfectly engineered 00:05:26.100 --> 00:05:28.779 for that exact cultural moment. Let's talk about 00:05:28.779 --> 00:05:30.740 that sound. Yeah, if we break down the sound. 00:05:31.400 --> 00:05:34.079 Part of me is categorized as a blend of dance 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:37.120 pop and power pop with really aggressive electropop 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:40.000 elements. It is driven by a very distinctive 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:42.920 house beat, which gives it that relentless club 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:45.319 energy. It never really lets up. No, it doesn't. 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:47.879 But the genius is in the composition itself. 00:05:48.040 --> 00:05:50.839 It is written in the key of D minor, and it operates 00:05:50.839 --> 00:05:54.399 at a blistering 130 beats per minute. Wow, 130. 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:57.439 That tempo literally forces your heart rate up. 00:05:57.459 --> 00:06:00.100 It makes you want to move. And it creates this 00:06:00.100 --> 00:06:02.500 incredible friction with the lyrical arc, because 00:06:02.500 --> 00:06:05.040 you mentioned it is in D minor, which is traditionally 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:08.680 a very sad, somber key. And the song starts off 00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:11.100 remarkably down. Perry delivers those opening 00:06:11.100 --> 00:06:13.319 lines feeling totally defeated. Days like this, 00:06:13.339 --> 00:06:16.250 I want to drive away. Pack my bags and watch 00:06:16.250 --> 00:06:19.009 your shadow fade. The musicality perfectly mirrors 00:06:19.009 --> 00:06:21.269 that emotional journey. It starts in that somber 00:06:21.269 --> 00:06:23.589 D minor space, but the chord progression actually 00:06:23.589 --> 00:06:25.970 shifts during the bridge. It moves out of that 00:06:25.970 --> 00:06:28.029 initial melancholy and builds into something 00:06:28.029 --> 00:06:31.129 much more urgent. The beat just amplifies and 00:06:31.129 --> 00:06:34.470 she issues this sudden, really aggressive command. 00:06:35.379 --> 00:06:38.319 Now look at me. Yes, it is this massive turning 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:41.279 point in the track. And then it absolutely explodes 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:43.500 at the chorus where she declares herself totally 00:06:43.500 --> 00:06:45.399 unbreakable. This is the part of me that you're 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:47.259 never going to ever take away from me. And later 00:06:47.259 --> 00:06:49.620 on, she gets even more pointed telling this exfil 00:06:49.620 --> 00:06:52.079 fear and like, you can keep the diamond ring. 00:06:52.259 --> 00:06:55.920 It don't mean nothing anyway. Oh, man. That specific 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:58.660 lyric about the diamond ring is exactly what 00:06:58.660 --> 00:07:01.779 threw gasoline on the rumor mill fire in 2012. 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:04.079 You have to remember the context of Perry's life 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:06.860 at that exact moment. Right. She had very recently 00:07:06.860 --> 00:07:09.800 gone through a highly publicized, very messy 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:12.839 divorce from Russell Brand. So naturally, millions 00:07:12.839 --> 00:07:16.120 of fans and the entire global entertainment media 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:18.519 immediately assumed these newly tweaked lyrics 00:07:18.519 --> 00:07:21.180 were a direct pointed dig at her ex -husband. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:23.579 They assumed she was writing a real -time revenge 00:07:23.579 --> 00:07:25.959 anthem. I mean, it seemed so obvious. The timing 00:07:25.959 --> 00:07:28.360 lined up way too perfectly. But she pushed back 00:07:28.360 --> 00:07:30.060 on that narrative almost immediately, didn't 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:33.100 she? She did. She was a very strict timeline 00:07:33.100 --> 00:07:35.959 defense. Okay. She pointed out that she had written 00:07:35.959 --> 00:07:38.920 the core of the song, including that defiant 00:07:38.920 --> 00:07:42.600 chorus, two full years prior, long before the 00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:45.100 marriage ended. Right back in those 2010 sessions. 00:07:45.420 --> 00:07:48.860 Exactly. She gave this wonderfully candid quote 00:07:48.860 --> 00:07:51.040 saying, I'm like, I'm not a dick. I'm going to 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:53.730 tell the truth. I love that. openly acknowledge 00:07:53.730 --> 00:07:57.290 that pr people and industry insiders suggested 00:07:57.290 --> 00:07:59.290 she should just play along and pretend she wrote 00:07:59.290 --> 00:08:00.750 it a couple of weeks ago because it would have 00:08:00.750 --> 00:08:02.329 been brilliant marketing to capitalize on the 00:08:02.329 --> 00:08:06.399 tabloid cycle oh absolutely but She refused to 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:08.579 pretend it was a fresh reaction to her divorce. 00:08:08.740 --> 00:08:10.779 That takes a lot of integrity, honestly. It really 00:08:10.779 --> 00:08:13.220 does. And if we connect this to the bigger picture, 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:16.399 it is a brilliant example of how pop music serves 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:19.720 as a blank canvas. An artist's previous work 00:08:19.720 --> 00:08:21.740 can completely change meaning based on their 00:08:21.740 --> 00:08:24.439 current public life. So true. The art itself 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:27.060 remained largely the same. A song about a bad 00:08:27.060 --> 00:08:29.519 breakup written in 2010, but the audience's interpretation 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:31.899 of it was entirely filtered through the lens 00:08:31.899 --> 00:08:35.149 of 2012 tabloid headlines. The cultural context 00:08:35.149 --> 00:08:38.169 shifted around the song, even if the core creation 00:08:38.169 --> 00:08:40.529 didn't change at all. Exactly. But here's where 00:08:40.529 --> 00:08:43.149 it gets really interesting, though. Because while 00:08:43.149 --> 00:08:45.850 the public was entirely consumed by the gossip 00:08:45.850 --> 00:08:49.049 and the empowerment of the chorus, the music 00:08:49.049 --> 00:08:51.610 critics were sharply divided on the actual quality 00:08:51.610 --> 00:08:54.950 of the track. It was definitely not a unanimous 00:08:54.950 --> 00:08:57.860 critical darling. Far from it. The critical reception 00:08:57.860 --> 00:09:01.320 was a fascinating split between reviewers who 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:05.019 embraced its pure, unadulterated pop joy and 00:09:05.019 --> 00:09:07.919 those who found the entire thing entirely formulaic. 00:09:07.940 --> 00:09:10.500 For instance, the AV Club was fairly positive. 00:09:10.679 --> 00:09:12.240 Yeah, they praised the production. They specifically 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:15.259 called the chorus pretty damn sticky. Sticky 00:09:15.259 --> 00:09:17.559 is a great word for it. They acknowledged it 00:09:17.559 --> 00:09:19.940 followed a familiar pop formula, but argued it 00:09:19.940 --> 00:09:22.570 worked perfectly as a breakup anthem. They even 00:09:22.570 --> 00:09:24.769 compared it favorably to Kelly Clarkson's Since 00:09:24.769 --> 00:09:27.049 You've Been Gone, calling it a chintzier 2012 00:09:27.049 --> 00:09:29.649 version of that same vibe. High praise for pop 00:09:29.649 --> 00:09:31.269 song. But then you have the legacy magazines 00:09:31.269 --> 00:09:33.929 who were not impressed at all. Right. Rolling 00:09:33.929 --> 00:09:36.269 Stone gave it three out of five stars. and mostly 00:09:36.269 --> 00:09:38.750 dismissed it as just plain predictable. And then 00:09:38.750 --> 00:09:41.490 you had the British music tastemakers over at 00:09:41.490 --> 00:09:44.950 NME who were genuinely harsh. They completely 00:09:44.950 --> 00:09:47.690 panned the track, specifically criticizing what 00:09:47.690 --> 00:09:51.009 they described as her strange, angry robot voice. 00:09:51.230 --> 00:09:54.409 Strange, angry robot voice. Ah. It's always funny 00:09:54.409 --> 00:09:56.970 to see how seriously music critics take a song 00:09:56.970 --> 00:09:59.830 designed for a dance floor. They can be brutal. 00:10:00.379 --> 00:10:02.600 But the most unexpected critique didn't come 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:04.940 from a music magazine or a pop culture blog. 00:10:05.220 --> 00:10:07.679 It came from the Christian organization Focus 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:10.820 on the Family. Yes, this is a wild turn. Their 00:10:10.820 --> 00:10:14.059 critique was a full -blown moral panic over the 00:10:14.059 --> 00:10:16.299 thematic elements. They didn't care at all about 00:10:16.299 --> 00:10:18.820 the pulsing house beats provided by Max Martin 00:10:18.820 --> 00:10:21.080 and Dr. Luke. They cared about the perceived 00:10:21.080 --> 00:10:23.419 message. Right, because they argued that since 00:10:23.419 --> 00:10:25.179 the song was being framed by the public around 00:10:25.179 --> 00:10:28.159 her divorce, it put a somber and serious spin 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:30.330 on the music. To them, it was... in an empowering 00:10:30.330 --> 00:10:32.789 anthem about finding yourself after a breakup, 00:10:33.029 --> 00:10:35.230 they viewed it as celebrating the demolition 00:10:35.230 --> 00:10:37.470 of a marital covenant. Demolition of a marital 00:10:37.470 --> 00:10:39.789 covenant. Yeah. They felt that no matter how 00:10:39.789 --> 00:10:43.389 cathartic or upbeat the music was, the underlying 00:10:43.389 --> 00:10:45.649 reality of a dissolved marriage was fundamentally 00:10:45.649 --> 00:10:48.809 sad. And turning it into a club banger was sending 00:10:48.809 --> 00:10:51.330 the wrong message to her younger fans. It is 00:10:51.330 --> 00:10:54.309 wild to think about a 130 beat per minute track 00:10:54.930 --> 00:10:57.690 sparking a theological debate about marital covenants. 00:10:57.690 --> 00:10:59.769 There really is. But honestly, that is nothing 00:10:59.769 --> 00:11:02.230 compared to the massive controversy that erupted 00:11:02.230 --> 00:11:05.190 when the music video dropped. The visuals took 00:11:05.190 --> 00:11:07.470 the song in a direction literally no one saw 00:11:07.470 --> 00:11:10.529 coming. Directed by Ben Moore. Right. And the 00:11:10.529 --> 00:11:13.289 video completely avoids the typical pop star 00:11:13.289 --> 00:11:16.309 breakup cliches. We see Perry catching her boyfriend 00:11:16.309 --> 00:11:18.750 flirting with a co -worker at his office. She 00:11:18.750 --> 00:11:21.110 breaks up with him, storms out in a rage, and 00:11:21.110 --> 00:11:22.929 while she is standing at a gas station, she sees 00:11:22.929 --> 00:11:25.210 a bumper sticker that says, all women are created 00:11:25.210 --> 00:11:27.970 equal, then some become Marines. And on a pure 00:11:27.970 --> 00:11:30.590 impulse, she decides to enlist. The visual transformation 00:11:30.590 --> 00:11:33.710 she undergoes is striking. She walks into a grimy 00:11:33.710 --> 00:11:36.470 restroom, tearfully hacks off her long hair with 00:11:36.470 --> 00:11:38.950 scissors, aggressively flattens her breasts with 00:11:38.950 --> 00:11:41.129 a wrap, and changes out of her pop star clothes 00:11:41.129 --> 00:11:43.809 into a drab hoodie and jeans. It's very dramatic. 00:11:44.210 --> 00:11:47.250 From there, the video shifts entirely following 00:11:47.250 --> 00:11:49.850 her to the United States Marine Corps Camp Pendleton 00:11:49.850 --> 00:11:53.389 in California for rigorous basic combat instruction. 00:11:53.710 --> 00:11:56.379 And the sheer authenticity of the shoot. is what 00:11:56.379 --> 00:11:58.360 really stands out here. They didn't build a Hollywood 00:11:58.360 --> 00:12:00.059 set, right? No, they didn't. There were absolutely 00:12:00.059 --> 00:12:02.899 no actors used in this video whatsoever. They 00:12:02.899 --> 00:12:06.679 only used real active duty Marines and real military 00:12:06.679 --> 00:12:09.480 equipment. That is dedication. She actually underwent 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:11.679 vigorous physical training in military basics, 00:12:11.860 --> 00:12:14.659 firepower, and combat tactics just to prepare 00:12:14.659 --> 00:12:18.139 for this year. And MTV heavily praised her physical 00:12:18.139 --> 00:12:20.740 commitment to this role. They noted that plenty 00:12:20.740 --> 00:12:23.399 of pop stars had done military chic before. Like 00:12:23.399 --> 00:12:26.100 pointing out Rihanna doing it and maybe straddling 00:12:26.100 --> 00:12:28.820 a tank in a fabulous couture outfit. Right. Making 00:12:28.820 --> 00:12:31.419 it fashionable. But MTV loved that Perry actually 00:12:31.419 --> 00:12:35.559 eschewed makeup, chopped her hair, crawled through 00:12:35.559 --> 00:12:37.740 the mud and genuinely looked like she was suffering. 00:12:38.120 --> 00:12:41.139 They called it a highly commendable level of 00:12:41.139 --> 00:12:42.779 commitment. However, this is where things get 00:12:42.779 --> 00:12:45.879 complicated. Yes. And now this next part weighs 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:49.370 into some heavily political territory. And just 00:12:49.370 --> 00:12:51.789 as a quick reminder for you listening, we are 00:12:51.789 --> 00:12:54.210 entirely impartial here. We aren't taking any 00:12:54.210 --> 00:12:56.929 sides on this issue. We are simply laying out 00:12:56.929 --> 00:12:59.169 the different arguments that ignited around this 00:12:59.169 --> 00:13:01.269 music video at the time because the reaction 00:13:01.269 --> 00:13:05.289 was... Very intense. The primary critique came 00:13:05.289 --> 00:13:07.870 prominently from feminist author Naomi Wolf. 00:13:08.090 --> 00:13:10.590 She strongly denounced the music video, labeling 00:13:10.590 --> 00:13:13.169 it explicitly as military propaganda. Military 00:13:13.169 --> 00:13:15.590 propaganda. Yes. She felt that taking a catchy 00:13:15.590 --> 00:13:17.669 pop song and marrying it to real life Marine 00:13:17.669 --> 00:13:20.210 combat training was a glorification of violence. 00:13:20.490 --> 00:13:23.289 Wow. She was so offended by the imagery and the 00:13:23.289 --> 00:13:25.230 message she felt it sent to young women that 00:13:25.230 --> 00:13:27.830 she actually called for a complete global boycott 00:13:27.830 --> 00:13:30.710 of Katy Perry. That is a massive escalation from 00:13:30.710 --> 00:13:32.960 a simple mute. music video release, a global 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:35.620 boycott. It was a huge statement. But not everyone 00:13:35.620 --> 00:13:38.159 saw it that way. Glenn Selig, the founder of 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:40.240 the publicity agency, offered a very different 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:43.179 perspective. He argued that Naomi Wolf's calls 00:13:43.179 --> 00:13:45.639 for a boycott backfired entirely and just brought 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:47.500 millions more eyeballs to the video. Which often 00:13:47.500 --> 00:13:50.379 happens with boycotts. Right. He asserted that 00:13:50.379 --> 00:13:52.539 without Wolf's political framing, most everyday 00:13:52.539 --> 00:13:54.639 viewers would have clearly seen the military 00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:58.419 setting simply as a visual metaphor for personal 00:13:58.419 --> 00:14:01.259 strength and resilience rather than a literal 00:14:01.259 --> 00:14:03.899 government -sponsored attempt to glamorize war. 00:14:04.220 --> 00:14:06.440 And as for the artist herself, Perry defended 00:14:06.440 --> 00:14:09.559 the concept quite simply. She stated in an MTV 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:12.620 interview that she chose the military plot because 00:14:12.620 --> 00:14:14.759 she wanted to represent the song in the strongest, 00:14:14.779 --> 00:14:17.200 most visual way possible. She didn't view it 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:19.080 as political at all. No, she just called the 00:14:19.080 --> 00:14:21.860 concept an affirmation of strength. So you have 00:14:21.860 --> 00:14:24.600 this incredible... chaotic swirl of activity 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:27.419 surrounding this one three -minute piece of music. 00:14:27.740 --> 00:14:30.559 You have a leaked demo turned into a polished, 00:14:30.679 --> 00:14:34.240 single, intense divorce rumors, sharply mixed 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:37.200 critical reviews, theological concerns, and a 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:39.779 music video generating literal boycott calls 00:14:39.779 --> 00:14:42.559 from feminist authors over military propaganda. 00:14:42.899 --> 00:14:44.620 It is a lot of noise. It is definitely noise. 00:14:44.779 --> 00:14:46.340 With all of that, you might wonder how the song 00:14:46.340 --> 00:14:48.220 actually performed when it came to people just 00:14:48.220 --> 00:14:50.299 opening their wallets. Well, commercially, it 00:14:50.299 --> 00:14:52.000 was an absolute juggernaut. Let's hear the numbers. 00:14:52.409 --> 00:14:54.870 The numbers are staggering to look back on. In 00:14:54.870 --> 00:14:58.009 the United States alone, part of me sold 411 00:14:58.009 --> 00:15:01.929 ,000 copies in its very first week. 411 ,000 00:15:01.929 --> 00:15:05.049 copies in one week. That massive surge is exactly 00:15:05.049 --> 00:15:07.590 what propelled it to debut at number one on the 00:15:07.590 --> 00:15:10.490 Billboard Hot 100. It eventually went five times 00:15:10.490 --> 00:15:12.350 platinum in the U .S., meaning it moved over 00:15:12.350 --> 00:15:14.889 five million units. Incredible. But it was a 00:15:14.889 --> 00:15:17.309 massive global phenomenon, too. It went diamond 00:15:17.309 --> 00:15:19.950 in Brazil. It topped the charts in the U .K., 00:15:19.950 --> 00:15:23.019 Canada and Bulgaria. And in New Zealand, it was 00:15:23.019 --> 00:15:26.179 her seventh number one hit, which tied her with 00:15:26.179 --> 00:15:28.259 Mariah Carey for the most number one hits in 00:15:28.259 --> 00:15:30.419 that country's history. Tying Mariah Carey is 00:15:30.419 --> 00:15:32.580 legendary stuff. Those are career -defining numbers. 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:35.120 And Perry really capitalized on that success 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:37.740 by turning the live performances of this song 00:15:37.740 --> 00:15:40.840 into these massive, elaborate theatrical spectacles. 00:15:40.899 --> 00:15:42.259 She didn't just stand at a microphone stand. 00:15:42.360 --> 00:15:45.240 Oh, no. At the 2012 Grammys, she pulled off this 00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:48.080 incredible visual fakeout. The performance started 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:50.509 with her singing E .T. And suddenly it looked 00:15:50.509 --> 00:15:52.450 like there were technical difficulties. The audio 00:15:52.450 --> 00:15:55.450 cuts, the stage goes pitch black. Then slowly, 00:15:55.610 --> 00:15:58.450 a blue haired Perry descends from the ceiling 00:15:58.450 --> 00:16:01.690 in a transparent cube wearing this gleaming golden 00:16:01.690 --> 00:16:04.450 armor. It looked amazing. But the trick was the 00:16:04.450 --> 00:16:06.610 person standing on the dark stage below was actually. 00:16:07.100 --> 00:16:09.840 A body double. Suddenly the real Perry shatters 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:12.379 the cube from the inside. Massive pyrotechnics 00:16:12.379 --> 00:16:15.139 go off and she launches straight into part of 00:16:15.139 --> 00:16:17.460 me. It was brilliant. She consistently escalated 00:16:17.460 --> 00:16:19.179 the production value whenever she played it. 00:16:19.259 --> 00:16:21.460 Like for her performance on season 11 of American 00:16:21.460 --> 00:16:24.220 Idol, she did a simulated high altitude airdrop 00:16:24.220 --> 00:16:27.419 onto a massive military base set surrounded by 00:16:27.419 --> 00:16:30.139 an army of female background dancers in full 00:16:30.139 --> 00:16:32.940 tactical gear. And you cannot forget the premiere 00:16:32.940 --> 00:16:35.720 of her 3D autobiographical documentary film, 00:16:35.799 --> 00:16:37.690 which was all. Also titled Katy Perry, Part of 00:16:37.690 --> 00:16:39.149 Me. Oh, the Hollywood Boulevard performance. 00:16:39.570 --> 00:16:42.929 Yes. She literally shut down Hollywood Boulevard 00:16:42.929 --> 00:16:46.490 for a live performance. She emerged from a giant 00:16:46.490 --> 00:16:49.690 two -story box of popcorn wearing a custom shirt 00:16:49.690 --> 00:16:52.409 that looked like a spinning film reel on a stage 00:16:52.409 --> 00:16:55.509 completely decked out with neon lights and life 00:16:55.509 --> 00:16:58.529 -size lollipops. It was the absolute pinnacle 00:16:58.529 --> 00:17:01.700 of pure pop spectacle. It really was. Although 00:17:01.700 --> 00:17:04.299 it is worth noting that years later, she proved 00:17:04.299 --> 00:17:06.299 the song could work beautifully without all the 00:17:06.299 --> 00:17:08.200 bells, whistles and pyrotechnics. Yeah, it is 00:17:08.200 --> 00:17:11.140 true. In 2017, she performed a very stripped 00:17:11.140 --> 00:17:13.880 down, highly emotional acoustic rendition of 00:17:13.880 --> 00:17:16.740 the song at the One Love Manchester Benefit concert. 00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:19.259 And it's still held up perfectly. The song also 00:17:19.259 --> 00:17:22.079 enjoyed massive brand synergy permeating various 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:25.059 unrelated corners of pop culture. It was featured 00:17:25.059 --> 00:17:27.339 heavily in a national marketing campaign for 00:17:27.339 --> 00:17:30.140 the Sims 3 Showtime video game, where players 00:17:30.140 --> 00:17:32.519 could even play as a sim version of Katy Perry, 00:17:32.619 --> 00:17:34.799 complete with her stage outfits. I remember that. 00:17:34.920 --> 00:17:37.319 Pepsi used the pulsing track as the backdrop 00:17:37.319 --> 00:17:40.099 for their global live for now advertising campaign. 00:17:40.420 --> 00:17:43.059 It was included as downloadable content for the 00:17:43.059 --> 00:17:45.839 incredibly popular Just Dance video game series. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:48.519 They were everywhere. And amidst all this commercial 00:17:48.519 --> 00:17:50.940 success and corporate synergy, Perry announced 00:17:50.940 --> 00:17:53.220 that all the profits raised from the sales of 00:17:53.220 --> 00:17:55.839 the single would be donated directly to the charity 00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:58.500 Musicaires. Oh, that is wonderful. Yeah, supporting 00:17:58.500 --> 00:18:01.259 musicians in times of financial and medical need. 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:04.359 So what does this all mean? We started this deep 00:18:04.359 --> 00:18:07.619 dive at the song written way back in 2010 that 00:18:07.619 --> 00:18:09.720 was quite literally left on the cutting room 00:18:09.720 --> 00:18:12.799 floor. because it didn't fit the vibe of a record. 00:18:12.980 --> 00:18:15.279 It means that the trajectory of pop music is 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:18.000 incredibly complex and largely unpredictable. 00:18:18.539 --> 00:18:20.700 Very unpredictable. Part of me is a testament 00:18:20.700 --> 00:18:24.319 to how raw, undeniable pop craftsmanship, the 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:26.900 kind engineered by savants like Max Martin and 00:18:26.900 --> 00:18:29.420 Dr. Luke, combined with very specific patient 00:18:29.420 --> 00:18:32.759 timing, can elevate a discarded demo into a certified 00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:35.339 diamond hit. And on a deeper level, it shows 00:18:35.339 --> 00:18:37.740 how a massive pop song becomes a blank canvas 00:18:37.740 --> 00:18:40.259 for society. Yes. For the general public, it 00:18:40.259 --> 00:18:42.200 was a canvas to project gossip about her high 00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:45.039 profile divorce. For cultural critics and authors, 00:18:45.160 --> 00:18:47.000 it became a lightning rod for intense political 00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:49.480 debates regarding military imagery, feminism. 00:18:50.140 --> 00:18:52.460 and marital values. A song is never just a song 00:18:52.460 --> 00:18:54.819 once millions of people hear it. It really is 00:18:54.819 --> 00:18:56.460 a fascinating journey. Thank you so much for 00:18:56.460 --> 00:18:58.180 coming along on this deep dive with us today. 00:18:58.339 --> 00:19:00.960 We love taking these topics and really exploring 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:03.039 the layers beneath the surface, looking past 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:05.400 the radio edits and the tabloids. And we are 00:19:05.400 --> 00:19:07.440 so glad you were here to unpack the history of 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:09.900 this massive track with us. Absolutely. And as 00:19:09.900 --> 00:19:12.240 we wrap up, this raises an important question 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:14.990 for you to consider. When an artist releases 00:19:14.990 --> 00:19:17.529 a piece of work years after they originally created 00:19:17.529 --> 00:19:20.549 it, who truly owns the meaning of that art? Is 00:19:20.549 --> 00:19:22.890 the song forever defined by the creator's original 00:19:22.890 --> 00:19:26.349 intent in a vocal booth back in 2010? Or is the 00:19:26.349 --> 00:19:28.549 true meaning defined by the audience's reality, 00:19:28.730 --> 00:19:31.109 their projections, and the cultural context of 00:19:31.109 --> 00:19:34.190 the exact moment it hits their ears? Something 00:19:34.190 --> 00:19:36.089 to think about next time you catch a throwback 00:19:36.089 --> 00:19:37.190 playing on the radio.