Katy Perry -- I Kissed A Girl
I like Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl," but it strikes me as the sort of song that would piss off an actual lesbian. Then again, it was named on Time's Entertainment Podcast as one musician's favorite "gay song" on the True Colors tour. For whatever that is worth. What interests me is the tension in the song between its heterosexuality and its homosexuality, combined with the tension between being "out" and being "in." At first listen, it seems like a straight-girl-sings-about-a-meaningless-girl-on-girl-kiss. But there is a lot of subtext that makes me see why it might be more than eye-rollingly irritating to someone who is truly out.
"This was never the way I planned
Not my intention
I got so brave, drink in hand
Lost my discretion"
First, you have the classic excuse that she was drunk, which is nice. I mean, of course she was drunk. But instead of using the alcohol to dismiss the kiss, instead she pairs it with "I got so brave" that she lost her discretion. Both suggest that the kiss was something she wanted long before she did it, and that rather than it being a drunken mistake, it was a long-planned for release. Was her intention that it not happen? That it wasn't a drunken mistake? Hmmm.
It's not what, I'm used to
Just wanna try you on
I'm curious for you
Caught my attention
Then she takes away all the suggestions in the first few lines with these. She waves all that subtext away by saying that she was just curious and looking to try it and that it was not that meaningful. The object of her affections "caught her attention." Like a shiny bauble in a store window, or like a love at first sight?
I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chap stick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
Again she grounds the song in her heterosexuality, by mentioning her boyfriend. Yet, unlike many drunken lesbian kisses, it wasn't for his edification or a show-offy display for him. Instead, she seems to have done it behind his back. She hopes he "don't mind it," as though he hasn't found out yet. Whatever it was, it wasn't for him.
Also, nice use of "cherry chap stick." Cherry representing the loss of a kind of virginity paired with "chap stick" which doesn't push the cherry too far. I also think it is kind of nice that her partner was wearing chap stick, and not something more feminine, like lip gloss. Was her partner not a "girly girl" showing off, but more of a tom boy? Perhaps the partner was more serious about the kiss than the singer.
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
These lines make explicit the tension in the earlier lines. The singer is ambivalent about her kiss and what it means. Is she telling us that she's not in love or herself?
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it
These lines suggest a resolution to the tension above, a kind of surrender. I love the way she gets a little quieter and a little petulant on the second "I liked it" as if she is looking to be challenged for liking it. Who is she fighting? Herself?
No, I don't even know your name
It doesn't matter
You're my experimental game
I also thought it was interesting that the singer doesn't cross gender lines out of a real affection for her partner. She doesn't fall in love unexpectedly, nor does she even know the name of her partner. Instead, the encounter was to learn something about herself, not the other girl. At the same time, she dismisses the experience as a "game" as if there are not higher stakes about the singer's identity as a straight girl.
Just human nature
This is nice as well. She claims that the kiss and the desire to experiment with someone of the same gender is human nature. It makes the kiss less exotic and challenging to the singer's idea of herself, but instead just normal and nothing to worry about.
It's not what good girls do
Not how they should behave
My head gets so confused
Hard to obey
This passage also suggests that there might be more to the kiss than just a one-time experiment. Is she straight because she is straight or because that is what "good girls" are? She finds it hard to obey the rules, perhaps because she is not as straight as she believed before the kiss.
I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chap stick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it
Us girls we are so magical
Soft skin, red lips, so kissable
Hard to resist so touchable
Too good to deny it
Part of this passage suggests that the singer has a genuine sexual desire for girls in general that goes beyond just a single curious episode. But at the same time, it grounds her interest partly in narcissism. Maybe she is not actually in love or lust with other girls, but is experimenting only as a way of loving herself. This passage may connect with the lyrics in which she confesses that her partner is anonymous and an experiment. The singer sees the kiss as a way of learning more about herself than a real interaction with another human being or even a romantic partner.
Ain't no big deal, it's innocent
Again, the singer dismisses all of the subtext by claiming it is no big deal and that it is innocent. But this line is betrayed by her earlier confession that it isn't what a good girl would do, so it is not innocent. And her "experiment" isn't meaningful if it is no big deal. If it didn't mean anything, why do it at all?
I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chap stick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it
I can see why the song would frustrate someone who was "out," but at the same time, the subtext might make it fun, as a kind of joke against all those drunken straight girls that experiment and claim it is meaningless. Perhaps the ladies doth protest too much.
Plus it has a great beat and you can dance to it.
"This was never the way I planned
Not my intention
I got so brave, drink in hand
Lost my discretion"
First, you have the classic excuse that she was drunk, which is nice. I mean, of course she was drunk. But instead of using the alcohol to dismiss the kiss, instead she pairs it with "I got so brave" that she lost her discretion. Both suggest that the kiss was something she wanted long before she did it, and that rather than it being a drunken mistake, it was a long-planned for release. Was her intention that it not happen? That it wasn't a drunken mistake? Hmmm.
It's not what, I'm used to
Just wanna try you on
I'm curious for you
Caught my attention
Then she takes away all the suggestions in the first few lines with these. She waves all that subtext away by saying that she was just curious and looking to try it and that it was not that meaningful. The object of her affections "caught her attention." Like a shiny bauble in a store window, or like a love at first sight?
I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chap stick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
Again she grounds the song in her heterosexuality, by mentioning her boyfriend. Yet, unlike many drunken lesbian kisses, it wasn't for his edification or a show-offy display for him. Instead, she seems to have done it behind his back. She hopes he "don't mind it," as though he hasn't found out yet. Whatever it was, it wasn't for him.
Also, nice use of "cherry chap stick." Cherry representing the loss of a kind of virginity paired with "chap stick" which doesn't push the cherry too far. I also think it is kind of nice that her partner was wearing chap stick, and not something more feminine, like lip gloss. Was her partner not a "girly girl" showing off, but more of a tom boy? Perhaps the partner was more serious about the kiss than the singer.
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
These lines make explicit the tension in the earlier lines. The singer is ambivalent about her kiss and what it means. Is she telling us that she's not in love or herself?
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it
These lines suggest a resolution to the tension above, a kind of surrender. I love the way she gets a little quieter and a little petulant on the second "I liked it" as if she is looking to be challenged for liking it. Who is she fighting? Herself?
No, I don't even know your name
It doesn't matter
You're my experimental game
I also thought it was interesting that the singer doesn't cross gender lines out of a real affection for her partner. She doesn't fall in love unexpectedly, nor does she even know the name of her partner. Instead, the encounter was to learn something about herself, not the other girl. At the same time, she dismisses the experience as a "game" as if there are not higher stakes about the singer's identity as a straight girl.
Just human nature
This is nice as well. She claims that the kiss and the desire to experiment with someone of the same gender is human nature. It makes the kiss less exotic and challenging to the singer's idea of herself, but instead just normal and nothing to worry about.
It's not what good girls do
Not how they should behave
My head gets so confused
Hard to obey
This passage also suggests that there might be more to the kiss than just a one-time experiment. Is she straight because she is straight or because that is what "good girls" are? She finds it hard to obey the rules, perhaps because she is not as straight as she believed before the kiss.
I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chap stick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it
Us girls we are so magical
Soft skin, red lips, so kissable
Hard to resist so touchable
Too good to deny it
Part of this passage suggests that the singer has a genuine sexual desire for girls in general that goes beyond just a single curious episode. But at the same time, it grounds her interest partly in narcissism. Maybe she is not actually in love or lust with other girls, but is experimenting only as a way of loving herself. This passage may connect with the lyrics in which she confesses that her partner is anonymous and an experiment. The singer sees the kiss as a way of learning more about herself than a real interaction with another human being or even a romantic partner.
Ain't no big deal, it's innocent
Again, the singer dismisses all of the subtext by claiming it is no big deal and that it is innocent. But this line is betrayed by her earlier confession that it isn't what a good girl would do, so it is not innocent. And her "experiment" isn't meaningful if it is no big deal. If it didn't mean anything, why do it at all?
I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chap stick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it
I can see why the song would frustrate someone who was "out," but at the same time, the subtext might make it fun, as a kind of joke against all those drunken straight girls that experiment and claim it is meaningless. Perhaps the ladies doth protest too much.
Plus it has a great beat and you can dance to it.