Katy Perry's Teenage Dream
Katy Perry's carefree Teenage Dream lyrics exemplify the whimsical contradictions of this sometimes irreverent, always entertaining pop star
. "And don't ever look back, don't ever look back," she sings, yet on her official website she explains, "I can't run from where I came from, nobody can." She adds, "I wanted to really tap into the purity of my childhood and that feeling."In Teenage Dream, Katy Perry looks back, if only to recapture the feeling of never looking back. Katy Perry herself personifies this kind of dualistic ideal. She manages to capture the allure of a 1950's pin-up girl while maintaining a fresh, girl-next-door charm. She can be controversial, yes, but with a playfulness that lets her fans know she never takes herself too seriously.
Born October 25, 1984, to parents who were both Christian pastors, Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson's musical background is steeped in Christian music, the only type of music allowed in her household. When she was 15 years old, she signed with Red Hill Records and moved from her home in Santa Barbara, California, to Nashville, Tennessee.
Her self-titled gospel album debuted in 2001; however, the record label went out of business that same year. Not an auspicious beginning, perhaps, but it propelled her into other musical directions. Two more attempts at producing albums failed, yet she did succeed in attracting the attention of Blender magazine, which in 2004 named her "The Next Big Thing."
Now known as Katy Perry, her path finally led her to Capitol Records, and in 2007 she used the internet to unveil her first single for her upcoming album. However, it was her second single, "I Kissed a Girl," that in 2008 shot Perry to stardom. The unconventional title caught the public's attention, although Perry later confessed she has never kissed a girl in her life.
"I Kissed a Girl" was featured in Perry's first successful album, One of the Boys, ranked as one of the top 50 best-selling albums of 2008. Both "I Kissed a Girl" and the second single on the One of the Boys album, "Hot n Cold," went multi-platinum. Billboard named Perry among the top 100 artists of the decade.
Her Teenage Dream album followed, released in August of this year, and opened at the top of the Billboard 200. The single "California Gurls" reached the top of Billboards Hot 100 in four weeks, and is generally accepted as a new summer teen classic.
Reviews of Teenage Dream have been mixed. Billboard gives Perry credit for adding depth to her lyrics in songs like "E.T.," "Circle the Drain," and "Who Am I Living For?" and gives her high marks for indicating that she is continuing to grow as an artist.
Rolling Stone describes the album as a "kind of pool-party-pop gem." The Washington Post acknowledged the pop classic quality of "California Girls," but hints that for the rest of Teenage Dream, the now 25-year-old Perry is stretching the bubble gum a bit too far.
Katy Perry's Teenage Dream
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