Individuality
Born Kathryn Hudson, on October 25, 1984, Katy Perry grew up the middle child of two Christian ministers from Santa Barbara. At 16, Perry released a Christian pop album as Katy Hudson. "It reached literally maybe 100 people," the singer tells Entertainment Weekly, "and then the label went bankrupt." Columbia Records signed her on in 2004 however the label was not amenable with her vision and dropped her before the completion of her album. Perry's commercial breakthrough came in 2008 when she released her first mainstream studio album “One of the Boys.” This was preceded by the release of her first single "I Kissed a Girl". Several successful singles followed thereafter. “Fireworks” was released on October 16, 2010 by Capitol Records as the third single from the album “Teenage Dreams”. This song was considered by Perry as the most important song for her on the album. The song is a self-empowerment anthem with inspirational lyrics regarding participation, public speaking, awareness and exercise of rights, and many more factors that promote individuality. To say this in another way, this song is about the breaking of personal limitation that seem to hold people back. A plastic bag being blown through the wind is aimless and has no control of where it’s going. Katy Perry paints the same picture in her lyrics when she writes that “Do you ever feel like a plastic bag drifting through the wind wanting to start again?” The plastic bag in her song is an allusion to the American Beauty movie and a simile because she compares a person to a plastic bag. Plastic bags blown through the wind have no direction. This is so true to some people with no goals, ambitions and sometimes no ideas of what to do with life. The artist was referring to people who felt like they did not have control of their life but needed a second chance. A house of cards can be an example figurative speech and symbolic for fragility. Perry sings about “feeling so paper thin like a house of cards one blow from caving in?” These lyrics are a simile because of the comparison to house of cards. Because the house of cards is not strong and can crumble with the slightest breeze, she was referring to people who are too weak and fragile. “Caving in” in this song is a hyperbole, people do not cave in but this was used to represent giving in, backing down or giving up. This part of the song is about people feeling so fragile, weak and about to throw in the towel. Another figurative language we see in these lyrics is an allusion to a custom of being buried in the ground or grave when Perry writes that “feel already buried six feet under? Scream but no one seems to hear a thing” Perry wanted to let a certain group of people who felt dead and irrelevant that she understood them and their pain and there’s still a chance for them. This could also be imagery of frustration and lack of connection to other people. Because of differences in backgrounds, physical makeup among other things, people are bullied and other people are just unfriendly to particular people. The chorus has the most figurative language in this song so far. Perry sings that “You just got ignite the light and let it shine, just own the night like the 4th of July cause baby, you’re a fireworks.” In these lyrics, to ignite the light is a metaphor for the spirit. One has to keep their spirits high, happy and motivated. And when she writes that “Just own the night like the 4th of July”, this is a simile, personification and also an allusion to the United States Independence day. I believe the artist wanted to use the 4th of July because it’s celebrated with fireworks and it’s also when the United States got it’s independence from the United Kingdom, this would make it easier for her audience to relate and understand that they are free and independent to be whatever they desired.
In the same chorus, she writes that “as you shoot across the sky-y, come on, let your colors burst” and this is a hyperbole and “Colors burst” is a metaphor for talents. I believe what the artist meant was as one reaches for their highest potential, as they reach for their goals, as they reach for new heights; they should be their true selves and show their personalities and talents for all others to see so they could appreciate and see their inner beauty like the colorful fireworks. The second part of the song starts off with a simile and an allusion to the Bible. Perry writes about feeling like a wasted space which is a bullying language and she further writes that “You’re original, cannot be replaced.” This is an allusion to the Bible in the book of psalms which it states that we fearfully and wonderfully make. When the artist used original and cannot be replaced, she might have wanted to mean that we are all different individuals and there can never ever be any other person just like you. Even identity twins are different!
The lyrics further say “If you only knew what the future holds. After the hurricane comes a rainbow.” This is personification of the future; what the lyrics really mean is that we do not know what will happen tomorrow. The rainbow coming after hurricane is an allusion to the Noah’s story in the bible in which God made a promise to man after destroying the world with a flood and sealed the promise with a Rainbow. Rainbow representing peace, calmness, and new promises comes after a hurricane which represents, floods, death, problems, obstacles among other things can also be seen as an irony. What Perry wanted the audience to know was that there is always light at the end of the tunnel and that trouble do not always last forever.
The last phase of the song “fireworks” before it goes into the bridge and the chorus, states that “maybe the reason why all the doors are closed/ So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road/ Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow/ And when it’s time you’ll know.” The doors closed is an idiom to closed opportunities. I also believe that a “perfect road” is an allusion to Robert Frost’s poem “Road Not Taken”. Robert writes about a situation in his life where he had to make some life decisions. He describes the roads and how each was road was appealing. From the poem we learn that this was not an easy situation but it was worthy it when he writes that “I took the one less travelled by/ And that made all the difference.” And also “Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow.” This is a simile and a synecdoche. I believe that Perry wanted to tell her audience not to give up when all opportunities look lost because something better is coming up for those who wait. The lightning bolt may represent energy, you will be happy, full of energy and overwhelmed- Your heart will glow.
These lyrics can be compared to “The Hymn of a Fat Woman.” In this poem the author compares skinniness and fatness and show what lengths people go through to be skinny. Fat people are left behind because they are too big to walk on narrow roads. In our society today, some fat people may feel isolated, out of place and uncomfortable to be in their own bodies because of the stigma they receive. In the “Hymn of a Fat Woman, the author describes people so thin that they would easily slip through the eye of a needle but not the fat ones like her. She paints a picture of loneliness she writes that “Within that city’s spare walls/ I do not think that I would find anyone like me/ I imagine I would find my kind outside/ Lolling in the garden/munching on apples.” Like in this poem, Perry’s lyrics say that you do not have to feel like a plastic bag drifting or wasted place that’s to say; with no hope, direction, and ambition or love because you are original and cannot be replaced. Skinny or fat, everyone is individually special.
The lyrics can also be compared to “Ozymandias.” Although the monument in the poem was not in an overall good condition, it still had high attitude words on it that still showed the legacy and power; “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings.” In the lyrics of “Firework”, Perry is looking to ignite that kind of attitude and supremacy in people. She writes that we are like fireworks and if she showed people our talents and true personalities; we would leave them all in awe.
I believe that we are all different individuals and that not even identical twins can ever be the same person. Katy Perry’s song “Fireworks” had more than five hundred thousand downloads the month it was released. This song empowers us to be our true selves, letting our personalities and talents shine. We may listen to people’s advise but we should not let people’s words, opinions or statements put as down. And if we ever feel like giving up, with no direction and ambition, we should always remember that there’s always a spark inside of us waiting to be ignited and once it’s ignited nothing can stop us from shinning brighter than the moon.