We live in a world ruled by pop princesses and pancake houses, where video games have replaced books and writers no longer need grammar. But look deeper, and it’s easy to see that our sometimes witless world remains an inquisitive and clever place. In short essays, our writers probe those signs of intelligent life.
KATY PERRY
Rarely is modern pop music celebrated for its smart lyrics, intelligent songwriting or complex production.
Even Lady Gaga, with all of her headline-making speeches and political sway, makes music that is, at best, silly and fun and primed for the dance floor. Those same words could describe Britney Spears’ new disc, “Femme Fatale,” her seventh and least adventurous.
But what about the biggest song of 2010 — from the artist who gives Gaga a run for her money and looks to replace Spears as America’s Queen of Pop? Well, it actually may be something special.
The song: “California Gurls.” The artist: Katy Perry. Sample lyric:
California girls, we’re unforgettable
Daisy Dukes, bikinis on top
Sun-kissed skin, so hot
We’ll melt your popsicle.
Fans paid for that download 4.4 million times last year. And the album it calls home, “Teenage Dream,” was one of the biggest releases around.
Is the song dumb? Super-dumb. But it’s also a part of pop history now. “Gurls” doesn’t just recycle beats like a lot of songs do today, it re-examines the pop sensibilities behind a rock ‘n’ roll classic — the Beach Boys 1965 hit “California Girls” — then takes ownership of them, reinterpreting the tune’s youthful ideas for a more cynical and female-forward age.
With its camp, postmodern sensibilities, it actually may be a higher form of art than the original.
Consider how the video plays out, with Perry lying naked on a pillowy cloud. And consider her other recent clips, with the pop star in a black bra and white cotton panties writhing atop her man in a dingy motel room. Does she know it’s all goofy? Of course she does.
The irony: The Beach Boys were goofy and didn’t know it.
At the same time, that pop beat is hot — awkward, but memorable. Its producers, Dr. Luke, Max Martin and Benny Blanco, are the best in the game.
Perry’s image is all about sex appeal. And “Gurls” (with its references to “sex on the beach” and “we freak in my Jeep”) manipulates her sexuality and pairs it creatively with the dreamlike images from her music videos. She’ll surely show off all that when she plays the 1stBank Center in Broomfield on July 26.
A pop song with depth, and a pop star who is so dumb, she’s actually smart? Those are things a contemporary teenager might dream of.
Ricardo Baca
Gaga’s meat suit, hey, at least you’re doing your best to make everyone chuckle. John Hendrickson
See ‘related,’ above right, for 8 other signs of intelligent life in The Age of Stupid.
