"I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry
Reviewed by: Josh Meares
Note: We focus on reviewing songs, and therefore cannot comment on the appropriateness of the album in its entirety. Please use your best judgment whenever purchasing or listening to music.
The Artist
Katy Perry is a bit of a mystery. Born Katheryn Hudson in 1984, she's the middle child of two pastors. She grew up singing in church and, when she was 16, was signed to Jennifer Knapp's Red Hill Records label. Her self-titled Christian album released in 2001 and received a rave review in Christianity Today magazine.
Katy Perry is Hudson's new persona, and Katy Perry seems to be the exact opposite of Katy Hudson. She even changed her hair color from blonde to midnight black. There is little evidence Katy Perry acknowledges her past, and few reasons are given for her change of heart. But the new Katy is definitely NOT promoting a Christian worldview.
The Album
Katy Perry's debut album, "One of the Boys," is filled with candid tales of crazy ex-boyfriends ("Hot N Cold," "Ur So Gay"), road trips with friends ("Waking Up in Vegas"), and finding yourself ("I Kissed A Girl," "Fingerprints"). The album is alternative pop and it is catchy, if nothing else. Katy Perry sounds, both in her lyrics and in her music, a lot like Madonna.
The Song
This hit single is basically about a girl at a party who got a little drunk and kissed a girl, and she liked it. We could take two approaches to this song. We could merely point out that the Bible says homosexuality is wrong and getting drunk is wrong, quote some Bible passages, and pack the song away into a neat little "not Christian" box. Alternatively, we could take some time and look at this song a little more deeply and find what truth is resonating with people enough to make this song a blockbuster.
Let's choose option two, just for fun. Now it's well-known that the inspiration for many of Katy Perry's songs come from her life, and it's quite possible she is describing one of her experiences here. The girl in the song has a boyfriend and gets a little drunk at a party and fools around at a party. Why?
Lyric: "It's not what, I'm used to / Just wanna try you on / I'm curious for you / Caught my attention"
Experimentation is hardly new, but the social taboos against sex that were beaten down so strongly during the sexual revolution of the 60s and 70s are breaking apart completely now. The new cool is to be "try-sexual," meaning you are willing to try anything. Teenagers are curious. Why shouldn't they try out new things? Katy Perry tells us what happened next in the chorus of her song:
Lyric:
I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chapstick
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
The girl in the song tries kissing another girl ... and she LIKES it. Now she is in a predicament. "It felt so wrong / It felt so right." Remember that Katy Perry grew up in a Christian home. The idea that homosexuality might be enjoyable probably was not even on her radar.
So when the girl in the song enjoys kissing another girl, she is conflicted. She's thinking, "I've been taught it is wrong and bad, but it feels good and right. Which is it? Do I trust my own feelings or everyone else?" Unfortunately, it looks like Katy Perry decided to trust herself.So what is the truth of this song that speaks to Christians? We need to admit that, biologically speaking, sex is sex. It doesn't matter if it is heterosexual or homosexual, with someone else or by yourself, in a marriage relationship or not, sex is still pleasurable. If sex wasn't fun except in a marriage relationship, then prostitution and homosexuality and masturbation would not have been around so long. Why should the church be afraid to admit that sin is fun, at least in the short term?
Sex outside of marriage is wrong because God said so and He said so in love, not out of a desire to give meaningless rules. So we have to trust the God who made the world that He knows the world and us better than we do. Do you think that is what Paul is talking about here?
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:2)Acknowledging that sin can be pleasurable -- while understanding that it displeases God and brings negative consequences -- is the first step in our battle with sexual temptation. Teenagers are going to screw up and do bad things, but they shouldn't be surprised by the fact that they enjoy doing bad things. If a teenager makes out with another person (of whatever gender), they will probably enjoy it.
We need to be reminding each other that we have placed our trust in Jesus and in the way He sees the world. If He says that sex outside of marriage is wrong, it is wrong and harmful. We must constantly hold up our lives to the standards of Jesus. Does it make sense to trust Jesus with our eternal destiny if we don't trust Him in our daily decisions?
Questions
- Is there something you enjoy doing that you know isn't right? What should you do about it?
- Why do you think God decided that homosexuality is wrong? How about other kinds of sexual activity outside of marriage?
- Do you think Katy Perry really had this experience?
- What do you think might have influenced Katy to change her life around so much?
- There is one other troubling lyric in this song: "No, I don't even know your name / It doesn't matter / You're my experimental game." Have you ever experimented with a stranger? How does experimenting sexually with someone you don't know match up with "love your neighbor as yourself"? Are you showing them Jesus in that situation?