I will begin just by saying I absolutely love Katy Perry's new song. By love, I mean I can listen to it on repeat for a day and will want to dance wildly to it throughout the whole process. As it popped up on the radio today though, I couldn't help thinking about it a little more than usual, especially in terms of our present culture (four-hour drives will do that to you). I would like to discuss some of these thoughts with you all and look at the song through the lens of Crowley's explanation of the New Aeon (are you surprised?). The Book of the Law informs us that the current Aeon is all about the conquering child, and will be a period marked by innocence, violence, force, sexual liberality, and heightened individuality.
Textually, the song reflects many of these themes. In it, Perry extolls the virtues of individuality and the value of showing that off to everyone. When life leaves you feeling empty and useless, you have to remember that "there's a spark in you, you just gotta ignite the light and let it shine." Similarly, "it's always been inside of you." This could quite easily be equated with Crowley's concept of Hadit within all of us - the concealed and burning source of individual perspective, the main source of impetus for all action.
Secondly, the metaphors employed by the writer are utterly juvenile. I'm sorry, but the opening line, "Do you ever feel like a plastic bag" is just ridiculous. The comparison between the fireworks and the brightness of the moon-moon-moon is equally simplistic. It really is as if a five-year-old came up with the concepts for this song. However, a firework could be seen as a similar analogy to "Every man and woman is a star." It also expresses the explosively creative divine force present within the self as represented by the point, Hadit. Regardless, the child-like quality of the text with all its cliché statements ("You're original, cannot be replaced," "After a hurricane comes a rainbow.") and lack of profundity is pretty obvious.
Now, also obviously, the text reflects nothing sexual. For that, we must turn to the music itself. Has anyone noticed that popular music lately is ALL dance-based? I haven't heard so many disco beats since... well, ever, at least in my life time. Listening to common music today reminds me of listening to techno from the 90's sometimes, back when that stuff was decidedly not mainstream. Everything has gone electronic, and is based on steady beats you can drink and dance to. And of course, these practices are almost synonymous with youth sexuality in this country. The driving, easy-to-dance-to beat of Firework is contagious. There is a direct correlation between this kind of beat and attention to the body.
The driving beat in conjunction with Perry's vocal style could be considered an expression of that bit about forcefulness. Perry belts that chorus with abandon - to the point where it almost sounds painful (at least to the trained singer). Perhaps it is also amusing to contemplate the fact that Perry is, in the first place, a woman, and we must remember the quote, "let the woman be girt with a sword before me." Women are to take on a more militant posture in this Aeon, whether Crowley thought they were subservient to men or not. (Which he unfortunately did.) Also, the dissonances in the vocal harmonies in the last chorus are intriguing. They seem to speak to the discord of the New Aeon (5 of Wands, anyone?). Even harmony in the modern era has been radically redefined. Dissonance is used to a shocking degree (not that it's a bad thing, it's just unprecedented) to great effect. Firework is no exception.
I suppose you could read this and think, wow, that's the most absurd way of looking at a song I've ever heard. But in my defense, this is a highly medieval way of looking at the world, and this blog, after all, is meant to be medieval. So yes. What do you guys think? Could this be an anthem of the New Aeon? Is there another song you think also would be appropriate for this category? Leave a comment!
This is a really fascinating and fantastic analysis you've got here. I LOVE this song, too, it makes me dance like a fool (as if I didn't dance like a fool all the time...). While I don't really know much about Crowley or the concept of the New Aeon, it does seem like the recent trend in popular music is towards these ideas of individualistic pride and sexual liberation. Lady GaGa thrives on these topics, and, arguably, that's why she has such a teeming fanbase. Even Willow Smith's brilliantly annoying-as-hell "Whip My Hair" has the same message of self-empowerment that we get from "Firework".
ReplyDeleteEven though I agree that the lyricism is very simplistic, I don't think it necessarily takes away from the song. There's something endearing and universally understandable about the Firework's style. Unlike most of Katy's other hits, there's no innuendo here - there's nothing to decipher, the message is very clear. Perhaps it's more appropriate then, instead of thinking of it as written BY a child, to think of "Firework" as written FOR a child. Alternately, the lyrics could conjure a sense of childish innocence and blissful ignorance that most of us older folks have lost sight of. Either way, I think the simplicity is an intentional device that acts as a communicative aid.
I like how you brought up Katy's vocal technique. To me there are points when she does seem to be, in the words of Drew, "declaring a state of emergency", particularly in the chorus.
It does seem like a stretch to be thinking about pop music so analytically, but it's definitely important and pervasive in our culture, which ought to be enough reason to write about these things.