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• Video: Katy Perry Performs "I Kissed a Girl" Live
Katy Perry vows she's never actually kissed a girl. If she had, it would probably have been a certain ballerina. "When I was growing up, I was enamored with this one friend," says Perry, 23, of a teenage crush. "She had the most beautiful complexion and skin, and strawberrylike lips." Those lips would eventually inspire "I Kissed a Girl," the infectious, bi-curious pop nugget that has earned her props from Madonna and the top slot on the Billboard singles chart for six straight weeks. On her debut, One of the Boys, Perry sings about her metrosexual-hipster exes ("Ur So Gay"), and on "Thinking of You" she channels the confessional pop rock of her idol, Alanis Morissette. Perry is currently on the Warped Tour and proudly wears the diamond promise ring from her boyfriend and tourmate, Gym Class Heroes' Travis McCoy. Says Perry, "I suffer from lead-singer syndrome."
Who came up with the lines "I kissed a girl, and I liked
it/The taste of her cherry ChapStick"?
I did, actually. One morning, I woke up with the chorus and was
like, "[Gasp] I love this! This is so taboo, though!" For
a year and a half, I did nothing with it. When I was finishing up
the song "Hot N Cold" with producer Dr. Luke, we were going to
start a new song, and I said, "Y'know what? I should just finish 'I
Kissed a Girl.' " And I'm happy I did.
Fox News has denounced you for the "I Kissed a Girl"
lyrics. Well done!
I grew up with Fox News at home every day, listening to the lovely
Bill O'Reilly — and I say that with sarcasm. Everybody's
entitled to their own opinion, and I welcome it. But I'm more of a
CNN girl, anyway.
Your parents are ministers. Have they disowned you
yet?
I'm sure they opt out of singing "Ur So Gay" and "I Kissed a Girl,"
but they're singing along to every other song on the record. I
tried to change them for so long, and finally, I'm like, "You know
what? I ain't gonna try to change my parents." They're happy and
they love what they do. They're just glad I'm not strung out, doing
centerfolds and shit like that.
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How many ex-boyfriends are represented on "One of the
Boys"?
Three. There's the "Ur So Gay" guy. "Thinking of You" and "I'm
Still Breathing" are about the same person. And the "Mannequin"
guy. Some people think it's a dis when I sing, "You're not a man,
you're a mannequin," but it's not. Writing "Mannequin" actually
fixed some things in the relationship. It was my way of saying, "I
love you so much. Wake. The. Fuck. Up. I want you to be in my life.
Oh, and please stop wearing my jeans."
In "Ur So Gay," you imply the guy has a small
dick.
Well, yeah. I had some fun with it.
If one of your exes wrote a song about you, how would
the chorus go?
A couple of them do have songs about me. I'll just leave it up to
the audience to figure those out.
You grew up listening to gospel. Do you go back to any
of that music?
I was raised on "Oh Happy Day" and "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" and
the Sister Act soundtracks — I was so down with
Lauryn Hill in Sister Act 2.
You seem pretty confident on guitar. What songs do you
like to jam on?
I'm definitely beyond that "good for a girl" quote. I'm no Jimi
Hendrix, but I can hold my own. I can play "Blackbird." And I can
play a couple of really difficult Jeff Buckley songs: "Lilac Wine"
and "Lover, You Should Have Come Over."
Those are good. Is Jeff Buckley a new discovery for
you?
Oh, no. I lost my virginity listening to that Grace record in
Nashville. The good ol' days. We were going to get married. I'm so
glad we didn't.