When I saw Katy Perry’s movie, “Part of Me,” last summer I didn’t expect to find myself crying by the end. I am sure some of you are laughing at the fact that I cried in the Katy Perry movie, but it’s true.
Throughout the film we are following Perry throughout her world tour and her marriage, which crumble before her eyes. I remember the exact scene that brought tears to my eyes.
Sitting in her makeup chair, moments away from performing in front of tens of thousands of fans in Brazil, we see Perry completely broken because she knows her marriage is over. As fans are screaming out “We love Katy, we love Katy,” Perry wipes her tears and tells her makeup artist to start her makeup.
Minutes later, she is in costume and rising up onto stage with a forced smile on her face. Although her exterior is strong, her inside is shattered to pieces. Perry is not the diva type to let her fans down, even through her personal struggles.
Perry’s new album is a far cry from the blue-haired California girl from her “Teenage Dream” album. “Prism,” released on Oct. 22, is filled with powerful, colorful lyrics flowing from the pieces of a broken heart. However, unlike most female artists, Perry isn’t wallowing in her sorrow or allowing her listeners to, either.
The main message of her album is self-love. One of the easiest things to do when struggling with a bad breakup is to look at yourself in the mirror and ask, “What did I do wrong?” or “How could I change so they like me?”
Well, that’s completely wrong. Self-love seems to be one of the most challenging things for people to do. But, you’re never going to love another person if you don’t love yourself first.
As I was walking around campus with “Prism” on shuffle on my iPod, a song called “Love Me” began to play. From the title, I assumed it was just another female artist begging a boy to love her, but I was pleasantly surprised by the lyrics bursting in my ears.
As odd as it may sound, a line in the song completely changed my outlook on love – and really life in general. The lyric simply says, “I have to love myself the way I want you to love me.” I’ve never thought of love this way.
Especially in a college atmosphere, where true love seems about as rare as a decent meal in Barone, Perry tells us to stop chasing. True love lies within yourself, not another person. Although I know self-love is a cliché concept, I think the way Perry puts it makes it more logical to understand.
You know all the little things you do to attract that boy or girl you think is cute in your English class or to try to make your ex change their mind?
Well, stop doing that and start doing things for yourself, to make you love yourself more. Go to the gym, do your homework, stop by the chapel, call your parents and tell them how much you love and appreciate them. If you don’t live a life you’re proud of, you won’t be able to open yourself to showing, spreading and receiving love.
Although the overall message of “Prism” is positive, some lyrics still illustrate the raw experience of a broken heart. Perry ends her album with a song called “By the Grace of God” and leaves listeners with a chill up their spine. Anyone who has had their heart broken can feel every word of this song. The feeling of opening your eyes in the morning and not wanting to face the day.
Perry sympathizes with this feeling. I feel like this song reminds us that sometimes it’s OK to not always be strong, and it’s OK to cry. But, you can’t stay there forever. As visible from the title, Perry inspires us to lean on God to get us through.
She sings, “I looked in the mirror and decided to stay, wasn’t gonna let love take me out that way.”
Perry does it again, serving her fans with more than one song to make your favorite on her 12-track album. Although I chose to focus on her more sentimental songs on the album, she definitely delivers some more upbeat songs to roll your windows down and jam to.
She shows us that even though just a year ago, she lost her marriage and had a broken heart, she can still rise. It gives us all hope that sometimes things don’t work out as we expected, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get back up and fight. No matter what happens, you’re still going to hear Katy Perry roar.
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