I’m a KatyCat and I’m proud
I consider myself a pretty huge Katy Perry fan. I won’t lie about it. I spent $200 on floor seats to her Prismatic World Tour, I have her poster in my room and know every lyric to every one of her songs. What I find so appealing about the pop superstar is her relatable and honest songwriting. She seems to always write songs in a way that I can relate to where I’m at in life. Her most recent song, “Chained to the Rhythm”, does just that and it may be just the song that this country needs.
A rose-tinted look at society…
“So put your rose colored glasses on and party on” go the lyrics of Perry’s newest anthem. The song discusses how we seem to ignore the problems of life and in the world, pretending we’re “up there in Utopia.” Whether you interpret the lyrics on a personal, relational level, or from a political standpoint, the song clearly addresses our culture’s tendency to numb ourselves down to the point where we’re “stumbling around like a wasted zombie.” Perry sings “Drink! This one’s on me!” pointing out how we become drunkenly unaware of the “rhythm” to which we are all chained. The more I listened to the lyrics to the song the more I became aware of how easy it is for me to become “chained to the rhythm” that Perry sings about.
Happily numb…
I’ve been told many times to do whatever makes me happy. However, I think that may be some of the worst advice that I’ve ever been given. The problem is not that wanting to be happy is bad. Instead, I’ve found that doing what made me happy was only distracting me from what's really going on in my own life and in the world. It's an easy thing to do, especially living in the United States where comfort and convenience seem to be the priority. We become so focused on this ideal "American Dream" of making money or elevating our social status. Rather than being aware of 4.8 million Syrian refugees fleeing their war-torn nation or the 20 million people in the world who are being trafficked; we forget about these things as we keep ourselves as busy as possible. We do this to ourselves in our personal lives too. Rather than reaching out to talk about the depression and anxiety we're feeling, we attempt to keep up an "everything's fine" front as we post happy pictures of ourselves on family vacation on Facebook in an attempt to convince ourselves and everyone around us that our lives are perfect.
Keep sweeping it under the mat...
We put up walls to avoid actually being known. There are certain subjects that we'd rather not talk about. God forbid, we or anyone around us experience any kind of discomfort. As Perry says we "keep sweeping it under the mat." However, if you hide something in the dark for long enough, eventually it will grow mold. America, it's time for us to stop hiding from each other and the world. We need to get out of our bubbles and become aware of what's really going on both in the world and in our personal lives. In the song, featured artist Skip Marley puts it best, singing the lyrics “it is my desire, break down the walls to connect, inspire.” In order for us to connect to one another, we have to break down the walls that keep us “happily numb.” Otherwise, we will simply stay "Chained to the Rhythm."
