Disturbing meaning behind Katy Perry’s Firework lyrics

Listening to music is something that can elicit several different emotions in a person.

From sadness to excitement, lyrics and melodies are able to conjure up so many things within us.

But what makes it even more magical is when you are able to fully immerse yourself into it, and relate to the words being sung.

But what if your favourite song was a bopper, only to find out that it didn’t mean what you thought it did.

For example, let’s look into the surprise meaning behind a very famous pop song.

Katy Perry has produced some real hits, from ‘California Gurls’ to ‘Dark Horse’, she seems to hit the nail on the head with everything she releases.

Lyrically, they all seem to be pretty self-explanatory without hidden messages which is why they are easy to listen to and relate to.

The singer has a morbid thought about after death. Credit: Instagram/ @katyperry
However, one of her most famous hits has an eerie hidden message and now you’ll never listen to it the same way again.

The ‘Teenage Dream’ singer told Billboard in 2010 that the meaning behind ‘Firework’ is a little different than you might have thought.

Instead of being an uplifting song about perseverance and self-confidence, Perry describes it as her final wish.

Anokute, who partnered with Perry on a number of projects, calls it ‘a song where I think my purpose to some people might change when they hear it’.

She added: “It’s the best vocal performance I’ve ever heard from Katy [Perry].”

So, what does it mean?

Perry disclosed that the inspiration for the song came from what she wanted her final moments to be beyond the grave.

“Basically I have this very morbid idea…when I pass, I want to be put into a firework and shot across the sky over the Santa Barbara Ocean as my last hurrah.”

Perry wants to be an actual firework. Credit: Capitol Records LLC
She went in to explain: “I want to be a firework, both living and dead.”

That’s…grim.

What could be the reason for such a bizarre hidden meaning?

Apparently, it was down to one 2010 boyfriend.

The singer said: “My boyfriend showed me a paragraph out of Jack Kerouac’s book ‘On the Road,’ about people who are buzzing and fizzing and full of life and never say a common-place thing.

They shoot across the sky like a firework and make people go, ‘Ahhh.’ I guess that making people go ‘ahhh’ is kind of like my motto.”

This just screams Russell Brand.

But at least we now know what the words mean as we shout them out during parties. Perhaps this song would be best placed for some sort of life celebration event instead of your local pub?

After years of thinking that we all knew this song by heart, it turns out we were so very wrong.