How Teenage Dream was written.

[Izalightblue]

OMG!! I've found a great interview with Bonnie Mckee telling how Teenage Dream was written. Such a hard working process with a happy ending!! I loved what she told about it, this is why the song is so emotional as it is!! And I also love what Max's mentioned when the song was done. What Luke mentions about Benny is funny, you'll see.

http://alexkazemi.com/2010/07/listensingle-review-teenage-dream-katy-perry/

Enjoy!

[Raul_esp]

great! , very emotional.

[georg_e]

            Oh that is so great -- thanks for finding that!!  It's sooo rare to find people  talking about how they actually come up with songs....stuff you'd never imagine.  Almost never do you find people talking like this.....and it was really funny, too!  

[Unexpected]

No offence but who cares?! the song is bad, as matter of fact the whole album is low quality "all about shake ya thang".  E.T. is great though.

[Izalightblue]

No offence but who cares?! the song is bad, as matter of fact the whole album is low quality "all about shake ya thang".  E.T. is great though.

Well, I have to disagree with you, Unexpected. I've always wanted to know the process of the songs, and this is important to me. Everyone has their own opinion about every song and of course it should be respected. I really like Teenage Dream and I bet the other members like or may like it too, so it would be nice to let them know its process of writing sessions, since it's not on a regular basis we have info like that.
By the way, music is a great matter to me. If a song takes me somewhere and creates in me any good feelings, it becomes important and a good song to me. I really don't judge songs by these chords used or instruments used, what matters is what they make me feel with the conjunction of all the elements in the song. They are great to me for what they make me feel, and it happens that almost every song Max writes or produces creates in me the most beautiful feelings and take me to amazing places in my mind, straight pure from the music. This is why I love his songs and it's interesting to know how they were created.

[OverPop]

..."all about shake ya thang"...

That's why I don't really listen to all this new stuff (not just Katy but all of this mainstream stuff today), most of it is just dance / party / gettin' drunk / orgy / sluts'n'tits stuff etc. 

don't wanna sound cliche now but, wtf happened to love   

edit: because of this post I just had to play this one now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpBCHE1Pbss 

peace

[Izalightblue]

I really don't see TD related to obscene themes. In my mind it's like a teenage dreamy love, and what matters to me is the idea I get of the song, it's subjective. Honestly, I think the only song refering to more obscene themes is Last Friday Night, it kinda grown on me, because I like the second verse and the sax solo, but I haven't listened to it very much and Peacock, which is really stupid. The one that got away is beautiful to me, and of course, I love ET. The rest of Katy's album I just gave a quick listening, and didn't like it honestly, 'cause the songs didn't take me to somwhere special and I can't identify with her voice very much, I don't like the way she sounds sometimes.

[JackSnr]

No offence but who cares?! the song is bad, as matter of fact the whole album is low quality "all about shake ya thang".  E.T. is great though.

Well, I have to disagree with you, Unexpected. I've always wanted to know the process of the songs, and this is important to me. Everyone has their own opinion about every song and of course it should be respected. I really like Teenage Dream and I bet the other members like or may like it too, so it would be nice to let them know its process of writing sessions, since it's not on a regular basis we have info like that.
By the way, music is a great matter to me. If a song takes me somewhere and creates in me any good feelings, it becomes important and a good song to me. I really don't judge songs by these chords used or instruments used, what matters is what they make me feel with the conjunction of all the elements in the song. They are great to me for what they make me feel, and it happens that almost every song Max writes or produces creates in me the most beautiful feelings and take me to amazing places in my mind, straight pure from the music. This is why I love his songs and it's interesting to know how they were created.

Iza, you've described how it feels to listen to a great (Max) song perfectly  And I agree that pop these days is a bit explicit (it's certainly not the nineties anymore) but there is still a lot of joy and escapism in pop music and that's what I listen for. 

[Rebecca]

Thanks Iza, that was great to read. I wish we could have the same for every song. Interesting that everything has got to be "Benny proof"!

[PG]

I have to agree with Iza.  I loved reading that and like (love, really) "Teenage Dream."

..."all about shake ya thang"...

That's why I don't really listen to all this new stuff (not just Katy but all of this mainstream stuff today), most of it is just dance / party / gettin' drunk / orgy / sluts'n'tits stuff etc.  

don't wanna sound cliche now but, wtf happened to love    

"Teenage Dream" is all about love!  It's about the giddy feeling you get from being really in love with someone, the way just seeing them makes you think of love as some amazing, intoxicating force, makes you feel like you're in one of those movies about teenage love even if you're no longer a teenager.  As the writer says in that interview, it's capturing a "forever young" feel--being that in love with someone can still make you feel that spark regardless of your age.

There's definitely nothing explicit in it--in fact, the few allusions to sex aren't "orgies" or something but as part of a deeper romance, or at least something she's picturing as that.

(Now whether the character she's playing in the song has overly idealized all this and is being too optimistic is arguable--while the song is uplifting, there's also something a bit musically melancholy about it, as if all this might end up as a moment frozen in time and then lost in years to come).

As Iza says, we're all entitled to our own opinion about whether a song is good or not, but saying you dislike it because it's about "dance / party / gettin' drunk / orgy / sluts'n'tits stuff" seems off to me--it's not about that at all.

[Izalightblue]

Good to know you guys share the same opinion as me.  . Rebecca, I also wish we had one interview like that for every song too!   '' Benny proof'', I thought that was so funny!

[georg_e]

                And the funny thing is, as much as I love the song "Teenage Dream", it's "Last Friday Night" that chokes me up.....it's just such a pure expression of total joy combined with great melody that it just gets me from the very opening guitar part to the end....I can't rave enough about that song, and they must've known how good it is to put it as the second track......