With a swift, heart-pounding beat accompanied by a deterministic search for self-worth, I present Katy Perry’s empowering revival from toxic love, “Part of Me” which showcases Perry’s unflagging proclamation of ease following a bad breakup. Although I recognize it for its strength and unwillingness to succumb to self-alteration that often occurs after a breakup, it still contains some elements of deterioration and supreme anger; however, the juxtaposition of a colossal breakdown and an unparalleled complacency weaves an influential message that deems comparable to myriad situations that individuals experience. Thereby, it secures a position within my favorite songs as it concurrently alters the consistent theme of depressing songs that have and will be analyzed on this blog by also conveying personal growth.

Primarily, the song begins with a portrayal of madness, accompanied by confrontation, yelling, throwing, and a dramatic drive away scene in the music video. I admit, the opening scene depicts an awkward interaction due to the unsettling silence of the background. Although after, while walking away and unquestionably throwing herself into her car, the rhythm of eight pounding beats of the instruments embellishes her hurt, albeit tenacious spirit, notably with the unanticipated sequence of a few rapid pounds of the beat that catapult her flight and drive her anger.

Succeeding the revelation of her cheating boyfriend, Perry descends into madness as she transforms her anger into positive growth by pursuing her own desires rather than surrendering to her demise. Although I can’t relate to her experience and the hasty dread that overtook her, her way of rebounding after the incident by searching for self-gratification allows her audience to not only appreciate her character, but follow her lead.

The persisting fast-paced beats that i’ve mentioned earlier craft her anger at the start of the song as she describes how he had not only chewed her up, but spit her out as well to completely attempt to destroy her–she remains unbreakable to his surprise, however, by admitting that although he chewed her up, “that was then and this is now,” thus making this breakup anthem not only an anthem for moving on, but a deterministic anthem for anyone willing to pursue after hard times.

Rather than wallowing in her room with ice cream, junk food, and sad movies that are often depicted in movies in effect to a bad breakup or any other troubling occurrence, Perry flees to the restroom in the video to cut off all of her hair to reject her femininity and prove to herself that she could be anyone she wanted to be. On the basis thereof, she signifies the death of her “old self” and introduces her “new self” as she slowly pulls up her hood and carefully observes herself in the mirror, proclaiming “this is the part of me that you’re never gonna ever take away from me, no” to symbolize her newfound epiphany of finding herself.

To gain a better understanding of her motifs, I found the parallel to Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” extremely interesting. The fact that Katy Perry’s song compares to situations beyond breakups is supported by Swift’s song in that she alludes to the death of her old self and implores caution of her new self due to the inaccuracies portrayed in the media. Hence, this synchroneity embellishes Perry’s song in that it better validates its relatableness. In fact, not only are the themes the same, but the presentment of them are similar as well despite the slight differing in reason for changing. Similar to the scornful, yet observant look she gives watching herself in the mirror after dramatically placing her hood on, Swift likewise removes a mask, but is showed with her hood on after as she storms toward the camera with a bat.

It may mean nothing, but in my opinion, I symbolized the hood and sneering look as the ignition for some purposeful mission. Just as Swift purposefully struts at the camera with the hood back on, Perry instinctively joins the marines after the scene with her hood.

After, she continues to reminisce on their prior relationship, explaining how it was toxic, yet how she “fell deep” for him, but he ultimately let her down. Following, she exclaims another “look at me now” accompanied by the same pouding beats from the beginning of the song and a striking blow of her gun at marine training to expel her into her newfound expedition. Motivating and inspiring, she springs into action as she sings “throw your sticks and stones, throw your bombs and your blows” to urge him to try to break her, saying “but you won’t break my soul,” thereby telling him that you may try to hurt me physically, but you’ll never change me.

Although the cutting of her hair and the symbol of the hood convey change, the purpose was to depict a change in mindset rather than personality. Perry agrees to stay true to who she is, yet she tackles the challenge of the marines to push her limits to improve herself. And once she does, she proudly urges him to look at her now as she is glowing, “a firework, a dancing flame” who can never be put out or destroyed. Because this message is imperative for anyone going through an experience that can potentially change who they are, Perry utilizes the pounding beats with her determination to convey strength and power to the audience. Finally, at the end of the song, the beats end abruptly and continue to fade out before finally signaling the end. The video showcases this as she stares at the audience in hopes of educating them on her message while disguising herself with camouflage paint to protect herself from getting hurt.