I Kissed A Girl

In this song Perry dips her toes into the experimental sea when she kisses a girl after a night of clubbing (drinks are involved). She admits to liking it, but it isn't anything meaningful, and besides, she has a boyfriend - just another crazy club night. The Californian has drawn criticism from some quarters for targeting a young audience with a song about bisexual experimentation. It was Perry's first single, but she had to convince her record company to release it, as they didn't even want it on the album at first. Perry explained in 2010, "I was really excited to put that out because it was such a fun song that could be both silly and mean something to someone. It was a subject matter that was on the tip of everyone's tongue at that moment, so it was kind of like a snapshot of things that were happening in 2008."

This was not the first song where Perry had referred to matters of sexual orientation in her lyrics. In the Los Angeles singer-songwriter's previous release "Ur So Gay" she disses an effeminate guy who isn't interested in her: You need SPF-45 just to stay alive Ur so gay and you don't even like boys Interestingly, Perry's debut album, which was released in 2001 under the name of Katy Hudson, was a Christian music album released by a Christian record label. Both her parents are pastors and she grew up listening to gospel music - secular music was banned at home. Some commentators expressed surprise at this turnaround from a Christian singer-songwriter to a hard-drinking party girl who sings about gayness. Some churches were not pleased.

In addition to Katy Perry, Dr. Luke ("Behind These Hazel Eyes," "Since U Been Gone," "Girlfriend"), Max Martin ("Oops... I Did It Again," "Baby One More Time," "I Want It That Way") and Cathy Dennis ("Can't Get You Out Of My Head," "Toxic," "About You Now") have songwriting credits on this song. Dr. Luke also produced the track.