TRAINWRECKORDS: "Witness" by Katy Perry

Todd, this was my favorite episode. Good god it was good.

Chris Aplin

was it? I remember it having like one hit then it kind of dropped off and the band just stopped being relevent on the pop charts.

Angela

Open Door was a massive hit though, don't really see how it would qualify for this list.

RedBedroomRecords

I know this probably isn't high on your list, but as someone who used to be absolutely Evanescence Obsessed in high school, I'd be interested in hearing talk about Open Door, their second album

Angela

I vote for Genesis- Calling All Stations myself, a sad ending to one of the best progressive rock bands of all time. Scorpions-Eye II Eye, an interesting parallel with Katy as they too tried to go for a deeper and more meaningful direction with this album and it didn't pan out, and now they too have a Las Vegas residency coming later this year(with Skid Row, who might make for an interesting episode on their own with Subhuman Race)

RedBedroomRecords

Taylor was easy to dislike at the time because for all of Katy's centrist stuff, she was still taking a much braver political stance then Taylor was, as Swift had never said anything political in her whole life which she'd been able to get away with during the Bush years(because everyone in the country music world was afraid to speak out after what happened to the Dixie Chicks with them essentially getting banned from country radio) and during the Obama years(because a lot of people thought the country was finally on the right track) but during the Trump years Taylor could no longer get away with being silent on all of the bad shit happening with Drumpf being so bad he made people nostalgia for the Bush years(myself included, and I hated Bush). The ironic part was Perry didn't even have to do a diss track as Taylor did far more damage to herself that year then Katy ever could, sure Reputation sold a million copies but Swift got a lot of criticism from progressives(especially from black folks who were still holding a grudge against Swift for her cover of Earth, Wind and Fire's "September") around that time for her silence on the disgusting behavior of her alt-right fanbase, with many worrying that Swift had similarly regressive viewpoints herself, and many criticized her for not speaking out politically until after the Reputation tour was over, with many seeing it as a evidence of Swift being too terrified of alienating her right-wing fanbase and missing out on a lot of ticket sales.

RedBedroomRecords

This might be one of my favorite episodes of Trainwreckords. It's one of your best. Some other albums that might make for a great episode of "Trainwreckords" - Bionic by Christina Aguilera - Love Beach by Emerson Lake and Palmer - Masterpiece Theatre by En Vogue - Victory by the Jacksons (Question: is the album itself a Trainwreckord, or is it more the Victory tour that was the trainwreck (not a single song from Victory was performed on the tour)). - Guacho by Steely Dan - Shadows and Light by Wilson Phillips (trust me, this would make for a VERY interesting episode of Trainwreckords). - Anything is Possible by Debbie Gibson - Twisted Angel by LeAnn Rimes - Bigger Than Jesus by The Be Sharps

David Gutierrez

I think this is one of your best Trainwreckords to date. It was so insightful, informative and hillarious

Thatmexicanuzer

Ed Sheeran's on that list too despite being around for roughly the same amount of time, so if I had to guess it's to represent who led/benefited from the changeover. That most of the artists he listed declined commercially fairly quickly is more of a coincidence, and one that'll be fascinating to dissect in five years or so

Jaime Paradise

This vid is the good stuff as always, though a bit curious at the choice to include Kendrick in that lineup of generic flash in the pan 17-18 artists (though I may have missed the point on that one)

Anthony Pierre Coco

i have always /regrettably/ liked Katy's music. Chained the Rythmn and Never Really over are some of my favorites. Every Spotify unwrapped has at least 3-4 of her songs.

Kitty ( The cursed existence of financial instability ) fo

Little mistake in the sponsor section: David Byrne’s former band is not THE Talking Heads, they’re just called Talking Heads without a “the” at the start.

Harry Thornton

Yummy famously flopped relative to how a JB single right after Purpose should have performed, although it performed better likely because it was a lead single and had an unforgettable"for all the wrong reasons but still" chorus.

Michael Vera

One question I have after watching the video: Why was Bon Appetit a huge flop, while Yummy by Justin Bieber was a massive hit and nominated for a Grammy? Both songs feature food/sex metaphors and disgusting music videos, but Bieber still hasn't entered his flop era.

When the video started with footage of Katy popping up out of a giant toilet during a liveshow, I knew we were in for an interesting experience

Erik Danielson

Great video, especially as you had been doing Katy Perry reviews when she as at the height of her popularity

Comet

I quite dug Roar myself.

RedBedroomRecords

I am too

RedBedroomRecords

Nice video. I’m probably the only Katycat watching lol but a song was mislabeled and you said that “Deja Vu” was “Roulette” at one point.

That sounds like the dumbest reason for beef I have ever heard.

Jeremy Hanna

I actually really like Swish Swish but each time I listen, I like it a little less, and in hindsight, I think I was very caught up in the anti-Taylor rhetoric of the time and that fueled my like of the song. Great analysis, Todd, thank you for the video!

Kay

Great analysis. One thing I'm surprised didn't get a mention in the video: Taylor Swift putting all her music back on Spotify, after spearheading the "Spotify Underpays Musicians" movement, on the same day Witness dropped. 0% chance of coincidence.

David L. Lebovitz

I’ve been watching Todd since Katy was a staple in the Top Tens, and now I feel ooooooooooooold. Great video though.

dude do you realize that you are replying to every comment on this thread. also, fuck the military.

Matias

Great video…but wait, something unrelated. I actually fucking love color guard and think imma have to get curiosity stream just for that documentary, holy shit. I didn’t even know it was a thing.

Now now, the one Katy cat is very dedicated.

Kind of proves Todd's point about Katy's fans (or lack thereof) when I'm seeing more pro-military stans than Katy Cats in the comments for this one

'didn't Todd say an album had to be out for at least a decade to qualify for the show?' There's one out for Robin Thicke's "Paula".

Jasper Phua

that doesn't work when Shellfish is unambiguously being used as a noun. the problem isn't that it's corny, corny writing can and should be good/consistent

Nowhere Girl

I dunno some of it felt like Todd missed the mark, like Perry clearly wasn't condemning people for consuming pop culture, what she was actually doing was going after people who were being WILLFULLY ignorant to the problems going in the world and wanting to only consume pop culture(AKA the trolls who are always saying "keep politics out of games!")

RedBedroomRecords

I appreciated the ONTD reference.

Sarah Ashbridge

Okay so I am not here to defend Swish Swish but Shellfish like selfish, Todd. It's cheesy corny- because IT'S ON PURPOSE

swheatheart

I started watching Todd right in the middle of Katy Perry's heyday, it's kinda wild to think that over a decade later I'm here watching him talk about the downfall of her career. And of course it's excellent analysis as expected. In my mind Todd is the world's leading Katy Perry scholar lol.

Alex Athans

For anyone reading that wasn't aware and since Todd didn't go into, I will: Katy and Taylor's beef started because Katy took 3 dancers from Taylor's Red tour and used them for one of her tours since they had already danced for her on the Teenage Dream tour. Taylor's tour at the time wasn't as dancer heavy as Katy's was so the 3 dancers went to do Katy's tour instead (i believe one of them said they were bored and wanted to work on something new) and thats how that beef was born.

Jessica Haas

didn't feel condescending to me at all.

RedBedroomRecords

yeah she was more political then Taylor Swift ever was for a long time, in fact while "Look What You Made Me Do" was a big hit, it ultimately did a lot of damage to Swift at the time as it came off as even more cringy then Swish Swish(with a much worse music video trying to depict Taylor as some christ-like figure) and with Swift's complete silence on anything political it made people call her out of touch with reality and caused many to speculate that she wasn't saying anything out of fear of alienating her right-wing fanbase, and I have to wonder if Perry getting more political in some way influenced Taylor to finally speak her mind in 2018 before the mid-terms, if Swift hadn't' done that I don't think her career would've survived.

RedBedroomRecords

"Hey Hey Hey" also has a ton of views, so Witness clicked more then the charts reflected. I'd argue Witness serves as an example of the Billboard charts being outdated in their approach to cataloging "hits", the fact that Billboard are actively removing helpful chart data seems indicative of that. Funny thing is Perry didn't even have to do a diss track, Swift self-destructed on her own with "Look What You Made Me Do" which i'd argue is an even worse music video and way more cringy, and she actually got more backlash with some criticizing her for being completely silent on anything political and speculating that she was keeping quiet out of fear of alienating her right-wing fans that had followed her from her country days, I have to wonder if Perry being more political gave Swift the courage she needed to get more vocal about politics right before the 2018 mid-terms.

RedBedroomRecords

Hi Lindsay! Holy fucking shit I never thought i'd hear from you again! Hope you're doing well and I can definitely see the parallels between you and Katy. I understand why you left Twitter but i'd love for you to make a comeback on Youtube one day.

RedBedroomRecords

I thought those songs were pretty cool.

RedBedroomRecords

Really loved the idea that maybe prism was the actual turning point for Perry and the goodwill wouldn't sustain a second stinker album, especially one with such embarrassing songs as Bon Appetit and Swish Swish

Jenna H

Funny how you totally rebutted Todd's point in the video about never receiving backlash from Katy Perry fans.

Jacqueline Sailer

Witness is a damn good album Todd, you crazy.

RedBedroomRecords

This is some the sharpest analysis I've ever seen in a Todd video.

Anthony Hansen

Why you hating on the military Todd, what did they ever do to you? Also no Perry was never "lame"

RedBedroomRecords

Welp, I liked that haircut. But I also really liked it on Emma Watson, so maybe I'm just really into pretty, feminine girls who suddenly rock a pixie.

Liz Jackson

I absolutely loved this episode, as seeing Todd critique things from within the era he's been reviewing pop on YouTube means we get to see retrospectives on his own positions. Great work, as always!

Georgie Rowe

I was in university when the “Macarena” was big.

Damian Penny

Yeah that was super-cringy, didn't peg Todd as the anti-military type, he's got a lot to learn that's for sure.

RedBedroomRecords

plenty of people I knew admitted to liking her, one woman in one of my college classes mentioned that "I Kissed a Girl" meant a great deal to her as a gay woman. Perry was giving us insight to her life with songs like "Wide Awake"

RedBedroomRecords

worst songs my ass, they were damn good.

RedBedroomRecords

I fail to see how Katy was trying to be Lorde or Kendrick in any way, that makes zero sense. Personally I liked 0304 more then anything else Jewel has ever done(probably because that was my introduction to her).

RedBedroomRecords

strongly disagree, I thought it was cool

RedBedroomRecords

Yeah Price Tag is pretty much the prototype of Chained to the Rhythm.

RedBedroomRecords

I found Firework inspiring as hell and I was so happy when she performed it for the 2021 inauguration.

RedBedroomRecords

Yeah some of Todd's attempts to analyze certain songs made me scratch my head.

RedBedroomRecords

Strongly disagree, I think Results May Vary is a criminally underrated album, it has some of my all time favorite LB songs(Let's just say I can relate to "Lonely World" quite a bit).

RedBedroomRecords

+1 for Bionic

I liked it

RedBedroomRecords

so Katy's not an actress, big deal

RedBedroomRecords

Got to say I really don't agree with doing an episode on this album only a few years after it came out(didn't Todd say an album had to be out for at least a decade to qualify for the show?) honestly doing an episode on Perry feels kinda clickbaity(especially since Perry literally just had a song on the charts and the comeback feels like it's just around the corner)at this point, it's low-hanging fruit and I kind of expected better from Todd, frankly there's way more deserving albums out there that qualify for an episode(Quiet Riot: Condition Critical comes to mind, a perfect example of how running your mouth and badmouthing others in the press can turn people off your music).

RedBedroomRecords

I was at the SNL taping where Katy did Bon Appetite and it's one of the most surreal live performances i've ever seen

My favorite comedic bit was you hating the word cringe and hating that you refused to use the word cringe. That was funny as hell

Bailey Vogt

I've always agreed with Todd that Chained to the Rhythm is actually quite good. Roar is one of my least favorite pop songs of the 2010s though. Bottom 10 for sure.

Sarah, the Creator

i'd say even if she does make a comeback down the line no one can deny witness was a huge bump on the road for her

okay this video reminded me that although look what you made me do is a questionable song on multiple levels its lyric video is still sick af

This was an excellent video overall, but as someone who is generally on the same side as Todd politically, I found his rather harsh take on the military (comparing it to The Hunger Games) to be a step too far. I hope I'm not the only one here who feels that way.

James

As a resident of r/PopHeads, I speak on behalf of all of them when I say that we have been waiting for this episode forever and you certainly delivered. Witness is considered to be the flop to end all flop eras in the pop music discourse. Now we just need you to do an episode on Christina Aguilera's disastrous 2010 album Bionic, and we will all die happy. There's a lot to discuss with that one.

Ryan Storey

Katy Perry's image and music in her heyday gives I think the main reason for why she wasn't able to maintain her relevance in the way Taylor Swift and even Lady Gaga have. Being in middle and high school during her hit-making peak, I don't think I can recall any people admitting to liking Katy Perry. Perry and her music existed as a big presence at the time but unlike Swift and Gaga she never was trying to use her music to lead the conversation or give us insight into her life. This explains why her attempt on "Swish Swish" at getting back at Taylor Swift doesn't work because this kind of musical soap opera just isn't in her wheelhouse. Swift is still having hits because of her ability to capture people's attention right away when she releases new music through her songwriting talent alongside her passionate fanbase. Gaga switched things up into acting which has given her career new life with actors having longer careers than pop stars. Perry just didn't have those benefits so when the pop landscape changed she was not able to adjust or rise above it to more success.

Oh man this is a hell of gamble for Todd in my opinion, she honestly still has time. But yeah, this just completely halted her momentum

ParsnipPizza

Definitely. And yet, even despite all that, I wouldn't be surprised if Katy had a Cher "Believe" level comeback in her. I've seen stranger comebacks, so part of me (heh) doesn't want to count her out just yet.

Ryan Storey

A TrainWreckords on Paula Abdul would be interesting because everything about Paula Abdul as a person is fascinating. This is the woman who keeps telling the same obvious lie about "surviving a plane crash". But in terms of music, I guess Paula has never been that interesting to talk about which is why she isn't that fondly remembered. She had a bunch of hits off her debut album and that did very well. The second album did all right, but not as well and wasn't as good. Then she has some health issues that delay her third album for a few years, and that comes out, scores one minor Top 40 hit, then flops hard. That's a pretty standard arc for what was ultimately a B-list pop star. The interesting thing though is that Paula spent several years trying to stage a comeback, but her health issues kept getting in the way, which is why her career pivoted to reality TV. She famously co-wrote "Spinning Around" by Kylie Minogue in 2000, which ended up being Kylie's big comeback hit in Europe after a couple flop eras. But that song was originally meant for Paula's big comeback, but when that album got shelved, the song ended up going to Kylie. I'll bet this still angers Paula to this day.

Ryan Storey

Katy is probably at the point where she’ll still be able to pack them in regardless of if she ever has another hit single again (Her Vegas run was extended due to demand). She’ll be fine.

Kristopher Bluth

Your term of the delayed flop era album is like a variation of Chris Molanphy’s AC/DC rule for how big but ultimately forgettable albums and singles after an artist’s career-defining work will usually debut and sell better just because people were still high on the last work. Even though Prism had two #1 hits, none of the other singles aside from “Roar” and “Dark Horse” made the Top 10 which for an on fire artist like Katy Perry in the early-‘10s was already a big drop in performance so she and her team should have sensed then that the sands were already shifting beneath their feet. Also on Chris Molanphy’s latest Hit Parade podcast episode on remixes in music, Perry’s five #1 hits from Teenage Dream may not actually be that true after all considering her Kanye West remix of “E.T.” wasn’t on the album and “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” needed a remix from Missy Elliott to get to the top so there’s a lot of asterisks to that achievement.

The Janet Jackson/Paula Abdul comparison grabbed me, because I was just discussing Abdul’s collapse in a thread on the Steve Hoffman music board. Paula’s 1991-1995 period, from a hit album to a big flop, with a seemingly endless list of personal and professional catastrophes in between, deserves its own video.

Damian Penny

Nah. Who cares about which brand of imperialism it is

Christina Kelley

Russell Brand has gone all-in on anti-vaccine and anti-mask (or at least anti-mandates for each) activism these days.

Damian Penny

Not sure "Bon Appetit" was as straightforward a sex jam as Todd described it to be when the entire thing uses the metaphor of "woman as piece of meat".

Flux Casey

Great video Todd, one of my favourites from you :)

Oisín Quinn

Wow Todd clearly NOT in his Witness era

Sarah, the Creator

The only two of Katy Perry's hits that were not written by Max Martin & Dr. Luke were "Firework" and "Roar", aka clearly her two worst ones, and the ones which presaged her 'inspirational' turn. Also, I don't disagree with you about Prism in general but "Dark Horse" is Katy Perry's best song and her song with the most Spotify streams.

Gregory Fanoe

The Effie Trinket comparison is interesting when you remember that Elizabeth Banks was just as pro-Hillary as Katy was in 2016 (perhaps they met backstage at that year’s DNC?) And the one thing I remember about the Swish Swish video is how about 60 percent of the song is drowned out by the “action” - I wouldn’t be surprised if Todd had to edit the album version of the song over the video.

Tim Mackie

If I saw that SNL performance and I hadn't known that Bon Appetit was a Katy Perry song, I would have thought that it was just a bad Kristen Wiig sketch with the Migos guest starring.

meffeww

And even then, Madonna bounced back with Confessions on a Dance Floor and especially Hung Up. For a few years. Still, better than what happened with Katy.

Juhani Aho

Have you checked the episode he did about Passage by The Carpenters? He gave it the most positive remarks out of any TrainWreckord (excluding the Don't Cry For Me, Argentina cover and to a lesser extent, B'wana She No Home).

Juhani Aho

Basically, Witness is to Katy Perry what 0304 was to Jewel: a full-on dancepop pivot trying to be deep and failing hard. Both their lead singles, CTTR and Intuition respectively, both have the same underlying thesis: "Pop music makes you stupid." And the reaction from the public was the same condemnation, although with Jewel, the crowds response was: "Jewel, aren't you a folk singer? Why are you trying to be a pop diva and then call us all morons?", whereas the response Katy got was: "Katy, your first hit was a pop song in which you bragged about kissing a girl, despite being obviously straight, all to titillate some straight guy. You are not Kendrick, you are not Lorde, I'm not buying your 'purposeful pop'-schtick."

Juhani Aho

Watching this has made me realise that there are more similarities in Katy Perry and Russell Brand in their careers (especially post-divorce) than I think many of us realised when they were together. Both became famous in a way that was very specific to that particular era and which likely couldn't be replicated today. Both tried to go political in the mid-10s, only to fall flat when it became abundantly clear that neither of them had the chops for deep, insightful political commentary. And both then faded out into obscurity. At least Katy has seemed to be able to salvage something resembling a career, and quire frankly she's the one of them that I would rather see back in the public eye.

Jack Dover

"Bon Appétit" is such a gross song + video combo it makes "Yummy" seem like a gourmet meal by comparison.

Jacqueline Sailer

Anyone else bothered when he said Army, When that Part Of Me video is set in the Marine Corps

Oddly, that whole bit about wanting to be Joan of Arc but being stuck as Marie Antoinette, sad as it is, was somewhat prophetic. There's absolutely zero way that Katy Perry will ever turn her career around to being something more than a Vegas picture because we simply no longer live in a Teenage Dream world. She's too emblematic of celebrity excess, vanity, and useless centrism to ever catch on with the younger crowd again. 2017 marked the point at which the curtain was thrown back and the worst of American society basically stopped saying the quiet part quietly and publicly broadcasted that they own us and want us to die working for them. Sure, they'd been doing that for decades, but they didn't come out and blurt it like that. Combine that with Trump basically breaking the legislative and judicial branches over his knee and the start of the hard splinter the left continues to undergo between the haves and have-nots, and the message was clear: We are SO fucked, and we've been distracted for so long that there's pretty much no hope of fixing it. To try and release Teenage Dream then, or (god forbid) now during the pandemic would be a move as foolish as it is impossible to come back from. The public at large wants Zoomer pop, hyperpop, drill, gangsta rap, punk, TikTok hits. When a bloated and over-marketed hit actually does comes to the charts, it's usually 1.) a Korean pop tune that's divorced enough from us that we can ignore the horrific conditions that go into making K-pop or 2.) tied to a popular movie or TV show. Drake is a joke, Bieber is barely hanging on, Kanye is a science experiment, and Nicki Minaj continues to exist mostly out of spite. Katy Perry would be pelted with rotting produce before she got to her first chorus if she tried to debut today. In short, Witness was simply the beginning of the end of an entire era of pop music in which neither Katy Perry nor anyone like her can survive. Even if it had been the best thing since Born To Run, she couldn't have had a career after it. It was doomed before it was even written.

Henry Kiley

Theoretically, I could have remembered all of this. But because I don't keep in touch I was never able to, well, witness this whole period properly. I was only able to hear Chained To the Rhythm. I guess it's not a bad song but that's all I could ever see.

I assumed it would be too. I wasn't expecting Carry Out 2.

Yes!!! Ugh. So great Todd. (No idea why but "shilling for the army" really got me.)

Alice Allan

One of the best Trainwreckords

Nowhere Girl

Katy could do what other early 2010’s pop acts did (3OH!3, Rebecca Black) and just dive headfirst into the very niche and hipster world of hyperpop. 100 gecs ft. Katy Perry. Imagine it.

Franco del Rosario

“Helpful tip for Katy Perry fans. This is Rob ‘Gronk’ Gronkowsi. He is a famous football player.” I… I was too afraid to ask. But Todd knows his audience. Also, /r/popheads is definitely gonna lose their shit.

Franco del Rosario

One year later he directed the videos for Bad Guy, God is a Woman, and SICKO MODE. Holy shit how do you kill it so hard and have such a bad video right in the middle of such great work

A part of me does wonder why Katy even lasted to 2017 when every Katy wannabe more or less disappeared after one or two hits. The early 2010’s had so many Katy Perry wannabes with much worse tunes. The best of them was probably Jessie J, and even she’s barely remembered. I guess it’s just the tunes, but it could also be that Katy grabbed people’s attentions. Idk, it’s something I’ve been thinking about.

I think this is the first Trainwreckords episode on album fall out from which I could actually witness in real time. Nice

Dragame (Алексей Al)

You've always had really great takes regarding Katy and this one was no different. She wanted to make an album that was more human... and there's nothing more humanizing than falling on your face.

Bailey Vogt

Dave Meyers has such a wide range of quality in his videos. Dude's gone from all-time bangers by Missy Elliott, Ariana Grande and Kendrick Lamar to Swish Swish (in the same year as KL, to boot).

Grace

Heck, ARTPOP wasn't even an actual flop. It did similar numbers to PRISM. TBQH, as someone who was paying attention during the whole ARTPOP 'flop' debacle, Witness being a proper bomb is raising my schadenfreude. (Not against Katy, but against her smuglord fans).

Grace

Ah, Unconditionally. Or as I (and other people) like to call it, Uncle DeSean Ali, in favour of the chorus's weird scansion.

Grace

Real talk, though: I love this garbage album. Way more than her older stuff, this is the real guilty pleasure for me, because I love the tackiness and cringe of Bon Appetit and Swish Swish despite how obviously terrible they are. Dumb story, but me and the guy I was dating at the time used to love saying “Swish swish” immediately after completely failing at something. It’s almost nostalgic for me.

Shiny Skunk

22:20 That is not “Roulette”

Brandon Croker

My main takeaway from this video is… god damn, Katy Perry’s live shows go off.

Shiny Skunk

this ep is about to become citizen kane for the girls and gays

I vividly remember living through this moment of Katy's career, as it was the first moment of her career I actually paid any attention to, out of curiosity more than anything. Yet I never actually listened close enough to realize Chained To The Rhythm was about the mindlessness of pop culture, mindlessness that she herself had perpetuated up until that point... I think it just became my favorite Katy Perry song. Her "inspiring" songs do little to nothing for me. I've always found Firework annoying for instance. But trying to recontextualize her past work by admitting much of its formulaic and purposely attention grabbing nature is perhaps something to be ashamed of? That's intensely brave. Sure a band like Rise Against could put out the same exact song (maybe not with a dance hall backing considering their a punk band) and it could be very meaningful, but no more meaningful than anything else they put out, because that's their whole MO. Meaningful pop punk bangers. Katy Perry doing a total 180 on her own work in the wake of putting all her energy into a campaign trail that ended up suffering the most baffling and traumatic loss possible? That's a story worth listening to. Shame the rest of the album doesn't continue down that path. Bon Appetite seems in hindsight like a terrible precursor to another terrible song, Yummy. Swish Swish never made any sense to me since I don't really care what Taylor Swift and Katy Perry think of each other, and I barely have any curiosity for celebrity feuds in the first place. And that last single I guess must have done so poorly I never even heard about it. But that first song, Chained To The Rhythm. That's a powerful statement. That's a major turning point. It works far better than Taylor Swift's efforts to kill off her old self, because it speaks to something more human and relatable than the price of fame and fortune.

Jack Darnell

My main memory of Bon Appetit was the YouTube comments on the video in 2017 being full of people claiming Katy was encouraging/supporting actual cannibalism. Like, hundreds of alt-right conspiracy theory comments claiming this was "proof" that the Democrats were EATING kidnapped children. Super unfortunate that she was trying to be more aware of political issues while also releasing Bon Appetit during ""pizzagate""

"Woo! They're playing the cannibal song!"

Teddy Haines

Never imagined i'd relate to Katy Perry this much

Lindsay Ellis

At the end of every year I look back at the Billboard Year-End Charts for that year and compare them to what they looked like ten years before, and it's typically unrecognizable, filled with almost entirely different artists. And yet, despite the radical shifts in the pop landscape from 2009 to 2022, it's wild that you've basically leaned on three artists you went hard on in your first year of existence (Chris Brown, Taylor, Katy) in order to create some of the best videos you've ever made

The Hand Of The People

It’s pretty bad when Mike Myers already used that joke… in the movie that was pretty much HIS equivalent of a TrainWreckord, The Love Guru! So Katy Perry‘s “purposeful pop” album has a closing track named after a “joke” from The Love Guru. Yep.

Tom Carter

I think you may have missed the mark in your analysis of “Chained to the Rhythm.” It has never come across to me as a literal indictment of pop music; the “song” and “rhythm” she’s talking about are metaphorical. When she says “dance, dance, dance to the distortion,” the distortion refers to the bad parts of society that many people choose to(and have the privilege to) ignore - racism, sexism, economic inequality, etc. So imo this isn’t her being hypocritical or insulting to her audience at all.

Gaby G

Only truly great Katy song since Teenage Dream

Nick Ostrem

I didn't know I wanted this, but jack it right into my veins.

Martin

Katy Perry set up residency in Vegas? Well she won't have to travel to MLM conferences, I guess!

sugarfrosted

I actually wound up feeling for her quite a bit while watching this (she certainly wasn’t the only one traumatized by the 2016 election), and if anything, the transition to Vegas act seems like it’d be good for her. Certainly better than trying to complete with a bunch of teenagers for “relevance”.

Kristopher Bluth

Between this + the Robin Thicke episode, why do the Trainwreckords videos on recent albums always have such a dark and depressing tone? I do love this vid though. Lots of rewatchability as usual.

Franco del Rosario

You made a middle aged man sit with rapt attention for 36 minutes on the topic of Katy Freaking Perry. Kudos, sir.

Kristopher Bluth

Ah, I see PHCJ has arrived.

PrettyBigGuy

That amazing thing about 'Bon Appétit' (which comes off to me like if 'Carry Out' thought it was 'Do What U Want') is that, despite flopping on the charts harder than anything she'd put out up to that point, it's still her fifth-ish most viewed video. It's ahead of 'ET' and 'Part of Me,' which are both number one singles and post-date other billion-view videos from her. Even 'Swish Swish' has more views than it has any right to. It'd still be in her top ten, I think, and Nicki Minaj's top five and it's bigger than anything off of 'Reputation' except for 'Look What You Made Me Do.' I have no idea how that happened but maybe Perry can get optimism for her future career prospects from that.

Alan Kase

The comparison of Katy Perry to Effie Trinket is one of the best moments of pop cultural analysis that you've ever done Todd. Good work!

I don't think "flop" or "flop era" really covers how bad this whole album cycle was for Katy. It's not so much "too difficult/inaccessible" (Alessia Cara's The Pains Of Growing) or even "this isn't working for you" (Taylor Swift's Reputation) but more "what are YOU still doing here?!" (Limp Bizkit's Results May Vary)

Wyatt

I always felt that Chained to The Rhythm was less of an insult to pop music and that audience and more of a raging plea for help. Like it gets faster and more repetitive like a merry-go-round that never ends and Katy is just screaming for someone to get her off the ride now.

In my headcanon, the "Chained to the Rhythm" video takes place in Joy City. TRAINWRECKORDS CONNECTED UNIVERSE MOTHERFUCKERS!!!

Tony Goldmark

taylor swift is still very nearly the biggest musician on the planet

Nowhere Girl

Todd ending the video by subtly plugging Never Really Over.

Joel Eblin

So….when are we getting the Trainwreckords on reputation?

Yvette

As a fellow ASD kid, nice to meet you! 🤝

Jesse Shade

Another great episode, Todd. I hope the best for Katy too, she has a great husband and a kid and a steady gig, so I'd say it's a big step up from her 2017 low. So many of us were trying to up our socially conscious game after Trump won, and it led to a whole lot of cringe from her and so many other celebs. And OH MY GOD, I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE HAUNTED BY THAT FUCKING THUMBNAIL ON YOUTUBE.

Jesse Shade

Witness’ entire promotion completely passed me by until that awkward Saturday Night Live appearance…not the Migos one, but the Swish Swish one. Katy and Drag queens *should* go together like chocolate and peanut butter…. but it just came off as surreal performance art- that felt stiff and condescending, with backpack kid showing up and stealing the show with even more awkwardness.. We didn’t get this version of Katy Perry.

Bryan Bindman

i feel like, my first impressions of katy perry, when i was a 13 year old and listening to You're so Gay and I kissed a girl, is that she WAS political and "WOKE" at least to gay dudes. like i kissed a girl was shocking, and yeah maybe it's a bad trope for lesbians, but it's still a dig at homophobes. i'm pretty sure she talked about selling her soul to devil in some interview too. she shouldnt have gone mild, she should have leaned into her edge and gone dirtbag. it would have felt more authentic than becoming an establishment DNC progressive. then again, 2009 was a different time and the standard for politics in music was so fucking low. back when being an edgelord was meant to piss off prudes and conservatives, not pepe posting

Creamer

One of your best work sir! Amazing job!

i’m pretty sure i’m friends of friends with the asd kid she dueted on firework with

Nic Pruitt

You know what will make people feel comfortable with my new direction? Cannibalism! Everybody loves cannibalism, right?

This was Katy Perry’s “American Life,” though no one really felt sympathetic for Madonna after that one.

Damian Penny

The ending section almost made me cry. This might be my favorite video you've ever done.

TempoRainy

Anyone else run into some minor audio cut-out around 33:06 (ironically after Todd says that the song is worth preserving)?

You're a great writer, seriously. Thank you for putting in the tremendous effort to make videos like this, they always give me something to think about. :D

Laura Tate

...Okay but why was Bon Appetit not about *consumption* and objectification? Was it originally and they backed off, because that seems so obvious an interpretation considering the entire idea behind the album.

Bosstoaster

I listened to this whole album to give it a fair shake, even though I was down on the singles. I was already pretty negative on it 95% of the way in, but listening to her earnestly turn the album closer title "Into Me You See" into the word "intimacy" was a surprise last-minute upset for winning the worst moment of the album award. I literally burst out laughing when I heard it.

Jason Lee

Glad you’re back

KHMakerD

I also remember the day Witness was released Taylor also pettily put all her music back on Spotify (likely to fuck with Katy's numbers). And somehow, Katy had to be the one to apologize to Taylor for everything.

Zoey

Damn, you really put your whole Toddussy into this one man! Great work!

CarlWheezer24

the sad thing about a flop era is that in some ways a flop era means that it just commercially bombed (like not having a top 10 hit in the style of that last billie album), but even when the flop era technically starts.. it could also be the start of their "cult era", see carly rae jepsen having a "flop" album become one of the most loved pop albums of the last decade, or lorde barely having a top 20 hit and not people are claiming the new album is the flop era album there are 2 specific "flop eras", the critical flop where everything goes down in reception (st anger, the big day, encore, views) though they can sometimes keep it up by commercial ubiquity. and the commercial flop where the popularity just tanks but the fans still end up loving it (e-mo-tion, artpop, congratulations, queen).. witness is the sad combination of both, the only other similar ones i can think of are like, man of the woods

duke86fan

This... is Jewel's Trainwreckords in reverse, isn't it? Oh my god, I forgot about Bon Appetit! That video was like the visual version of Bieber's Yummy. I am surprised to hear Todd call Nicki's verse in Swish Swish good. Isn't that the one where she couldn't bother coming up with lyrics for a few seconds and just went "uh huh uh huh"? My personal "worst Katy song" happens to be off Prism, it's Uncondintionally. I remember hearing it on the radio and thinking, "What talentless wannabe are can-con laws forcing me to hear now?" And when I found out it was Katy Perry, I was floored. How could that be a professional production?!

Alina

Hoi! At 22:21, the song is Deja Vu, not Roulette

Eddie Buzzard

The fact that this was supposed to be a "woke" album was kind of news to me as someone who only listened to the singles, didn't pay attention to the interviews, and didn't listen that closely to the lyrics of "Chained to the Rythm." I mostly just heard one underperforming single, one song about trying to eat someone, and some sort of cat fight with Taylor Swift.

MJS

to set the scene: my school put on a play for incoming freshmen every year called "Single and Sexy" (there are clips on youtube if you want to witness the horror for yourself) that was filled end-to-end with parodies of popular songs. The one they put on in my freshman year featured parodies of "Teenage Dream" and "Bad Romance." now Gaga is campaigning for Oscars, and Katy is . . . this.

Laura Elizabeth

Prism is a total New Jersey.

Richard Copping

seeing a Trainwreckords on an artist whose heyday was the year I started college . . . god, I'm old. or she flamed out fast. one or the other.

Laura Elizabeth

Hot damn here we go

waywardlaser

I think whatever was going on was with the app? The second I uninstalled it and hit the link, it played in the browser. Enjoying now. 👍

GregD

comfy video hours who up

bunsbunsbunsbunsbuns

I got it to work by uninstalling the Vimeo app.

GregD

LETS FUCKING GOOOOO TODD I LOVE YOU YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD

Stefan Ristic

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW LOUDLY I SCREAMED WHEN I SAW THIS LETS GOOOOOO

Brandon H

"Unable to play video, tap to reload"

Jesse Shade

Doesn't seem to be working?

GregD

Bon Appetit is one of the most disgusting pieces of music I’ve ever heard and now I’m going to have to listen to it again.

Ethan Michael Thomas

YEEES!

Pre-video prediction: Mad Max Fury Road joke

Gordon Stearns