When Katy Perry first teased her single, “Woman’s World,” last month, she had the internet buzzing. Of course, there were widespread celebrations about her long-awaited return, but there were also many questions about the snippet she shared.
She posted a TikTok lip-syncing to a clip of the track: “Sexy, confident / So intelligent / She is heaven-sent / So soft, so strong.”
People were… a bit confused! Not only because of the sparse melody, but also because of the out-of-context Girl Power-y lyrics. But who is Katy Perry without a bit of confusion? This is a woman who had the infamous “left shark” as a backup dancer and who came to the Met Gala dressed as a hamburger. She knows how to keep us on our toes.
But now that the song has finally arrived, we get a fuller picture. It turns out that clip was just the beginning of “Woman’s World,” which eventually explodes with dance-pop energy reminiscent of her 2000s pop hits. “It’s a woman’s world and you’re lucky to be living in it,” she sings in the chorus.
And that’s not all: the music video just dropped too. The eye-popping production begins with Perry starring as a sexy Rosie the Riveter and her girls recreating the Lunch Atop a Skyscraper tableau. But after she gets (checks notes) smushed by an anvil, things go haywire. She’s walking down chaotic city streets with mechanical legs. She’s sticking a gasoline nozzle in her glute. Trisha Paytas is hauling a monster truck. She’s hanging off the side of a helicopter with a female gender symbol-shaped ring light screaming, “I’m Katy Perry!”
While she hasn’t broken down the visuals just yet, Perry did speak about the anthemic nature of the new song while speaking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music.
“I think that people, when they think of me, they think of ‘Roar,’ they think of ‘Firework,’ sometimes they think of ‘I Kissed a Girl,’ but I think mostly they think of these kind of empowering songs,” she said. “Songs with a message, songs that are captions on t-shirts and stuff like that or things that help people get through. And I love that. I love hearing the stories and really, I write these songs from a place where I need to get through something. But so I wanted to continue with that and also, this is the first contribution I have given since becoming a mother and since feeling really connected to my feminine divine.”
This is merely our first glimpse at Perry’s upcoming album, 143, which arrives on September 20. The singer just shared the title, release date, and cover art yesterday. While Perry’s comeback is highly anticipated, it’s also been met with controversy following news that producer Dr. Luke (real name Lukasz Gottwald) was involved with the album after his years-long legal battle with Kesha. (He previously produced Perry’s hits like “I Kissed a Girl,” “California Gurls,” and more.) Perry has not yet publicly addressed their latest collaborations.
Watch the “Woman’s World” video and read the full lyrics below.
