Is There A Hidden Message In Katy Perry’s New Song ‘Chained To The Rhythm’?

Who said pop and politics don't mix?

Is There A Hidden Message In Katy Perry's New Song ‘Chained To The Rhythm’?

by Jazmin Kopotsha |
Published on

It’s not like Katy Perry has been completely missing in action or anything – there was that rekindled Taylor Swift drama, the naked vote for Hillary Clinton thing, and of course the Orlando Bloom paddle board, ahem, 'thing'. But it’s been a long old time since Katy blessed the world with her music.

Besides Rise, the song she wrote for the Rio Olympics last year, we haven’t had new Katy Perry material since she released the album Prism in 2013. And she didn’t half make us work for this new one.

A few days ago, Katy posted a video of herself plugging some headphones into a giant disco ball on Instagram. Her nails spelt out the words ‘find me’ and it turned out that she had installed special disco balls all over the actual world for people to find and then listen to the song before the release.

Turns out there was one in London’s Leicester Square, but if you’re a devout KatyCat and didn’t get to make it to the magic shackled disco ball, fear not. The full song is right here for your listening pleasure.

Oh, and not to name drop or anything, but according to Rolling Stone it was co-written by Sia and features Skip Marley, aka Bob Marley’s grandson. NBD.

Hamster eating cake (is it cake?) in a dolls house aside, I think lyrics feel pretty poignant: ‘Are we tone deaf? Keep seeping it under the mat. I thought we could do better than that, I hope we can’. Anyone else hear echoes of US election sorrow?

How about: ‘so comfortable we’re living in a bubble, bubble / so comfortable we cannot see the trouble, trouble’? Who exactly are zombies unknowingly chained to the metaphorical rhythm of life? Society? Trump supporters? Katy was very publically team-Hillary throughout the election campaigns. After all, the reason we knew she'd be releasing new music at some point this year was when she posted a powerful message on Instagram after the news of a Trump presidency broke.

The end of the caption reads: 'It's funny, sometimes people who disagree with me just say "Shut up and sing." Boy, will I do so in a whole new way... next year. Hell hath no fury like a woman REBORN.' Next year is now, you guys. And it feels a lot like Chained To The Rhythm might just be the beginning of what Katy was talking about.

So, let's return to the new song. In Chained to the Rhythm Skip Marley sings: ‘The truth they feed is feeble, as so many times before./ They greed over the people. They stumbling and fumbling and we about to riot / They woke up, they woke up the lions’.

If the lions have really awakened, I whole heartedly hope the US administration hears them roar.

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Follow Jazmin on Instagram @JazKopotsha

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.

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