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Firework (song)

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For other uses, see Fireworks (disambiguation).
"Firework"
Song

"Firework" is a song by American recording artist Katy Perry. The song was written by Katy Perry, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Sandy Wilhelm, Ester Dean, and produced by Stargate and Sandy Vee for Perry's second studio album, Teenage Dream (2010). The song is a self-empowerment anthem with inspirational lyrics, and was considered by Perry as the most important song for her on Teenage Dream. Katy Perry sang firework at the 2011 Aust Loggies

"Firework" received good reviews from music critics, with some noticing its catchy melody and danceable beat and comparing it to songs by English band Coldplay. The song was commercially successful, reaching the top spot on Billboard Hot 100 and the top 5 on twenty charts around the world. The song was released on October 16, 2010 by Capitol Records as the third single from the album. The song was certified 2x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for the shipment of two millions copies across United States. On the week ending of January 8, 2011, "Firework" sold 509,000 digital downloads in the US, which is the second highest amount ever sold by a female artist, only behind Kesha's "Tik Tok", who sold 610,000 copies in a week, and fourth highest overall. The song is the third consecutive number-one single of the same album, the last female singer who achieved this was Monica in 1998.

An accompanying music video, directed by Dave Meyers, was released on October 28, 2010. It portrayed Perry singing and dancing around Budapest, with intercalating scenes of shy teenagers become confident in themselves. An open casting call for the music video drew an unprecedented 38,000 applicants. On MuchMusic's top 50 videos of 2010, "Firework" reached the top position. The music video was said to be a more upbeat take on Christina Aguilera's message in "Beautiful".

Background

"Firework" was written by Perry, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Sandy Wilhelm, and Ester Dean while produced by Stargate and Sandy Vee at Soapbox Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It was recorded at Roc the Mic Studios in New York City. It was mixed at The Bunker Studios by Vee. Audio engineering was done by Carlos Oyandel and Damien Lewis. All instruments were done by Stargate and Vee. Lead and background vocals were provided by Perry.[1] Perry said that "Firework" is her favorite song on Teenage Dream.[2] She explained that:

"People are coming back and almost adopting it as their own anthem, and it's hard, I think, to write an anthem that's not cheesy, and I hope that this could be something in that category. I hope this could be one of those things where it's like, 'Yeah, I want to put my fist up and feel proud and feel strong. But I also don't want to be cheesy, it's a fine line, and I think 'Firework' ... would be like the opus or my one song — if I had to pick a song to play — 'cause it has a great beat. But it also has a fantastic message."[2]

Composition

The song is composed in the key of A♭ major and is set in time signature of common time with a tempo of 126 beats per minute. Perry vocal range spans from A♭3 to E♭5.[3] According to Perry, "Firework" is influenced by Jack Kerouac's novel, On the Road.[4][5]

Critical reception

The song received generally positive reviews and was called a surprise favorite in Teenage Dream. The track is her best-reviewed single to date. Slant Magazine stated that the song is "not an actively painful listen. Sure, the would-be inspirational lyrics ('Baby you're a firework/Come on show them what you're worth') are nonsensical, and the vocal lines, which sound like they were written for someone like Leona Lewis, are well beyond Perry's capabilities, but the chorus gains some momentum and the song would work well enough in a club setting that you could forgive its otherwise glaring weaknesses."[6] Both Bill Lamb from About.com and Allmusic chose "Firework" among the top tracks on the album,[7] with Lamb stating that the song "is a towering anthem that was aimed directly at lifting self esteem", in a review specifically for the single, Lamb continued to praise the song, stating that "it is a straightforward, economical self-esteem anthem. The song wastes no time in getting to the point and gives razor sharp focus to its message. As a result, it is a perfect pop record being catchy, highly melodic and designed to make every listener feel good. Effervescent pop singles rarely get better than this".[8][9] Nick Levine of Digital Spy gave the song five out of five stars writing, "It's [...] a straight up self-empowerment anthem wrapped in a Coldplay-on-poppers club banger from the Stargate team."[10] PopMatters wrote that "Firework" is "the record's last hurrah; though nothing particularly memorable...'Firework' has at least a bit of staying power".[11] The Washington Post described the song as "too mushy".[12] Al Fox of BBC Music said that the song "displays a breezy maturity and serious set of pipes, a true demonstration of Perry’s musicianship without contradicting the kittenish mischief of the bigger picture."[13]

Chart performance

In the United States, "Firework" debuted at position fifty-seven on the issue dated November 6, 2010.[14] It peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Perry's fourth number-one single in the US and third number-one single from the album.[15] This made Perry the first female artist since Monica in 1998-1999 to have three consecutive singles from an album top the chart. It spent four non-consecutive weeks at number-one on the Hot 100.[15] The song topped on Hot Dance Club Songs, Pop chart and Adult Pop Songs.[16] On the week ending January 8, 2011, "Firework" sold 509,000 digital downloads in the US which is the second highest amount ever sold by a female artist only behind Kesha's "Tik Tok", who sold 610,000 copies in a week, and fourth highest overall.[17] The song was certified two platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for the shipment of two millions copies across United States.[18] The song is Perry's fifth single to do so, making her the artist with the most singles to sell 3 million copies or more.[19] As of April 2011 , the song has sold 4,051,000 copies, so "[i]t's her fourth song to reach that plateau, which is more than any other artist in digital history."[20] In Canada, "Firework" debuted at number 51 on the Canadian Hot 100 issue dated November 6, 2010[21] and reached at number one on December 18, 2010.[22]

On October 31, 2010, "Firework" debuted at number 37 in Australia on the official ARIA Singles Chart[23] and moved to number 15 the next week.[24] It peaked at number three and was certified four times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for sales over 280,000 copies.[25][26] The song debuted at number 34 in New Zealand on October 4, 2010[27] and reached at number one.[28] The song entered at number five on the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number three.[29] It has been certified platinum for the shipment of 600,000 copies.[30] Across Europe, the song reached the top five in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland, while reaching the top ten in France and the Netherlands.[31]

Music video

Katy Perry dancing with others at the Buda Castle with fireworks bursting from them.

The video is part of a huge cross-promotional deal with European telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom. Deutsche Telekom hosted a series of activities and competitions from which fans around Europe will be recruited to be in the video.[32] MTV reported that Perry started filming the video on September 28, 2010.[2] The video was directed by Dave Meyers and shot in Budapest.[33] The official teaser trailer of the music video was released on October 15, 2010.[34] An open casting call for the music video drew an unprecedented 38,000 applicants.[35] The video was released on TwitVid, DirectLyrics and Youku on October 28, 2010. It premiered on October 28, 2010 on Vevo YouTube, with a current view-count of more than 170 million. It was presented in the anamorphic widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

The video's message has been described as a "more upbeat take on Christina Aguilera’s message in, 'Beautiful'".[36] Perry opens the video gazing down upon the city from a balcony. As she sings into the night, fireworks shoot from her chest (breasts) and soon inspire young people throughout the city to overcome their fears and insecurities, in the process igniting their own fireworks. A shy overweight girl, playing the role of wallflower at a pool party, finds the courage to shed her clothes and jump in the pool. A leukemia patient at a children's hospital proves to herself that she can show herself out on the street and in public despite her loss of hair. A struggling young performer walking home in a dark alley uses tricks from his magic act to win over a group of street thugs who were trying to rob him. A boy confronts his fighting parents and pushes them apart because their shouting is upsetting his little sister. A young man finds the courage to approach the guy he is interested in and kisses him, igniting his firework within. Soon the youth of the city along with Perry are converging upon the courtyard of Buda Castle, dancing and lighting up the night with their own fireworks.

On November 5, 2010, the British media and entertainment website Digital Spy reported that the video had been partially censored for British Television; the kiss between the two men, despite only being about a second long and the video being used as part of the 'It Gets Better' campaign,[37] was said to be pixelated out.[38] However, British music channel audiences have reported this information to be incorrect.[39] On MuchMusic's top 50 videos of 2010, "Firework" was ranked #1.[40]

Live performances

Perry performed "Firework" on the Late Show with David Letterman on August 24, 2010.[41] On October 17, 2010 she performed the song on The X Factor in the United Kingdom,[42] followed by a performance of the song at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2010 held in Madrid, Spain on November 7, 2010. Perry also performed the song again in the United Kingdom, this time on the chat show Paul O'Grady Live on November 12, 2010, the BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards on November 14, 2010 and at the American Music Awards of 2010. She performed "Firework" at the 2010 annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show which aired on November 30, 2010.[43] Perry's performance of "Firework" on Willkommen bei Mario Barth aired on December 4, 2010 in Germany, a performance that was recorded in October 2010.[44] She appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on December 8, 2010 to perform an acoustic version of the song.[45] Also she performed the song in the VH1 Divas 2010 show as the closing of the event. Perry also performed the acoustic version on the 12th Annual A Home for the Holidays on CBS.

Track listing

  • Digital download[46]
  1. "Firework" – 3:47
  2. "Firework" (Music video) - 3:55
  • German CD single[47]
  1. "Firework" – 3:48
  2. "Firework" (Instrumental) – 3:48

Personnel

Credits adapted from the Teenage Dream liner notes.[1]

Charts and certifications

Chart precessions and successions

Order of precedence
Preceded by New Zealand number-one single
November 14, 2010 - December 6, 2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Canadian Hot 100 number-one single
December 18, 2010 - December 25, 2010
Preceded by
"Raise Your Glass" by Pink
"Grenade" by Bruno Mars
 US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
December 18, 2010 - January 1, 2011
January 15, 2011 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
"One Hot Pleasure" by Erika Jayne
 US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single
January 22, 2011 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
"Raise Your Glass" by Pink
 US Billboard Pop Songs number-one single
January 08, 2011 - January 29, 2011 		Succeeded by
"Grenade" by Bruno Mars

Radio add dates and release history

See also

References

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  2. ^ a b c Vena, Jocelyn (2010-09-30). "Katy Perry Tweets About 'Sparkling' New Music Video - Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV.
  3. ^ "Katy Perry Firework – Digital Sheet Music". Music Notes. EMI Music Publishing. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
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  5. ^ "Review of the Single Firework by Katy Perry". about.com. Retrieved 2011-02-13.
  6. ^ Cole, Matthew (2010-08-22). "Katy Perry: Teenage Dream | Music Review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
  7. ^ Thomas, Stephen (2010-08-24). "( Teenage Dream > Review )". allmusic. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
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  9. ^ Lamb, Bill (2010-08-24). "Katy Perry - Teenage Dream - Review of the Teenage Dream Album by Katy Perry". About.com. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
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