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"Birthday"
Song

"Birthday" is a disco song recorded by American singer Katy Perry for her fourth studio album, Prism (2013). It was written by Perry, Bonnie McKee and producers Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Cirkut. Critics, as well as Perry herself, have compared the track to Prince and Mariah Carey on her debut album. Through double entendres in the lyrics of "Birthday", Perry makes sexual references while celebrating a partner's birthday. The song was sent by Capitol to mainstream and rhythmic radios on April 21, 2014 as the fourth single from Prism.

Upon release, "Birthday" received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised the song's melody but occasionally criticized the sexual references. Following the release of Prism, "Birthday" entered the single charts of South Korea and France. After being released as an official single, it reached the top 50 on Australia, Canada and Netherlands' single charts, while peaking at number 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100. A music video for the track was released on April 24, 2014. Primarily recorded with hidden cameras, it features Perry disguised as five different characters in birthday parties and other celebrations. It received mixed reviews from critics.

Production and release

Bonnie McKee (pictured) co-wrote "Birthday".

"Birthday" was written by Perry, Bonnie McKee, Cirkut, Dr. Luke, and Max Martin. The latter three produced the song and contributed to the instrumentation and programmed their respective instruments. The drums were played by Steven Wolf, while the horns were played by the Saturday Night Live Band, arranged by Lenny Picker and engineered by Dave O'Donnell. Its audio engineering was done by Peter Carlsson, Clint Gibbs, Sam Holland, and Michael Illbert. The track was finally mixed by Serban Ghenea at the MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia, accompanied by the mixing engineer, John Hanes. The song itself was recorded at various studios, including Luke's in the Boo in Malibu, California, Conway Recording Studios in Hollywood, California, Playback Recording Studio in Santa Barbara, California, MXM Studios in Stockholm, Sweden and Secret Garden Studios in Montecito, California.[1]

The song surfaced online on October 16, 2013—two days prior to the official release of Prism.[2] On April 3, 2014, the singer announced on her Twitter account that "Birthday" would be released as the album's fourth single, posting its cover art as well. The art is based on a photograph, taken during a birthday party circa 1990, in which a blonde Perry and her sister Angela Hudson smile toward the camera; "puffy" letter balloons were "photoshopped" onto the cover to spell out Perry's name. The song title appears in candles over a floral cake.[3][4] To promote the single, a lyric video for "Birthday" was uploaded onto Perry's Vevo account on April 10, 2014. It depicts a variety of cakes and sweets—among other confections—decorated with the song's lyrics and concludes with Perry lighting the last candle of a cake.[5]

Composition

At the length of three minutes and thirty-five seconds (3:35),[6] "Birthday" is primarily styled in the genre of disco.[7] "Birthday" is composed in the key of B major and follows a progression of Emaj7–C♯m7–Emaj7–C♯m7–B with a tempo of 126 beats per minute. Perry's vocals range from B3 to F♯5.[8] During a preview event for Prism, held in New York City, Perry described "Birthday" as her "attempt at writing" a song that American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey would have included in her eponymous debut album.[9] Since its release, its musical composition has been strongly compared to that of other works of Prince and duo Wendy and Lisa.[10][11]

"Birthday" contains elements of funk-pop, synthpop, and disco house.[10][11] The song is backed by a "busy but buoyant" instrumentation featuring a "deeply rhythmic impulse".[9] Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times felt "Birthday" was a musically updated version of disco, achieved by replacing "cheesy strings" with "jerky breaks and synth washes".[7] Its "joyful"[9] lyrics present the commemoration of her partner's birthday as a metaphor for sexual intercourse.[12] The bridge section of "Birthday", which sees Perry singing "Let me get you in your birthday suit / It's time to bring out the big balloons", was found by Ben Rattliff to resemble French duo Daft Punk's works.[13]

Critical reception

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine and Kitty Empire from The Guardian called "Birthday" one of the best tracks from Prism: Erlewine described it as a "glorious retro-disco explosion" and Empire found a "girly simpatico" in the song that sustains it.[14][15] Marah Eakin from The A.V. Club felt the track was "pure fun".[16] Jason Lipshutz of Billboard called it a "stone-cold stunner", going on to say the song "serves as pop music's (superior) answer to Swizz Beatz's "Everyday Birthday". He also felt it was the song with the "most smash potential" included in Prism.[9] Chris Bosman of Consequence of Sound wrote that the song was a "irrepressible disco jam" and found it superior to Carly Rae Jepsen's album Kiss (2012).[17]

Jon Dolan from Rolling Stone noted that the "sunny effervescence" from Teenage Dream was present on the song.[18] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine said that the "sexy and playful" song was "offset by brackish fare".[19] Alexis Petridis from The Guardian considered that the song resembled a four to the floor remix of a Mariah Carey song, but complimented its melodies for being "significantly stronger" than those of Jessie J's album, Alive (2013).[20] Rob Harvilla from Spin criticized the song's "sensuality", which he described as being of "an off-kilter, grade-school goofy, beanie-propeller sort of sensuality".[11] Evan Sawdey of PopMatters deemed "Birthday" the "catchiest thing" on Prism, but he also thought it was a "rewrite" of Jessie J's hit "Domino" and Perry's former song "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)".[21] Lewis Corner from Digital Spy classified it as a "flirty pop-gem",[22] while HitFix's Melinda Newman awarded it a B+ grade, calling it a "delectable pop confection".[23] James Reed from The Boston Globe called the song's double entendre lyrics "hilarious".[24]

Commercial performance

Upon the release of Prism, due to strong digital download sales, "Birthday" charted on the singles charts in France and South Korea. It debuted on the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique singles chart at number 160 where it stayed for one week.[25] In South Korea, it peaked at number 51 on the Gaon International Chart with digital downloads of 3,089 copies.[26] Before being released as a single, the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart of April 16, 2014, at number 91.[27] One week later, the song jumped to number 83. The following week, it went from 83 to 37.[28]

Music video

Development and filming

Marc Klasfeld co-directed the music video for "Birthday".

The official music video for "Birthday" was directed by Marc Klasfeld and Danny Lockwood; Dawn Rose served as a producer, while Nicole Acacio served as executive producer, Richard Alarcon sereved as the editor, Tony Gardner as the make-up artist, and Joseph Robbins was the director of photography.[29][30] For the video, which was filmed in April 2014, Perry played the characters of five party entertainers, appearing in five parties. They consisted of a burlesque-like elderly woman named Goldie, a Jewish master of ceremonies named Yosef Shulem, a clown named Kriss, an animal trainer named Ace, and a face-painter named Princess Mandee.[30][31] In order to transform Perry physically to each character, she spent up to seven hours getting prosthetic makeup applied by Tony Gardner.[30][32]

The parties that Perry attended were real, and its participants were unaware of Perry's presence; the organizers believed they had signed up to star in a reality show called "Birthday Blowouts." Similarly, the majority of events that took place during the visual were staged without the knowledge of the celebrations' organizers and guests. For example, the car crash that occurs in the video left several children who observed it frightened and crying.[33] Perry deemed the video "very intricate to make and shoot" and her "most insane" to date.[34] A teaser for the video which introduced the characters was released on April 22, 2014 whereas the complete video was revealed two days later.[31]

Synopsis

Perry as Yosef Shulem, a character that was criticized by music critics.

The music video begins with short introductions to the characters Goldie, Yosef, Kriss, Ace, and Mandee. Perry is then shown entering all of the parties in disguise. At a man's 90th birthday, Goldie emerges from a large birthday cake and begins to give the man a lap dance. At a child's birthday party, Kriss the Clown attempts to create balloon animals, while Ace the Animal Trainer introduces a group of children to a box of mice before appearing to eat one, which makes a child cry. At another child's party, Princess Mandee paints a girl's face incompetently; Goldie begins to suffer from respiratory problems, and Yosef does the worm at a boy's Bar Mitzvah. Goldie pulls a man's prosthetic leg off and proceeds to play air guitar with it, and Kriss crashes into a table before drinking alcohol behind a tree.

At the elderly man's party, Goldie collapses and a woman tries to use a defibrillator on her. While attempting to hit a piñata, Kriss walks onto the road to cause a car crash which shocks the party attendees. At the petting cage, Ace lets a goat run wild which defecates and urinates on the ground; meanwhile Goldie drops a birthday cake on the 90-year old man, Yosef is then shown beatboxing at the Bar Mitzvah to the disapproval of the guests. Princess Mandee takes off her hat, wig and mask and reveals herself to be Perry, to which the children scream in pleasure. Goldie eats cake with the elderly man, before straddling him on his wheelchair. At the end of the song, Princess Mandee and the children say "happy birthday" to the camera. During the credits, the characters dance and lip sync to a remixed version of the song.

Reception

Christina Garibaldi of MTV News wrote that Perry "continues to top herself" with the video and billed the video's "approach" as "creative, fun and pretty hysterical".[35] Salon's Daniel D'Addario was critical of character Yosef Shulem, denouncing it as a "Jewish stereotype". He noted that Perry had already been the center of controversy due to being dressed as a geisha for a 2013 performance of "Unconditionally", and questioned her decision to portray Yosef.[36] Writing for Time, Nolan Feeman quipped, "Jewish people aren't costumes" and found the video distracting from the song.[37] Ariana Bacle from Entertainment Weekly dubbed the character "anti-Semitic" and suggested that Perry should stop impersonating members of other cultures.[38] For Consequence of Sound, Chris Coplan called the visual "incredible" and described it as a "less grating and tiresome" version of The Master of Disguise.[17] Complex writer Zach Frydenlund positively remarked that the video "deliver[ed]" and regarded the Goldie character look as "quite nice".[39]

Credits and personnel

Song

  • Lead and Background Vocals – Katy Perry
  • Trombone – Steve Turre
  • Trumpet – Earl Gardner
  • Tenor sax – Lenny Pickett
  • Alto sax – Mike Masteller
  • Baritone sax – Ron Blake
  • Instruments and programming – Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Cirkut
  • Drums – Steven Wolf
  • Horn arrangement – Lenny Pickett
  • Horns engineer – Dave O'Donnell
  • Songwriting – Katy Perry, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, Cirkut
  • Production – Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Cirkut
  • Mixing – Serban Ghenea
  • Engineering – Peter Carlsson, Clint Gibbs, Sam Holland, Michael Illbert
  • Mixing engineer – John Hanes

Song credits adapted from the liner notes of Prism, Capitol Records.[1]

Music video

Credits of the video production adapted from the visual.[30]

Charts

Template:Wikipedia books

Chart (2013) Peak
position
South Korea (Gaon Chart International)[26] 51
Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[40] 25
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[41] 18
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia)[42] 21
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[43] 14
Canada AC (Billboard)[44] 31
Canada CHR/Top 40 (Billboard)[45] 9
Canada Hot AC (Billboard)[46] 14
Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)[47] 78
France (SNEP)[25] 69
Ireland (IRMA)[48] 47
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[49] 34
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[50] 56
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[51] 19
South Korea (Gaon Digital Chart)[52] 10
UK Singles (OCC)[53] 38
US Billboard Hot 100[54] 25
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[55] 21
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[56] 14
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[57] 19
US Rhythmic (Billboard)[58] 30

Release history

Country Date Format Label
United States April 21, 2014 Contemporary hit radio[59] Capitol Records
Rhythmic contemporary[60]
United Kingdom April 28, 2014 Contemporary hit radio[61]

References

  1. ^ a b Prism (liner notes). Katy Perry. United States: Capitol Records. 2013. B001934502. {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |titlelink= ignored (|title-link= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ^ Liphsutz, Jason (October 16, 2013). "Katy Perry's Vibrant 'Birthday' Song Leaks Online". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  3. ^ Lindner, Emilee (April 3, 2014). "Katy Perry Reveals 'Birthday' Single Art With Serious Little Kid Attitude". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  4. ^ "Katy Perry Steps Back In Time For 'Birthday' Single Cover". Capital. Global Radio; Communicorp. April 4, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  5. ^ Ehrlich, Brenna (April 10, 2014). "Katy Perry's 'Birthday' Lyric Video Will Put You in a Sugar Coma". MTV News. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  6. ^ "Katy Perry — PRISM". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. September 30, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  7. ^ a b Roberts, Randall (October 22, 2013). "Review: Hits pack Katy Perry's 'Prism'". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved November 25, 2013.
  8. ^ "Katy Perry "Birthday" Sheet Music". Musicnotes. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  9. ^ a b c d Lipshutz, Jason (September 6, 2013). "Katy Perry's 'Prism' Album Preview: 10 Things You Need To Know". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  10. ^ a b Gunderson, Edna (September 13, 2013). "Katy Perry sheds light on 'Prism' at L.A. preview event". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved November 25, 2013.
  11. ^ a b c Harvilla, Rob (October 22, 2013). "Katy Perry Grows Up and Bums Us Out on Her Shrewd, Tepid 'Prism'". Spin. Spin Media. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  12. ^ Lipshutz, Jason (October 21, 2013). "Katy Perry's 'PRISM': Track-By-Track Review". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  13. ^ Rattliff, Ben (October 18, 2013). "This Bubble Gum, Too, Shall Pop". The New York Times. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  14. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Prism - Katy Perry". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  15. ^ Empire, Kitty (October 20, 2013). "Katy Perry: Prism – review". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  16. ^ Eakin, Marah (October 18, 2013). "Katy Perry: Prism". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  17. ^ a b Bosman, Chris (November 1, 2013). "Album Review: Katy Perry - Prism". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved December 10, 2013. Cite error: The named reference "cos" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  18. ^ Dolan, Jon (October 16, 2013). "Katy Perry 'Prism' Review". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  19. ^ Cinquemani, Sal (October 18, 2013). "Katy Perry: Prism". Slant Magazine. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  20. ^ Petridis, Alexis (October 17, 2013). "Katy Perry: Prism — review". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  21. ^ Sawdey, Evan (October 20, 2013). "Katy Perry: Prism". PopMatters. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  22. ^ Corner, Lewis (October 18, 2013). "Katy Perry: 'Prism' - Album review". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  23. ^ Newman, Melinda (October 21, 2013). "Katy Perry's 'Prism' reflects her heart and soul set to a beat: Review". HitFix. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  24. ^ Reed, James (October 21, 2013). "Katy Perry shows many colors on 'Prism'". The Boston Globe. John W. Henry. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  25. ^ a b "Katy Perry – Birthday" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
  26. ^ a b "South Korea Gaon International Chart". Gaon Chart. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  27. ^ Trust, Gary (April 16, 2014). "Pharrell Williams Tops Hot 100; Ed Sheeran Blasts In at No. 15". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  28. ^ Trust, Gary (April 30, 2014). "Pharrell Williams Tops Hot 100 For 10th Week, Iggy Azalea Vaults Into Top 10". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  29. ^ http://www.videostatic.com/watch-it/2014/04/24/katy-perry-birthday-marc-klasfeld-danny-lockwood-dir
  30. ^ a b c d Birthday (music video). Capitol Records. 2014. {{cite AV media}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |director= ignored (help)
  31. ^ a b Garibaldi, Christina (April 22, 2014). "Katy Perry Is Completely Unrecognizable In 'Birthday' Video Teaser: Watch Now". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  32. ^ "Katy Perry lives her own Truman Show as she drops her brand new "Birthday" video". KiddNation. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  33. ^ Alexander, Ella (April 24, 2014). "Katy Perry gatecrashes a children's birthday party and makes everyone cry". The Independent. Independent News and Media. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  34. ^ Carroll, Sarah. "Carson Daly interviews Katy Perry about her "Birthday" music video premiere". 97.1 AMP Radio. CBS. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  35. ^ Garibaldi, Christina (April 24, 2014). "Katy Perry Makes For A Terrifying Clown In 'Birthday': Watch Now". MTV News. Viacom Media Networks. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  36. ^ D'Addario, Daniel (April 22, 2014). "Katy Perry dresses as a Jewish bar mitzvah DJ, tells rabbi jokes in her new "Birthday" video". Salon. Salon Media Group. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  37. ^ Feeman, Nolan. "Katy Perry Is Dressin' Up for "Birthday" Video, For Better or For Worse". Time. Time. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  38. ^ Bacle, Ariana (April 22, 2014). "Katy Perry plays dress-up in music video preview, maybe makes awkward anti-Semitic gesture — VIDEO". Entertainment Weekly. Time. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  39. ^ Frydenlund, Zach (April 24, 2014). "Watch Katy Perry's Video for "Birthday"". Complex. Complex Media. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  40. ^ "Katy Perry – Birthday". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
  41. ^ "Katy Perry – Birthday" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  42. ^ "Katy Perry – Birthday" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  43. ^ "Katy Perry Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  44. ^ "Katy Perry Chart History (Canada AC)". Billboard. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  45. ^ "Katy Perry Chart History (Canada CHR/Top 40)". Billboard. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  46. ^ "Katy Perry Chart History (Canada Hot AC)". Billboard. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  47. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201418 into search.
  48. ^ "Chart Track: Week 20, 2014". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
  49. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Katy Perry" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  50. ^ "Katy Perry – Birthday" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  51. ^ "Katy Perry – Birthday". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  52. ^ http://gaonchart.co.kr/digital_chart/index.php?nationGbn=E&current_week=19&current_year=2014&chart_Time=week
  53. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
  54. ^ "Katy Perry Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
  55. ^ "Katy Perry Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  56. ^ "Katy Perry Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
  57. ^ "Katy Perry Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  58. ^ "Katy Perry Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  59. ^ "CHR/Top 40". Radio & Records. Archived from the original on April 11, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  60. ^ "Rhythmic". Radio & Records. Archived from the original on April 11, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  61. ^ "BBC Radio 1xtra Playlist". April 28, 2014. Archived from the original on April 28, 2014.

External links

Template:Katy Perry songs

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