After singing in church during her childhood, she pursued a career in gospel music as a teenager. Perry signed with Red Hill Records and released her debut studio album Katy Hudson under her birth name in 2001, which was commercially unsuccessful. She moved to Los Angeles the following year to venture into secular music after Red Hill ceased operations and she subsequently began working with producers Glen Ballard, Dr. Luke, and Max Martin. After adopting the stage name 'Katy Perry' and being dropped by The Island Def Jam Music Group and Columbia Records, she signed a recording contract with Capitol Records in April 2007.
Perry rose to fame in 2008 with her second album, One of the Boys, a pop rock record containing the controversial U.S number one song "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold". Three subsequent albums have topped the U.S. Billboard 200. The disco-influenced Teenage Dream (2010) spawned five chart-topping U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles–"California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T.", and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" — a record tying her with Michael Jackson's "Bad". Its follow-up record Prism (2013) was inspired by her divorce, and incorporates pop and dance along with themes of self-reflection, everyday life, and relationships. With the music videos for its chart-topping songs "Roar" and "Dark Horse", Perry became the first artist to have multiple videos reach one billion views on Vevo. Her 2017 electropop album, 'Witness' featured a political subtext and a theme of liberation. Her sixth studio album 'Smile' followed in 2020.
Perry has nine U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number one singles and has received various awards, including four Guinness World Records, five Billboard Music Awards, five American Music Awards, a Brit Award, and a Juno Award. She has been included in the annual Forbes lists of highest-earning women in music from 2011 to 2019. Her estimated net worth as of 2016 is $125 million. Perry is one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 18 million albums and 125 million singles worldwide. In film, she released an autobiographical documentary titled "Katy Perry: Part of Me" in 2012, and voiced Smurfette in the 2011 film The Smurfs and its sequel in 2013. Her Super Bowl halftime show performance is the most watched in history. Perry also began serving as a judge on American Idol in 2018.
One That Got Away
Katy Perry Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We make-out in your Mustang to Radiohead
And on my eighteenth birthday, we got matching tattoos
Used to steal your parents liquor and climb to the roof
Talk about our future like we had a clue
Never planned that one day I'd be losing you
We keep all our promises, be us against the world
In another life, I would make you stay
So I don't have to say you were the one that got away
The one that got away
I was June and you were my Johnny Cash
Never one without the other, we made a pact
Sometimes when I miss you, I put those records on, whoa
Someone said you had your tattoo removed
Saw you downtown, singing the blues
It's time to face the music, I'm no longer your muse
In another life, I would be your girl
We keep all our promises, be us against the world
In another life, I would make you stay
So I don't have to say you were the one that got away
The one that got away
The one, the one, the one
The one that got away
All this money can't buy me a time machine, no
Can't replace you with a million rings, no
I should'a told you what you meant to me, whoa
Cause now I pay the price
In another life, I would be your girl
We keep all our promises, be us against the world
In another life, I would make you stay
So I don't have to say you were the one that got away
The one that got away
The one (the one)
The one (the one)
The one (the one)
In another life, I would make you stay
So I don't have to say you were the one that got away
The one that got away
"The One That Got Away" by Katy Perry is a heart-wrenching depiction of the loss of a loved one. The song reminisces about a past fling that turned into a serious relationship. It talks about how they met during the summer after high school and how they indulged in rebellious activities such as stealing alcohol from their parents to climb to the roof and talk about their future. The lyrics express how they had a good understanding of each other and make a pact, stating that they would keep their promises and be together against the world. The tragedy of the song lies in how the singer realizes too late that they could have made better choices which would have led to happiness with their lost love.
The lyrics also showcase the regret and sorrow that the singer feels when they find out that their love interest is no longer with them. They realize that they have lost their muse, which leaves them feeling incomplete. The song revolves around the concept of alternate life where the singer thinks of a life where they could have made their love interest stay and avoid the hurt of losing them.
The song conveys the bittersweet pain of being trapped in the past, unable to move on from the memories of a love that could have been. A powerful message that stands out is, "All this money can't buy me a time machine, can't replace you with a million rings." It shows that the singer values the memories and the love that they had with their lost partner more than anything else.
Line by Line Meaning
Summer after high school, when we first met
Our love story started during the summer after we graduated high school
We make-out in your Mustang to Radiohead
We used to passionately kiss in your Mustang while listening to Radiohead
And on my eighteenth birthday, we got matching tattoos
We permanently marked ourselves by getting matching tattoos on my eighteenth birthday
Used to steal your parents liquor and climb to the roof
We used to sneak alcohol from your parents and hang out on the roof
Talk about our future like we had a clue
We used to discuss our future together, even though we had no real direction or plan
Never planned that one day I'd be losing you
We never could have predicted that one day we would break up and go our separate ways
In another life, I would be your girl
If things were different, I would still be with you and we would be happy together
We keep all our promises, be us against the world
We would always keep our promises to each other and face everything together as a team
So I don't have to say you were the one that got away
I wish I could go back in time and make things work with you so that I wouldn't have to refer to you as 'the one that got away'
I was June and you were my Johnny Cash
Our love was like the legendary romance between June Carter and Johnny Cash
Never one without the other, we made a pact
We promised to always be together and never leave each other's side
Sometimes when I miss you, I put those records on, whoa
When I'm feeling nostalgic and missing you, I listen to our favorite music together
Someone said you had your tattoo removed
I heard a rumor that you got rid of the tattoo we got together as a symbol of our love
Saw you downtown, singing the blues
I saw you in town looking sad and upset, like you were singing the blues
It's time to face the music, I'm no longer your muse
I realize it's time to accept that I am no longer the inspiration for your art or creativity
All this money can't buy me a time machine, no
No matter how much money I have, I can't go back in time to fix our relationship
Can't replace you with a million rings, no
No amount of material possessions or gifts could ever replace the love I had for you
I should'a told you what you meant to me, whoa
I regret not telling you how much you truly meant to me when we were together
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: KATY PERRY, LUKASZ GOTTWALD, MAX MARTIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@mmmm-lg2mj
Ikr? I think this goes well with Bokuaka⬇️
I loved you long before we met
Life was gentle, there was beauty everywhere, in every moment,
Yet my heart was unfulfilled.
In a world of vast contrasts between good and bad,
I pondered on the notion of love.
My beloved, where are you? I often thought,
I would sit under the canopy of a beautiful tree.
Looking at the night sky….
I wondered if you were also looking up at the same stars,
Wondering where I was……Yet we had not met yet.
Like a warm breeze,
I met you some years later,
All I know is I loved you long before we met
@anneesteban2942
When i was a kid i didn't realize what does it feel. Now i am crying
@atakechi5574
Same
@sydnicunningham6926
i understand, there is a cover that makes you cry. It’s soooo sad
@spiraljinxx9891
i am crying rn help
@hmingteimahmingtei3661
Me too😢😭nowadays
@priscillagonmei4302
Same here😪
@anpgl
This Katy era hits different.
@lottieplater4663
It was iconic
@weekndenjoyer
i love her old music :(
@bubub3321
I love her old music and i love her new music...