As Katy Perry gradually regains all of her confidence back after the critical massacre of her 2017 album, Witness, yet another single slated for what will now be her sixth album speaks to her renewed sense of self-worth. Called “Smile,” it’s in keeping with the cheeseball brand Perry has been running with ever since March’s “Never Worn White,” which we can first trace her proud showcasing of being pregnant to, later extended into the “Daisies” video, a concept we’re supposed to be wowed by because Perry briefly appears in the buff to reveal an even more “intimate” look at her baby bump (arguably one of the grossest terms used to allude to pregnancy).
With “Smile,” the sense of optimism that comes so easily before one actually has to deal with the child outside the womb is manifest in the chorus, “Yeah, I’m thankful/Scratch that, baby, I’m grateful/Gotta say it’s really been a while/But now I got back that smile.” Essentially discussing in a redundant fashion–that somehow finds a way to mention Lionel Richie (of all the people to choose for having a great smile, he really isn’t the first to come to mind)–how happy she is now, the single is in the sonic vein of a one-off she released last year, “Small Talk” (noticeably missing from Smile’s track listing). This single, too, is also as brief, seeming to iterate that Perry is already on her “I’m a mom, I don’t got time for this shit” tip.
While neither “Small Talk” nor “Never Worn White” seem to be appearing on Smile with the other previously released singles, including “Never Really Over,” “Daisies” and “Harleys in Hawaii,” these are the songs that most seem to set the tone for Perry taking comfort in banality. That the song she’s chosen to call “Smile” is a successor to a better track of the same name from Lily Allen also speaks to a certain complacency in her lack of originality. And while, yes, there are many other songs that feature the word smile, few are straight up called this one-word command that always annoys when delivered from the licked lips of a man on the street. You’ve got Sia’s “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile,” The Killers’ “Smile Like You Mean It” and Bad English’s ultra maudlin “When I See You Smile,” to name a few. But no one has really deigned to steal Lily Allen’s signature from her–the track that launched her entire career–possibly because it’s too iconic to touch. Apparently, however, Uncle Kracker (but we’re not really counting him) and Katy Perry didn’t get the memo.
Nor does she seem to fathom that her “Covid journey” isn’t that relatable, try as she might to make it resonate with lyrics speaking to her post-Witness depression in the form of, “Every day, Groundhog Day/Goin’ through motions, felt so fake.” Bia, at least you ain’t going through that now, when things have never been worse. So yes, one would rather hear the lilting notes of Allen sing, “At first when I see you cry/It makes me smile/Yeah, it makes me smile/At worst I feel bad for a while, but then I just smile.” The accompanying video of revenge features Allen paying off various people to fuck with her ex in cruel and unexpected ways (she herself lacing his coffee with a laxative while he isn’t around). Later, she notes, “I was so lost back then/But with a little help from my friends/I found the light in the tunnel at the end”–the very sentiment Perry rips off in explaining the “origin” of her own “Smile,” commenting that it’s about “finding the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Amusingly enough, Lily Allen, via Instagram, “hearted” Katy Perry’s posting of the album cover image, styling herself as a clown with ennui atop the word “Smile,” positioned itself in the upward turn of one. Maybe Allen has no hard feelings solely because she knows her single is leaps and bounds ahead of whatever this Taylor Swift wannabe shit Perry is trying to pull with her positive vibes. And, in fact, “Chained to Rhythm” (the first single from Witness) is more listenable. Alas, because Perry couldn’t take a bit of criticism for her last record, she’s going in an even more phony baloney direction.
