Black Widow was an official single by an Australian artist and Dark Horse was only ever a promo single here, that's why. But I agree, BW gets much more recurrent airplay than DH. But DH still gets an astounding amount of airplay for a promo single, I mean promo singles are rarely played on radios anyway. They only really make exceptions for hyped artists (Dark Horse, Walking On Air and Out Of The Woods were all played here when they were first released).

Interesting story about this though.

In September of last year, a friend of mine was talking about the current state of music, (and how amazing Beyonce is, Katy teas tbh ), and he was like "Have you heard Katy Perry's new song?" and I said "Oh TIHWD, right?". He then had a bit of a rant and then said "yeah. Anybody could have performed that song. How can anyone like her?"

My heart sunk a bit, but then some other people agreed with him; I died a bit inside

I think people just associate it with being "the MasterChef song".

It's actually funny because it's one of those songs that sounds like anyone could pull it off, but like... can you imagine Taylor trying to do it? (well she already tried it in SIO's bridge, and it was a disaster) Gaga? Rihanna? No. It just wouldn't work. It's one of the few instances where a monotone melody helps the song. Like if Jessie J or Tori Kelly were to sing it they'd add all of those vocal runs and it'd just be a trainwreck.

he didn't lie. it's not katy's signature brand of pop perfection™, and it's a weaker more generic LFN

any kpop group couldve used that song tbh

I'm conflicted on this though.

I'm not sure if I should I be proud that only Katy can pull of a song with such a monotonous melody or not.

Literally what is generic about This Is How We Do though? "Generic" is so overused.

"Dance until we die" is a generic lyric. Pretty much every line in TIHWD are one-liner perfection. Grabbing tacos checking out hotties, Chanel this Chanel that, Mariah karaoke >>>

TIHWD is still a bop though. i know a lot of people who like it.

and generic can just mean not provoking/interesting enough. but again when it comes to art everything is subjective

I'll concede that the "Mariah Karaoke" line was smart and well-played and if it were a bigger hit, it could've been iconic.

Confession: I like the Riff-Raff remix more than the original I hate myself for it but the production's slightly better and I don't like the spoken word bridge.

You have to learn to appreciate the minimalism of the top-line vocals, melody and lyrics which perfectly contrasts the busy production. I swear I still listen to that song and hear a new synth or sound in the production which I haven't heard before.

Actually TIHWD is not generic. The Super Rica line alone >>>

The verses are far from generic, literally nobody would even think to use some of those lines. They're perfect. The most generic part is the chorus, but I still find it interesting enough... and the phrase "this is how we do" is slightly less generic than the similar "this is how we do it" or "this is how we roll". Plus the "do do, do do" is iconic.

it's essentially LFN 2.0, the most immature single she's done (how did it do on Adult Contemporary?) & entirely chanted in 1 note

her lyricism is great though. dem punchlines destroy me

And this makes it bad why? It's something fresh and different. Using autotune to make yourself sound like you can sing higher than you really can <

Australian iTunes:

Must have had some birthdays today.

EVERY PRISM single still charting though.

i guess there's nothing wrong with it being in 1 note but it still is strictly immature and doesn't really have that signature katy perry pop perfection quality that transcends demographics with an adult contemporary feel

Katy released TIHWD because it was the last time she was going for a funny party song. K4 won't have any of those

yeah it was the last chance for her to be as colorful as she can before turning 30 and i can't really blame her

The entire PRISM era was based around the Teenage Dream era (not that we didn't already know that).

Roar was the California Gurls, the feel good song that everyone could get into.
Dark Horse was the Circle The Drain, the edgy/darker promo single.
Walking On Air was the Not Like The Movies, song about love feeling extraordinary.
Unconditionally was the Teenage Dream, airy pop songs about loving someone and what that feels like.
Birthday was the Firework, anthem based around a certain time period with hopes of recurrent/seasonal sales.
Legendary Lovers was the E.T., intended to be remixed singles which were a change of pace but still had pop roots.
This Is How We Do was the Last Friday Night, very fun party pop songs about living it up and having a crazy life.

...

I'm pretty sure this is how the era was intended to go, considering Katy said LL would be a "later single" and Birthday was "supposed to be released earlier". My theory is that the strong public reaction to Dark Horse was never anticipated so when they made it a single it took the place of LL as the "change of pace" single with a rapper. Then things went back to as they were planned with Birthday and TIHWD and it didn't work out as well as they'd hoped.

Given this logic, "Ghost" would probably have been the sixth single as it's a Dr. Luke produced pop ballad about someone who Katy loved getting away.

Roar on the radio right now, #4-peaking smash hit