Kelly Clarkson - "I Do Not Hook Up"
Ah, yes, "I Do Not Hook Up." This is probably the most well-known Perry-penned song on this list, and with good reason. Kelly Clarkson took the song, made it her own and almost took it to the top of the charts. It would have probably stood a better chance at number one if Clarkson hadn't taken out the best line in the whole song -- "So if you want me, I don't come cheap/Keep your thing in your pants, your heart on your sleeve" -- and made it decidedly a little less Katy Perry, who named the original just "Hook Up." The Disneyfied version: "Keep your hand in my hand, your heart on your sleeve."
Katy's version: Kelly's version:
Jessie James - "The Girl Next Door"
This is the best Katy Perry song that wasn't. This one has Katy singing about her rising fame. Which made sense, because when the song leaked, she had just released "Waking Up in Vegas." What's odd here is hearing Jessie James sing the song -- the lyrics just don't make sense with her chirping them because, well, have you heard of Jessie James? Precisely. What's more, Katy's version was only a demo, and it trumps the one by Jessie James, who added flair here and there and called it good. Wrong.
Katy's version: Jessie's version:
Selena Gomez & The Scene - "Rock God"
Here's another example of having another singer take on a song that only makes sense when Katy Perry sings it. This one was written with religious metaphors, undoubtedly inspired by Perry's upbringing in a devoutly Christian household. It falls flat, mostly because Selena just doesn't have the same breadth of religious experience to back up lyrics like "Father, I'm torn and I'm selling my soul/To the rhythm, the beat, and the bass." Bless her, Father, for she has not sinned.
Katy's version: Selena's version:
Kelly Clarkson - "Long Shot"
Gotta hand it to Clarkson: Of all the re-recorded versions of Katy Perry demos, this one takes the cake for differing so much from the original. No, the lyrics are not changed, but the production is drastically different. We actually prefer Kelly's version here -- not for it's more polished sound, but for substituting the awkward guitar plucks in the original for something with more oomph, riffs that come from a guitar that is actually plugged in.
Katy's version: Kelly's version:
Jessie James - "Bullet"
Katy's demo for "Bullet" hasn't leaked, but the song is confirmed (like all of the others on this list) by ASCAP to have been co-written by Perry. We're willing to bet Katy's version doesn't have the same country twang James' does, and it probably has more grit to it -- since Katy's early stuff had a rougher edge than the more polished sound of her more recent songs like "Hot N Cold." Unlike Kelly Clarkson with "I Do Not Hook Up," though, Jessie James keeps all of Katy's semi-cliched tongue-in-cheek lyrics intact on her version of "Bullet": "Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
Jessie's version:
See Also:
- Could Katy Perry be as "Bad" as Michael Jackson? It's certainly looking that way
- Could Katy Perry's new single break MJ's record, or merely be "The One That Got Away"?
- Katy Perry's "The One That Got Away" gets the acoustic treatment
