i'm all for girl power, but ...

Katy Perry's new song "Roar" is less of a roar, a call to arms, and more of a yodel. Of course, as I think about her other hits yodeling does appear to be her go-to mode of singing ("California Gurls," "The One That Got Away"). Being the mom of a nine-year-old who loves "girl music," I tend to pay a little bit more attention to some of the latest pop anthems than I might ordinarily.

So many of Katy's recent songs trumpet her new freedom, not-too-subtly referencing her recent divorce from Russell Brand ("Part of Me," "Wide Awake"). The couple always seemed a mismatch, but it should be noted that at least in personal matters, the outspoken and frequently outrageous Brand has been notably quiet about Perry, before, during, and after the divorce.

But back to "Roar," which seems less an empowerment anthem and more of a competition to see how many clichés to fit into a pop song:

I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath
Scared to rock the boat and make a mess
So I sat quietly, agreed politely
I guess that I forgot I had a choice
I let you push me past the breaking point
I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything

You held me down, but I got up
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, you hear that sound
Like thunder, gonna shake the ground
You held me down, but I got up
Get ready cause I’ve had enough
I see it all, I see it now

I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire
Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me ROAR
Louder, louder than a lion
Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me ROAR
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You’re gonna hear me roar

Now I’m floating like a butterfly
Stinging like a bee I earned my stripes
I went from zero, to my own hero

You held me down, but I got up
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, you hear that sound
Like thunder, gonna shake the ground
You held me down, but I got up
Get ready ’cause I’ve had enough
I see it all, I see it now

And then the chorus and the yodeling repeats and repeats.

It actually took five people to string all of those clichés together: Katy Perry, Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, and Henry Walter are all credited as writers on the song. "Roar" has also been accused of being extremely similar to Sara Bareilles's song Brave. They are both in current frequent rotation on pop radio. Bareilles doesn't roar in her song, but she doesn't yodel, either.

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