Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
Drifting through the wind
Wanting to start again

Do you ever feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards
One blow from caving in

Do you ever feel already buried deep
Six feet under screams
But no one seems to hear a thing

Do you know that there's still a chance for you
'Cause there's a spark in you

You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the fourth of July

'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what your worth
Make 'em go "oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby you're a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make 'em go "oh, oh, oh!"
You're gonna leave 'em falling down down down

You don't have to feel like a waste of space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow

Maybe a reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow
And when it's time, you'll know

You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the fourth of July

'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what your worth
Make 'em go "oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby you're a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make 'em go "oh, oh, oh!"
You're gonna leave 'em all in awe-awe-awe

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
And it's always been inside of you you you
And now it's time to let it through

'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what your worth
Make 'em go "oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby you're a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make 'em go "oh, oh, oh!"
You're gonna leave 'em all in awe awe awe



Lyrics submitted by thoseguiltyeyes

Track duration: 03:48

"Firework" as written by Katy Perry, Mikkel Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Sandy Julien Wilhelm, Esther Dean

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Ultra Tunes, EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Firework song meanings
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46 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment:This song depicts perfectly the agony and feelings that someone experiences while going through a major bout of explosive diarrhea. This one hit me in the feels.

    I know I'm not alone.
    Flagged FishKIsseron May 01, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?
    Well, to drift is somewhat difficult for even a slight man, especially in the mere presence of a wind. One suspects that a certain amount of metaphoric hyperbole is being.. mmm... judiciously applied here, but nevertheless, one appreciates the sentiment involved.
    Everyone wants to start again, except for those few that are happy, and most of them obtain it from ignorance anyway.
    One does not feel particularly thin, but one envies those that do, as surely it is better to be thin rather than fat. An absurd line, 0/10.
    I would also argue that everyone feels like the third line, here, and thus this seems to be something of a pointless, melodramatic plea for attention. Now, really, do grow up.
    The second paragraph raises many-a-point of contention, oh yes, my, my word, quite, indeed.
    Feeling buried deep - aha, ahaha, sex - would make it somewhat difficult to breathe.
    And, since we are, as are the majority of living creatures on this planet, breathing...
    This must be regarded as something of a moot point, if one could be so bold, aha, ahaha, ahaha, ahaha, oh my.
    Now I resent fully the implication that the 4th of July -- a perfectly nondescript date for MOST denizens of this planet, I might add -- is an occasion to celebrate anything, much less own it. Outrageous, untempered patriotism. Disgusting.
    Furthermore, one does postulate that if a light is already functioned in its natural capacity, as it were, it does not need to be further lit, if one may be so bold, to further quantify, yes indeed.
    In short, this line is rendered unintelligible, meaningless nonsense of the very lowest calibre. Utterly abhorrent; an abomination indeed.
    But particular attention must regrettably be given to the final line -- oh, how tortuous an ending! -- in which we are compared to a small, combustable, flame-propelled rocketed powder-contraption, a most noisy, coarse, base and boorish device seemingly constructed to entertain the plebians in their foolhardy, dangerous, unclean ways.
    [Such an abomination on literature I had not thought possible. An absolute disgrace.
    Flagged benperrott2on November 15, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song seems to be paying tribute to Alan Ball. The opening stanza she sings about a plastic bag caught in the wind. This is a poignant image from the film American Beauty, which was written by Alan Ball. Then a few lines later she sings "six feet under" which is the name of a television series created by Mr. Ball.

    I wonder if she consciously decide to pay tribute to him or if it was a coincidence.
    Flag Cool Cozon January 13, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Memory:I haven't much to write about interpretation, but I know she has cited Kerouac's 'On the road' as an influence to writing this song.
    Flag ysgwrnon November 25, 2011   Link
  • -1
    Song Meaning:really? 80 comments and no one has pointed out the obvious phallic/sexual undertones?

    1st verse is basically addressing people with phallic insecurities:
    first stanza: hey, need some viagra?
    second: does your penis ever feel really small and one "blow" from premature ejaculation?
    third: do you feel like you're so "deeply in" that you want to scream, but your partner seems to not even notice?

    the pre-chorus and chorus and the chorus should be pretty self-explanatory: be proud of your member! i mean, igniting the spark so that your bursting colors shoot across the sky (oh oh oh)? comeon!

    after a hurricane (something that blows) comes a "rainbow"
    2nd verse 2nd stanza: possibly rape encouragement... this one actually threw me off a bit

    the moon isn't actually /that/ bright, so it's not impossible that 'whatever has been inside this person' is, indeed, brighter than it.



    now, that was meant as a half-joke (and was terribly uncomfortable to write... but i got the idea and had to go through with it xP), but i seriously think the songwriter was aware of and laughed about all the double entendres, while still sticking to a generic individuality-encouraging text and intending that to be the "real" meaning.
    Flagged fhellstromon September 24, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The other day, I heard Katy Perry on the radio saying how she wrote this song after she heard that people, instead of being buried ("Do you ever feel already buried deep, six feet under? Scream, but no one seems to hear a thing") or having their ashes thrown ("Do you ever feel like a plastic bag, drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?") they would be packed into a firework and sent off to light up the sky in an explosion of colour. Even if you feel like an ordinary person, you are special and cannot be replaced, and as amazing as a firework, and therefore deserve a unique ending to your great life.
    Flagged megaanon July 26, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:There are some things I really like with this song, and some I don't.

    *The melody is catchy. Both the verses, the pre-chorus, the chorus and the bridge.
    A complete hit when solely speaking of the melody and structure.

    *The 'firework' metaphor is great, as well as some of the similes in the lyric (...like a plastic bag, drifting through the wind etc.)

    -----

    *The lyrics are badly written, considering what a great hook and idea they have in 'Firework' as a metaphor. I mean, a big part of it sounds like it's written by a fourteen year old. There is no 'realness' to it. It doesn't feel like the writers, really mean what they are saying. Probably because it is written by five different people, as opposed to a single writer with something personal to say.

    *I like the acoustic version (youtube.com/…) about 10.000 times more, because the "stupid" dance rhythm takes away all the emotion in the idea of the song. It sounds like a partysong, when it should be a song for reflection. Well, that's what happens when all they think about is ca$h, ca$h, ca$h :)

    All in all, one of the better big time commercial songs in the latter years, but I can't help the feeling that they could have done SO much more with it!
    Flag JMMJon July 10, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is about how everyone is special in their own way. Like how every firework has it's own different shape, color, ect. It's one of my favorites off of TD.
    Flag bsfan18on June 09, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Well...This song was mildly annoying and catchy until today. I took charge of something that's been bothering me for a while, and stood strong while someone screamed and spit in my face. That person did not appreciate me. I knew it for a while, but one little thing they told me made me snap.
    Then when I got home to take a shower and wash off all the hate that had come my way, this song came on. And it was exactly what I needed. Well, at the time I heard the lyrics as "Cause baby I know what you're worth" and the song was inviting the listener to show off their talents and beauty (literal and figurative) to the world. And it was perfect.

    Listening to the song later it's just catchy and meaningless. But it made that moment of my life almost perfect. Thanks, Katy Perry.
    Flag Tymeron April 02, 2011   Link
  • -2
    Song Meaning:This song is about this girl telling another girl to show everyone how massive her orgasms to be and that she can give really good head if she just put her mind to it.
    Flag Nihilistraon March 20, 2011   Link

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