Katy Perry's 10 Best (and Worst) Songs

If pop music was an Olympic sport, Katy Perry would have five gold medals. Maybe even 10. The singer (and new mom!) has such a heavy arsenal of hits that it's almost intimidating. Her music influenced the sound and style of an entire decade, and her legacy continues in 2020. Perry dropped her sixth studio album, Smile, in August, and while some of the new songs are very crying-in-the-club, others recapture that optimistic, sugary sound we love from her. 

One song from the new record, “Never Really Over,” makes our list of Katy Perry's 10 best songs of all time. The other nine are some of the most recognizable, iconic, and impactful hits in pop history. Of course, Perry does have some misfires in her catalog—which we've also called out—but the sweet far outweighs the sour. Read on, and listen, below. 

Best

10. “Never Really Over" 

Following 2017's polarizing Witness album, Perry decided to let her hair down—literally—for “Never Really Over,” a stuttering, mathematical block of EDM-pop that's damn near impossible to get out of your head. Just like every good Katy Perry song. 

9.  “Thinking of You"

Perry has several gorgeous downtempo moments in her catalog—"Unconditionally!" “The One That Got Away!”—but “Thinking of You,” a fan favorite, is her most emotional. Maybe that's because the gloss we know (and love) on most KP songs is swapped out for some good ‘ol fashioned angst. It’s one of Perry's rawest vocal performances, but that chorus still packs a punch. 

8.  “Swish Swish," featuring Nicki Minaj 

Critics and even some fans wrote off Perry's Witness album as a “failure,” but it does have moments of brilliance. One of them is the house-inspired “Swish, Swish,” with its basement rave-ready beat and cheeky lyrics that may or may not be about Taylor Swift. They squashed their beef, ultimately, but “Swish Swish” was a very fun (and catchy) chapter in the drama. 

7.  “Waking Up in Vegas" 

"Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" and “Waking Up in Vegas” were neck-and-neck for this spot—the songs are similar, both thematically and sonically, and basically serve the same purpose—but “Waking Up in Vegas” prevailed. The chorus crashes down like a waterfall, and there's a Warped Tour edge to it that, sadly, is missing from Perry's later work. 

6. “California Gurls," featuring Snoop Dogg

The bouncy and buoyant “California Gurls” is the perfect table-setter for Perry's Teenage Dream album, which is a total sugar rush from start to finish. But “CG"—with its chant-like chorus and Cher-adjacent, “Ooooohs!”—may be the most candy-coated track of them all. 

5. “Walking on Air” 

There's an argument to be made that many Katy Perry songs sound the same—especially from 2008 to 2013—but “Walking on Air” is a breath of fresh...well, air. The nineties house-influenced track is more dance than pop yet still comes equipped with a signature Perry chorus. The result? One of her most joyous, bombastic offerings ever. A summery club banger. 

4.  “I Kissed a Girl" 

It'd be wrong not to include the song that skyrocketed Perry's career. Yes, these lyrics are reductive—Perry even said she'd rewrite them—but the sledgehammer beat and all-in vocal delivery are too strong to deny. If Perry could rework the words to make it a genuine queer anthem, we'd be in business. 

3. “Firework” 

“Firework” is one of many self-empowerment anthems to emerge from pop queens in the 2010s—think “Born This Way” and “We R Who We R”—but there's still something special about it. It soundtracked pretty much every graduation from 2010 to 2015, and for good reason. With an exclamatory chorus and lyrics so general anyone can find meaning in them, it's practically the bubblegum national anthem. And I mean that in the best way possible.

2. “Hot N Cold” 

Because Teenage Dream is such a gargantuan album, it's easy to forget the handful of hits Perry had on her previous record, One of the Boys—like “Hot N Cold.” The song is damn-near pop perfection, thanks to a rollercoaster-ride chorus you can't help but scream from the top of your lungs. “YOU! You don't really wanna stay, no! YOU! You don't really wanna go, oh,” I fondly remember wailing from the back of my mom's Nissan in 2008. An earworm for the ages. 

1. “Teenage Dream” 

Very few pop songs have reached the upper echelons of music royalty. You have “Thriller,” “Like a Prayer,” “…Baby One More Time,” and, yes, “Teenage Dream.” “TD” is, simply put, one of the best pop tunes ever crafted—so perfect in its verse-to-chorus build-up, it's almost frightening. In just under four minutes, Perry captures not just the ecstasy of new love but the unbridled joy of being present and alive—of a day so stunning, you hope it never ends. That can't happen, of course. Love fades, we grow up, we move on—but listening to “Teenage Dream" instantly reverts us to that place of sun-drenched naiveté. So, in a way, we are young forever. 

Honorable mentions…because Perry just has too many hits: “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)," “Unconditionally,” “The One That Got Away,” “Part of Me," “Wide Awake,” “Roulette,” “Birthday,” "Bon Appétit," and “Roar." 

Worst

10. “Dressin' Up"

Full disclosure: I love "Dressin' Up," but even I can admit the chaotic, electro-fied chorus feels distinctly 2008. The only problem? This song came out in 2012. 

9.  “Into Me You See” 

This sluggish, lethargic ballad is a low point on Witness. That's not to say Perry can't deliver an arresting ballad—she absolutely can—but “Into Me You See” feels like an afterthought, like something you'd drunkenly play on the the piano at a sticky dive bar. 

8. “Who Am I Living For?”

“Who Am I Living For?” would work brilliantly on Witness, with its dark, synthy production, but it sticks out like a moody sore thumb on the froth-heavy Teenage Dream.

7. “Every Day Is a Holiday”

This song was designed for Perry's 2015 partnership with H&M and that's exactly where it should stay. 

6. “Spiritual” 

The hazy, midtempo “Spiritual” has it charms, but it's ultimately lost in the shuffle of Perry's sparkling Prism album, which includes far better cuts, like “Birthday" and “International Smile.” 

5. “Choose Your Battles” 

“Choose Your Battles” suffers from the same flaws as “Spiritual.” They both straddle the line of Perry ballad and Perry banger, and as a result slip through the cracks. Pop music purgatory!

4. “Power"

Well-intentioned lyrics are drowned out by a bass-heavy production that pounds in your head instead of pulsating through it. The second this song comes on, I'm ready for it to end. 

3. “I'm Still Breathing”

Structurally, “I'm Still Breathing” doesn't make much sense. Groggy, Alanis Morissette-like verses are followed by a breathy refrain that quickly turns grunge again. It's all over the place, which can be fun. But in this song's case, it's unpleasant. 

2. “Mannequin” 

If “Waking Up in Vegas” has Warped Tour edge, “Mannequin” is the whole damn show. So if you don't feel like throwing on your Vans and heavy black liner, leave this song behind…in 2008. 

1. “Ur So Gay” 

Problematic lyrics trump any sonic enjoyment you may get from “Ur So Gay.” For a pop star who became a gay icon of sorts in the latter half of her career, it's shocking she has a song in her discography with such offensive queer tropes. Saying a man is gay because he doesn't eat meat, drives an electrical car, and wears sunscreen? What is happening?

Originally Appeared on Glamour