Baby You're a Firework!

I'm having a moment.

I've fallen in love with a sappy, manipulative, incredibly commercial top 40 pop song — post chart peak no less — aimed at approximately teenage level, and I'm not sorry about it. The song is Katy Perry's "Firework," and that's the extraordinarily uplifting video for it above. Filmed in Budapest of all places, it's got a chubby teen girl dealing with self esteem and courage, kissing gay boys, a child with cancer, a kid defusing violence with magic and another kid stopping a battering parent. It's got happy happy people dancing in unison and cool and improbable special effects, and it all adds up to a positive inspirational message about self-empowerment. It's got a catchy, anthemic sing-along quality, and while the lyrics are precious almost to the point of preachy, there's something about this song that really grabs me.

"Do you ever feel already buried deep
Six feet under scream
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 you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y"

The truth is I can remember being the person who needed this message. Heck, sometimes today I still need this message. I remember a specific moment in my adult life during my period of spiritual development when I was delivered this message and I remember how much it changed my life. When the world gets hard it can feel like a luxury to hang on to this kind of optimism and resolve. If the memory of being a sometimes alienated teen lives on in my middle-aged psyche, this song's dose of self-empowerment and spiritual reaffirmation comes as a refreshing reminder of, well, my own talents and abilities.

Go ahead, call me a little girl.