Katy Perry often goes all out for her music videos, and “Watch It Burn,” her newest single, is no different. It begins with the “American Idol” star on a medical table, groggy and out of it, looking at the dark, blotchy marks all over her hands and arms. At one point, a scorpion tail comes out from under the table and pushes away one of the Hazmat-suited doctors. After a priest blesses her, she pulls the IV out of her arm and begins wandering the hallways. She steals a jeep, washes the black stuff off, goes through a car wash, and sprouts a scorpion tail.
Bagels and ‘Lobotomies’
While the video tells a vivid story about the pain and anger associated with a past relationship and finding yourself again, her behind-the-scenes video takes a slightly more lighthearted approach. She even captioned the Instagram reel “grwm [get ready with me] to get a lobotomy.”
The reel shows behind-the-scenes photos and a portion of the video, along with the director reminding her what to do in a specific scene. In one video, she lies on a hospital table and points out fake brains on a nearby counter. “Because I’m having a lobotomy,” she said to the camera. In another, she describes one of the sandwiches that she can make.
“I make turkey sandwiches on an everything bagel,” she explained. “I toast it first, put a little butter on there. I put turkey on there. And then I put raw onion, lettuce, slice of tomato. And, actually, the biggest hack is that I never use the bottoms of the everything bagel. I only use two tops.”
She also admits that she knows “it’s a little bit of a luxury” to be able to use two bagels to make one sandwich. She excuses it by saying, “I just want flavor on both sides.”
Wrestling with the Darkness: The Real Meaning Behind the Song
The “Firework” singer has always loved sharing behind-the-scenes info with fans, whether it’s for her music videos or concerts. But it’s obvious that this particular video and song means a lot to her, with the singer posting a first glimpse on June 18.
“In ‘Watch It Burn,’ I am wrestling with my darkness,” she explained to Justin Tranter on his Unfamous podcast. “But last year was pretty tough. I have not given myself permission to be angry my whole life over things where I should be [expletive] angry about. What I’ve done is I’ve pushed it down, but I should be [expletive] angry.”
Perry’s video for “Watch It Burn” pairs a dramatic, symbolic story with a lighter behind-the-scenes reel where she jokes about a “lobotomy” and shares her turkey sandwich recipe. Despite the playful BTS content, the song clearly comes from a genuinely personal place, describing it as her way of finally letting herself feel anger she’d suppressed for years.
