Jill Sobule Finally Lets Her “Katy Perry Sucks” Flag Fly

noah | August 3, 2009 2:30 pm

When Katy Perry’s Girls Gone Semi-Wild For The Sake Of Riling Up Any Men Around song “I Kissed A Girl” first made inroads into the pop consciousness, singer/songwriter Jill Sobule—who’d made a few alt-rock waves with an identically titled, yet 10% as annoying track 13 years earlier—was semi-diplomatic. “Katy Perry’s song is a kind of catchy party song,” Sobule told Entertainment Weekly, “although I will admit that I do smile when a critique mentions my version in a more favorable light. Is that wrong?” Well, a lot can happen over 14-ish months, and such was the case with Sobule, who in an interview with the online mag The Rumpus dropped any sense of diplomacy and went straight to name-calling. Also swearing!

The other thing people inevitably ask about is “I Kissed a Girl.” For those that don’t know or are very young, I had a song in 1995 called, “I Kissed a Girl.” When Katy Perry’s version came out I started getting tons of inquiries about what I thought. Some folks (and protective friends) were angry, and wondered why she took my title and made it into this kind of ”girls gone wild” thing. Others, including my mother, were excited because they thought I would somehow make some money out of it. Unfortunately you can’t copyright a title… bummer. As a musician I have always refrained from criticizing another artist. I was, “well, good for her.” It did bug me a little bit, however, when she said she came up with the idea for the title in a dream. In truth, she wrote it with a team of professional writers and was signed by the very same guy that signed me in 1995. I have not mentioned that in interviews as I don’t want to sound bitter or petty… cause, that’s not me. Okay, maybe, if I really think about it, there were a few jealous and pissed off moments. So here goes, for the first time in an interview: Fuck you Katy Perry, you fucking stupid, maybe “not good for the gays,” title thieving, haven’t heard much else, so not quite sure if you’re talented, fucking little slut. God that felt good.

OK then! I’m not really sure what throwing the whole “slut” thing in there does for the discourse, but I bet it felt good for Jill regardless. The Rumpus Interview With Jill Sobule [The Rumpus via The Daily Swarm]