Legendary Lovers

"Legendary Lovers"
Song by Katy Perry from the album Prism
Recorded 2013;
Playback Recording Studios
(Santa Barbara, California);
MXM Studios
(Stockholm, Sweden);
Luke's in the Boo
(Malibu, California);
Secret Garden Studios
(Montecito, California)
Genre
Length 3:44
Label Capitol
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
Prism track listing
"Roar"
(1)		 "Legendary Lovers"
(2)		 "Birthday"
(3)

"Legendary Lovers" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Katy Perry for her fourth studio album Prism (2013). The song was written by Perry, Bonnie McKee, Cirkut, Dr. Luke, and Max Martin, while the latter three also handled its production. Musically, it is a worldbeat song set to a danceable bhangra beat and is influenced by country music, while its instrumentation is composed of tablas, oriental strings, a coral sitar, and a double violin. Its lyrical content combines Eastern philosophy with mild sexual references, expressing "eternal passion" and also referencing the romances of infamous fictional characters and historical figures. The song received generally mixed reviews from music critics, who praised its production but were ambivalent towards its lyrics. With digital downloads exceeding 2,330, the song entered the South Korea Gaon International Chart (GIC) at number 69.

Background

Bonnie McKee (pictured) co-wrote "Legendary Lovers" with Luke, Martin, Cirkut, and Perry.

Perry told Entertainment Weekly in October 2013 that she penned "Legendary Lovers" through electronic mail, inspired by her then-boyfriend and American musician John Mayer. "We had a long courtship before anything was [public], just writing letters to each other — and seeing 'legendary lovers,' it sounded so nice", she commented on the song's development. "Some things float into my mind, and I process them, and [then] I make songs about them."[1] The track was the second to be written by Perry and Bonnie McKee for the former's fourth studio album Prism (2013). The latter deemed the writing process "fun", and mused that the song was inspired by her own early "Eastern-influenced" material and "classic" Bollywood themes. McKee categorized it as a love song, despite recognizing it had a "could have been" feeling. She stated, "When you're writing love songs, it's always forever; they seem to always last throughout time."[2]

The recording of "Legendary Lovers" took place at various studios, including Playback Recording Studios in Santa Barbara, California, MXM Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, Luke's in the Boo in Malibu, California and Secret Garden Studios in Montecito, California. Serban Ghenea and mixing engineer John Hanes mixed the song at MixStar Studios, located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Audio engineering was helmed by Peter Carlsson, Clint Gibbs, Sam Holland, and Michael Illbert; Rachael Findlen, Justin Fox, Elliott Lanam and Cory Bice served as assistant engineers. Dr. Luke played coral sitar, Gingger Shankar played the double violin, Ronobir Lahiri played sitar and Aditya Kalyanpur played tabla. The track's producers Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Cirkut programmed the instruments.[3]

Composition
"Legendary Lovers"
A 19-second sample of "Legendary Lovers", a worldbeat and folk song including tablas and sitars. Its lyrics discuss karma and infinity and reference characters including Cleopatra.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

At a length of three minutes and forty-four seconds (3:44),[4] "Legendary Lovers" is a "mystical" worldbeat and folk song,[5][6][7] replete with sitars, tablas, a double violin and oriental strings".[8][9] "Legendary Lovers" contains danceable beats and a fast-sung pre-chorus. Musically, it contains elements of country music,[3][10] It is composed in the key of E minor and set in a 4/4 time signature at a metronome of 126 beats per minute. The melody spans the tonal range of B3 to E5, while the music follows the chord progression of C—G—Em—D.[11] Its bridge is characterised by an instrumental percussion break, which was likened to Timbaland's works.[10] At a listening party for Prism in September 2013, Perry described "Legendary Lovers" as having "a little bit of curry in it".[12]

Lyrically, it discusses infinity and karma,[13] and revolves around Eastern philosophy,[9] which is used to describe the "eternal passion she and her man could experience".[5] Perry makes references to historical and infamous characters, including Cleopatra and Romeo and Juliet protagonist Juliet, which are well known for their romances.[5] In the chorus, Perry sings "Take me down to the river / Underneath the blood-orange sun / Say my name like a scripture / Keep my heart beating like a drum", which Jason Lipshutz from Billboard classified as the album's "most interesting chorus".[13] John Walker from MTV Buzzworthy opined that "Legendary Lovers" was reminiscent of Perry's "Pentecostal upbringing",[14] while Rob Harvilla from Spin deemed it a "Bollywood swipe" and a "boudoir jam".[15]

Critical reception

Perry performing "Legendary Lovers" on her Prismatic World Tour.

"Legendary Lovers" received mostly mixed reviews from music critics, who, despite praising the instrumentation and overall production, criticized its lyrical content. Helen Brown from The Daily Telegraph found the lyrics to be subpar to the "great, playfully exotic tune", describing them as being "of the level you might find in a day spa".[9] Jon Dolan from Rolling Stone compared the song to works by Robyn and Lykke Li, stating that they "go for a darker, moodier intimacy", and that they "set stark revelations to torrential Euro splendor".[16] Allison Stewart from The Washington Post described the lyrics as "one-size-fits-all spiritual catchphrases of someone who once read a self-help book in an airport".[17]

Sam Lansky from Idolator thought the song "didn't feel like a surprise" in Prism, although he considered that its chorus was the album's "catchiest". He also thought the first verse had "closet shade" directed to Christina Aguilera and Lady Gaga.[18] Trent Wolfe from The Verge hailed the song's chorus, recognizing it as grand, and praised Dr. Luke for "transforming obscure sounds into popular ones".[19] Glenn Gamboa from Newsday criticized "Legendary Lovers"' lyrical content, describing the song as "such a bad 'tribute' to Buddhism and Indian music that it's practically a joke, with lyrics like 'I feel my lotus bloom' and 'You are my destiny, my mantra'".[20] Jason Lipshutz from Billboard acknowledged "unforgivingly clobbered" drums on the chorus.[5] Mesfin Fekadu from ABC News stated that Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Bonnie McKee did not "bring out the best Perry in the song," deeming it "forgettable."[21]

Credits and personnel

Recording
Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Prism, Capitol Records.[3]

Charts

Upon the release of Prism, "Legendary Lovers" debuted at number 69 on the South Korea Gaon International Chart, with sales of over 2,330.[22]

Charts (2013–14) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[23] 9
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[24] 33
South Korea International (GAON)[22] 69
US Pop Digital Songs (Billboard)[25] 50

References

  1. ↑ "This week's cover: Inside the wild world of Katy Perry". Entertainment Weekly. October 13, 2013. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Go Behind Katy Perry's 'Raw And Emotional' Prism Writing Sessions". MTV News. October 23, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Prism (inlay cover). Capitol Records. 2013. p. 2.
  4. ↑ "PRISM (Deluxe) by Katy Perry". iTunes Store. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Lipshutz, Jason (October 21, 2013). "Katy Perry's 'PRISM': Track-By-Track Review". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  6. ↑ Willott, Carl (October 15, 2013). "Preview Katy Perry's 'Prism': Stream 90 Seconds Of Each Song". Idolator. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  7. ↑ Walker, John (October 22, 2013). "Katy Perry's 'Prism': A Track-By-Track Review..... In Cat GIFs!". MTV Buzzworthy. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  8. ↑ Fallon, Kevin (October 22, 2013). "'Prism' Review: Katy Perry Perfects the Pop Blockbuster". The Daily Beast. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 Brown, Helen (October 17, 2013). "Katy Perry, Prism, review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  10. 1 2 Tolzman, Samuel (October 18, 2013). "Review – Katy Perry: Prism". Pretty Much Amazing. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Katy Perry 'Legendary Lovers' Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com. Kobalt Music Publishing America. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  12. ↑ Gundersen, Edna (September 13, 2013). "Katy Perry sheds light on 'Prism' at L.A. preview event". USA Today. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  13. 1 2 Lipshutz, Jason (September 6, 2013). "Katy Perry's 'Prism' Album Preview: 10 Things You Need To Know". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  14. ↑ Walker, John (October 22, 2013). "Katy Perry's 'Prism': A Track-By-Track Review..... In Cat GIFs!". MTV News. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  15. ↑ Harvilla, Rob (October 22, 2013). "Katy Perry Grows Up and Bums Us Out on Her Shrewd, Tepid 'Prism'". Spin. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  16. ↑ Dolan, Jon (October 16, 2013). "Katy Perry 'Prism' Review". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  17. ↑ Stewart, Allison (October 22, 2013). "Album review: Katy Perry grows up, gets spiritual on 'Prism'". The Washington Post. Katharine Weymouth. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  18. ↑ Lansky, Sam (October 22, 2013). "Katy Perry's 'Prism': Album Review". Idolator. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  19. ↑ Wolfe, Trent (October 23, 2013). "Get real: Katy Perry lets go of the teenage dream with 'Prism'". The Verge. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  20. ↑ Gamboa, Glenn (October 18, 2013). "'Prism' review: Katy Perry is all over the place". Newsday. Cablevision, Fred Groser. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  21. ↑ Fekadu, Mesfin (October 21, 2013). "Music Review: Katy Perry Plays It Safe on 'Prism'". ABC News. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  22. 1 2 "South Korea Gaon International Chart". Gaon Music Chart. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Katy Perry – Legendary Lovers" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Katy Perry search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Pop Digital Songs: Nov 09, 2013". Billboard. Retrieved January 4, 2013. (subscription required (help)).

External links

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