I Do Not Hook Up by Kelly Clarkson/Katy Perry

I’m not really sure what people mean by “hook up.” From my experience, a “hook up” can be anything from meeting a friend for lunch to a one-night stand. Whenever my friends use the term “hook up” it is usually followed by clarification questions, as this term has become a catchall rather then a description of a specific activity. So you can imagine my surprise when I found out that Kelly Clarkson recorded a song called “I Do Not Hook Up.”

After enthusiastically getting Kelly Clarkson’s last album and listening to “My Life Would Suck Without You" (which I covered in this earlier post) for about an hour, I decided to delve into the rest of the album. Looking at the track list, I saw the name of the second song on the CD, “I Do Not Hook Up.”

Are you serious? “My Life Would Suck Without You” was an awkward name for a song but the spirit of this line is cute and this sentences was effectively used in the song. Now a song about not “hooking up,” refusing to get together with someone physically or otherwise? “I Do Not Hook Up” sounds more like the title to a song advocating celibacy to pre-teens than a mainstream pop song. It all made sense when I found out that this song was originally written and recorded by the queen of quirky, cute and tongue in cheek statements of feminism, Katy Perry.

In 2005 Katy Perry completed recorded solo debut (A) Katy Perry. Her record company planned to release this album later that year but was later canceled and never released because they could not figure out how to promote Perry. It wasn’t until One of the Boys released in 2008 that she released her first album. Katy Perry wrote and performed “Hook Up” which Clarkson recorded as “I Do Not Hook Up.”



The two recordings are more similar than they are different. Katy Perry’s sassy vocals lack the vocal strength of Kelly Clarkson, but they have just as much personality and attitude. The difference can be heard in the nuances that Perry adds in the verses and the high note at the end of bridge that Clarkson sails up to that Perry doesn’t attempt.

The statement of “I don’t hook up” in the mind of Katy is not a defensive explanation to the advances of a boy but a powerful declaration of self-confidence and self-respect. The lyrics start with asking the guy to stop drinking because he has “too much talent.” She asks him to “give up the game and get into me” focusing more on her as a person than the "thrill of the chase." The second verse has a cute line stating that “I can’t cook, no but I can clean up the mess you left” playing on the expectation of the woman’s gender roles denying the stereotype of woman being the ones who should be able to cook while embracing woman’s instinct to nurture.

The biggest difference in the lyrics is the chorus. Clarkson sings “I do not hook up, I go slow, so if you want me I don’t come cheap, keep your head on my hand and your heart of your sleeve.” While Clarkson’s line “keep your head on my hand” implied focusing on her a person, Perry’s original line “keep your thing in your pants” is far more humorous and to the point.

“I Do Not Hook Up” is not going to change anyone’s ideas about sexuality and hooking up, but it’s nice change of pace to have a song about the power of a woman to heal a man by helping him focus on the emotional part of the relationship.

One of the things I love about my wife Diana is that from the first day I met her she has had a clear idea about the way that she deserves to be treated and she has never been afraid to express this to me. It has made being her boyfriend, fiance and husband much easier than I ever imagined because I know she feels about herself and that she will let me know if I'm not off-base in my actions.

Sometimes we are afraid to make statements about who we are in fear that it will turn people away and the truth is that sometimes stating our beliefs about ourselves do scare people. But the people who turn away from true expressions of who you are never would have liked you anyways and the people who are attracted to that strength are worth sharing with the world the honesty in our hearts, even if that declaration is "I do not hook up!"