Katy Perry Written by Katy Perry Dr. Luke Max Martin Ammo Produced by Max Martin Co-produced by Dr. Luke Background vocals by Katy Perry Length 3:26 (Album version) 3:50 (Single version) from the album TEENAGE DREAM Singles "California Gurls" "Teenage Dream" "Firework" "E.T." "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F)" "The One That Got Away" "Part of Me" "Wide Awake" "Hummingbird Heartbeat" (Australia Radio Single Only) Digital single(s) "Not Like the Movies" "Circle the Drain" "E.T." This box: view • talk

"E.T." is a song by Katy Perry from her third studio album Teenage Dream. It was written by Perry, Lukasz Gottwald, Martin, and Joshua Coleman. The song was released as the last promotional single for the Countdown to Katy Perry's Teenage Dream on August 17, 2010. The song received positive reviews, much like "California Gurls" and "Teenage Dream". A demo of the song was leaked months before the album's official release which features a longer intro and vocals. The song replaced "Peacock" as the fourth single of the album. A remix of the song was released on February 16, 2011 as the official single and features rapper, Kanye West, along with a slightly altered instrumentation. Katy Perry tweeted on February 1, 2011 about the collab saying: "verrrry happy about the new collab remix that just went down... it's on another level."
The single was released on February 18, 2011 in the US and included rapper Kanye West. The single was digitally released for promotion through iTunes and has entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #42 due to strong digital downloads. It also debuted at 12 on the ARIA Charts and since climbed to 5 and it's her 4th consecutive Top 5 single from Teenage Dream. Its peaking at number 1 on New Zealand Singles Chart, becoming her sixth number one single in this country, and her fourth number one from the album. The re-released single peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 where it spent 3 weeks on top becoming her fourth number 1 single from a single album.

Background

The decision to write "E.T." came after it was accidentally played in the recording studio—it was originally intended for American hip hop group Three 6 Mafia.^[1][2] Admiring its acoustics, Perry chose to work with the track, wishing to write a "futuristic, alienistic [sic] song".^[3]

Perry has said she is very interested in aliens and wanted to write a song about the idea of a "foreign love".

Composition

An album track of three minutes and twenty-six seconds, the song is an electronic pop and hip hop ballad, with elements of teen pop. BBC Music described the song as a "rave-influenced quasi ballad". It written by Perry, Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, and Joshua Coleman, and produced by the last three, with Gottwald and Coleman credited as Dr. Luke and Ammo. According to sheet music from Alfred Music Publishing, the song was originally published in F minor and follows a slow tempo of 76 beats per minute in common time. Perry's voice spans E♭4 to F5. According to Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times, the song carries influences from Barbadian singer Rihanna and features Perry using a "hip-hop diva's stutter". The song's instrumentals have been described as "a mishmash and bleeps and blips with a driving drum track".[16] Darryl Sterdan of the QMI Agency noted the song uses the "stomp-stomp-clap" beat from Queen's "We Will Rock You" (1977), while Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted similarities to productions by Ryan Tedder. Matthew Perpetua of Rolling Stone felt the song was similar in sound to hard rock ballads by Evanescence. According to Perry, the song is about "falling in love with a foreigner". Using metaphors about extraterrestrials, she sings, "You're not like the others / Futuristic lover / Different DNA". The chorus has Perry addressing her lover: "Kiss me, kiss me / Infect me with your loving / Fill me with your poison", claiming to be "ready for abduction". For its single release, the song was reworked to feature two verses from Kanye West, which continue the extraterrestrial metaphors. Opening the track with "I got a dirty mind / I got filthy ways", he then goes on to say, "They callin' me an alien / A big-headed astronaut". West contributes another verse before Perry's final refrain, with heavily Auto-Tuned vocals: "I know a bar out in Mars / Where they driving spaceships instead of cars". He finishes with a reference to the fictional character Shrek and lyrics of "alien sex": "I'mma disrobe you then I'mma probe you / See, I abducted you so I tell you what to do." The National Post's Ben Kaplan noted West's presence on the track was similar to his work on his fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak (2008).

Lyrics

Album version

Single version

Music video

Information Shot 2011 Director (s) Floria Sigismondi Length 5:09 Videography From TEENAGE DREAM "California Gurls" "Teenage Dream" "Firework" "E.T." "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" "The One That Got Away" "Part of Me" "Wide Awake" This box: view • talk

The music video for "E.T." was released on March 31, 2011 and was directed by Floria Sigismondi. The video features rapper, Kanye West. In an interview with NRJ's French radio show Le 6/9 on March 10, 2011, Katy Perry revealed she was satisfied with her decision to collaborate with Sigismondi, after having previewed a 30-second clip. Prior to the release of the music video, posters of Perry resembling an alien were posted around different cities announcing the release date of the music video. Prior to its release, there have been posts on Katy's official Facebook page in alien writing saying how much longer the wait would be. On the release date of the video, there was a post saying that 'E.T. has landed'. A link to the video in YouTube was added.

Synopsis

The video begins on a deserted plant corvered in litter. You then see what looks to be a broken robot. This is when the excitment begins. First, Kanye West is rapping in a spacepod. The scene is then cut to where, Perry, as an alien, drifts through outer space singing in alien form before transforming into a human-like appearence (see picture below). When she is singing Katy starts entering the abandoned planet. West begins rapping again as Katy comes across the broken robot. She kisses the robot, which turns into a naked male, played by Shaun Ross, upon her kiss. After kissing Shaun, Katy removes the sheet covering her legs and reveals that Perry's legs are in fact those of a gazelle. The video ends with Katy and Shaun looking at a beautiful sunset.

Perry dressed in one of her many unearthly costumes as seen in the music video.

Perry about to pick up human sunglasses, made in 2011.

Perry kissed Shaun Ross to transform him from a robot.

Behind the scenes.

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Charts

References

• ASCAP "ET"
• ASCAP "Remix featuring Z"

— List of editions ~ Booklet ~ Singles ~ California Dreams Tour
"Teenage Dream"  · "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"  · "California Gurls"  · "Firework" "Peacock"  · "Circle the Drain"  · "The One That Got Away"  · "E.T." "Who Am I Living For?"  · "Pearl"  · "Hummingbird Heartbeat"  · "Not Like the Movies"