In terms of song meanings and the music video, I think that this song "Roar" digitally released on August 12, 2013 contains allusions to do with her relationship with Russell Brand, her growth as a human being and the people who helped her.
When we look at Katy Perry's personal history from wikipedia it is stated that:
"After fourteen months of marriage, Brand filed for divorce on December 30, 2011, citing irreconcilable differences. The marriage was legally dissolved in July 2012.[188] Katy Perry: Part of Me revealed that their conflicting career schedules and him wanting children before she was ready led to the end of the marriage.[2] In June 2013, she revealed in an interview with Vogue that Brand did not like the idea of her "being the boss" of things and never spoke to her again after sending a text message that he was divorcing her.[125] She also mentioned in a late September 2013 interview with Billboard that she was initially so distraught over the divorce that she contemplated suicide.[189]"
In her the video "Katy Perry - Making of the "Roar" Music Video" she refers to her partner in the video as her "boyfriend", I think this may be symbolic to her then husband Russel Brand. Her reaction of getting a text message for divorce can be seen as cowardly, Russel Brand is a man, but she cuts off his "manhood" by reinterpreting him as a "boyfriend", because I think that for her, a man would not try to inform a significant other of divorce through text. At the start of the music video, we can see that Katy's "boyfriend" was enjoying the chaos of the plane crash and just having fun with it, taking selfies (a sure sign of narcissistic behaviour) and more concerned about himself rather than as a team, he has also put his baggage on Katys shoulder. (the baggage could be personal issues). Fans of Russel Brand will know that he is a "fun" type of guy, but we are also told from the wikipedia article that he wanted to have children. I have an impression that Katy feels that it would bring her career down (the crashed airplane symbolic of her career) and she doesn't see Russel capable of being mature enough to handle the responsibility. I think she had an epiphany that he may not be the right person for her in a relationship involving procreation.
Katy Perry also used double entendre for the representation of the tiger. Common symbolism for the tiger from (spiritanimal.info) is:
The primary meaning of the tiger spirit animal is willpower, personal strength and courage; Shadow or part of you that you would normally try to hide or reject.
Aggression or anger directed at you or felt towards someone;Unpredictability in life, actions or feelings.
In the lyrics and music video we can see her reflection as that of a tiger and voice coming out to form the tiger, with the tiger (part of you that you would normally try to hide or reject) coming from within her and subduing the outer tiger (Unpredictability in life, actions or feelings), being lost in the jungle (the jungle I think in this case represents her mental and emotional health in which the wikipedia article states that she was distraught over the divorce and contemplated suicide) but eventually she found herself in the jungle because in the music video she renamed the tiger "Kitty Purry". The video shows that she reached the top of the jungle and in the distance she could see birds (freedom) and by being in a position of height is an allusion to how she grew up and was able to look down at the jungle. The music video also shows this growth by her taking things from the jungle such as flowers and making it a part of her. This is an allusion that she was able to pick up the good stuff from the jungle (chaos in her life) to make her better for the journey ahead. Aka. The good that comes from the bad.
The cave seen was important because I think it signifies the dark place in her life probably where she contemplated suicide, in the cave or that dark place there was fire, there were people trying to destroy the tiger with fire, but the tiger only grew with the fire (fire represents chaos and being reborn). This could also mean that Russell Brand tried to burn her (emotionally or have hurt her feelings, but it only made her stronger). The use of the reoccurring chorus (3x was her way of finding the strength, like a mantra) .
There were people shooting arrows at the now engorged tiger but when the tiger roars scares all the people away. I am not certain what or who these people are who is targeting her.
She overcame her own aggression and by renaming the tiger, she choose to give it a new meaning which to her symbolises growth. She is the champion because she was able to overcome her fears of which she was running away from at the start. Her involvement with the monkey (may be an allusion to a personal friend) may have helped her because monkeys to philosophers and scholars is attributed to intelligence and playfulness, and when the monkey grooms is considered caring for someone (we do not see the monkey grooming katy in the video but it was seen on her shoulder, which can also mean having her back).
The bird is stereotypically seen as freedom.
The elephant symbolic of strength and wisdom, also note that the elephant in the music video has a broken tusk and has painted nails. It is likely that this elephant could be a maternal figure for Katy who has been there and done that and giving her counsel on her life. We also see this elephant blowing water on katy from her trunk. The water symbolises life. In some Monotheistic religions it could be likened to being born again with a renewed spirit. Towards the end of the video Katy is seen standing on top of a small waterfall. It means that her life was starting to flow again.
There is also a clip of her brushing the crocodiles teeth, the crocodile again symbolic of strength and are known for their smile and ferocity.
At the end of the music video, we see that she was back in the airplane. It felt like a dream to her, but when she gets up, the audience sees that it is not a dream but a reality for Katy and it looks like she is now comfortable with living in the forests with her animal buddies there. There was a transition from real to a painting, which symbolises that it has become just a memory, the audience is brought back to the present.
In terms of song meanings and the music video, I think that this song "Roar" digitally released on August 12, 2013 contains allusions to do with her relationship with Russell Brand, her growth as a human being and the people who helped her.
When we look at Katy Perry's personal history from wikipedia it is stated that:
"After fourteen months of marriage, Brand filed for divorce on December 30, 2011, citing irreconcilable differences. The marriage was legally dissolved in July 2012.[188] Katy Perry: Part of Me revealed that their conflicting career schedules and him wanting children before she was ready led to the end of the marriage.[2] In June 2013, she revealed in an interview with Vogue that Brand did not like the idea of her "being the boss" of things and never spoke to her again after sending a text message that he was divorcing her.[125] She also mentioned in a late September 2013 interview with Billboard that she was initially so distraught over the divorce that she contemplated suicide.[189]"
In her the video "Katy Perry - Making of the "Roar" Music Video" she refers to her partner in the video as her "boyfriend", I think this may be symbolic to her then husband Russel Brand. Her reaction of getting a text message for divorce can be seen as cowardly, Russel Brand is a man, but she cuts off his "manhood" by reinterpreting him as a "boyfriend", because I think that for her, a man would not try to inform a significant other of divorce through text. At the start of the music video, we can see that Katy's "boyfriend" was enjoying the chaos of the plane crash and just having fun with it, taking selfies (a sure sign of narcissistic behaviour) and more concerned about himself rather than as a team, he has also put his baggage on Katys shoulder. (the baggage could be personal issues). Fans of Russel Brand will know that he is a "fun" type of guy, but we are also told from the wikipedia article that he wanted to have children. I have an impression that Katy feels that it would bring her career down (the crashed airplane symbolic of her career) and she doesn't see Russel capable of being mature enough to handle the responsibility. I think she had an epiphany that he may not be the right person for her in a relationship involving procreation.
Katy Perry also used double entendre for the representation of the tiger. Common symbolism for the tiger from (spiritanimal.info) is:
The primary meaning of the tiger spirit animal is willpower, personal strength and courage; Shadow or part of you that you would normally try to hide or reject. Aggression or anger directed at you or felt towards someone;Unpredictability in life, actions or feelings.
In the lyrics and music video we can see her reflection as that of a tiger and voice coming out to form the tiger, with the tiger (part of you that you would normally try to hide or reject) coming from within her and subduing the outer tiger (Unpredictability in life, actions or feelings), being lost in the jungle (the jungle I think in this case represents her mental and emotional health in which the wikipedia article states that she was distraught over the divorce and contemplated suicide) but eventually she found herself in the jungle because in the music video she renamed the tiger "Kitty Purry". The video shows that she reached the top of the jungle and in the distance she could see birds (freedom) and by being in a position of height is an allusion to how she grew up and was able to look down at the jungle. The music video also shows this growth by her taking things from the jungle such as flowers and making it a part of her. This is an allusion that she was able to pick up the good stuff from the jungle (chaos in her life) to make her better for the journey ahead. Aka. The good that comes from the bad.
The cave seen was important because I think it signifies the dark place in her life probably where she contemplated suicide, in the cave or that dark place there was fire, there were people trying to destroy the tiger with fire, but the tiger only grew with the fire (fire represents chaos and being reborn). This could also mean that Russell Brand tried to burn her (emotionally or have hurt her feelings, but it only made her stronger). The use of the reoccurring chorus (3x was her way of finding the strength, like a mantra) .
There were people shooting arrows at the now engorged tiger but when the tiger roars scares all the people away. I am not certain what or who these people are who is targeting her.
She overcame her own aggression and by renaming the tiger, she choose to give it a new meaning which to her symbolises growth. She is the champion because she was able to overcome her fears of which she was running away from at the start. Her involvement with the monkey (may be an allusion to a personal friend) may have helped her because monkeys to philosophers and scholars is attributed to intelligence and playfulness, and when the monkey grooms is considered caring for someone (we do not see the monkey grooming katy in the video but it was seen on her shoulder, which can also mean having her back).
The bird is stereotypically seen as freedom.
The elephant symbolic of strength and wisdom, also note that the elephant in the music video has a broken tusk and has painted nails. It is likely that this elephant could be a maternal figure for Katy who has been there and done that and giving her counsel on her life. We also see this elephant blowing water on katy from her trunk. The water symbolises life. In some Monotheistic religions it could be likened to being born again with a renewed spirit. Towards the end of the video Katy is seen standing on top of a small waterfall. It means that her life was starting to flow again.
There is also a clip of her brushing the crocodiles teeth, the crocodile again symbolic of strength and are known for their smile and ferocity.
At the end of the music video, we see that she was back in the airplane. It felt like a dream to her, but when she gets up, the audience sees that it is not a dream but a reality for Katy and it looks like she is now comfortable with living in the forests with her animal buddies there. There was a transition from real to a painting, which symbolises that it has become just a memory, the audience is brought back to the present.