Hello Kitty

Album: Avril Lavigne (2013)
Charted: 75
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Avril Lavigne loves Sanrio's Hello Kitty products, and she penned this experimental electronic Dubstep track about the cute Japanese line. "I love Hello Kitty so much there's a song on the record called Hello Kitty. Pink is my favorite color... I'm really excited about this song," she gushed to Ryan Seacrest. "I'm obsessed with Hello Kitty and it's really fun and the sound is different."

    Hello Kitty is a fictional female white Japanese bobtail cat with a red bow that was created in 1974 by the Japanese company Sanrio. The character's first appearance on an item was a vinyl coin purse, and Sanrio has since groomed Hello Kitty into a global marketing phenomenon worth $5 billion a year.
  • Not only is this song about Lavigne's love of the Japanese brand but also has a double meaning. "Obviously it's flirtatious and somewhat sexual," she told Digital Spy, "but it's genuinely about my love for Hello Kitty as well!"
  • The Japanese-themed music video features Lavigne with four identical, expressionless Asian dancers in a variety of candy-colored locations, exaggerating Japan's kawaii (cute) culture. The clip swiftly became a talking point on social media sites where it was criticized for being culturally insensitive.

    Lavigne took to her own Twitter page to defend the visual against allegations of racism toward Japanese people, stating: "I love Japanese culture and I spend half of my time in Japan. I flew to Tokyo to shoot this video specifically for my Japanese fans, WITH my Japanese label, Japanese choreographers AND a Japanese director IN Japan."

Comments: 5

  • AlexIt's such a cute song
  • Futur3_flow3r13 from H3llHello Kitty isn't a cat, she is a little girl! This has been confirmed by Yuko Shimizu (Hello Kitty's creator) therefore it's canon and official. Just thought I should say that.
  • Melissa Jk Jk from Sebring, FlTf is up w/ that 1 comment?
  • Kylee from Muswellbrook, AustraliaI think the song is very cute and fun, it's more or less one of her earworm songs (like Girlfriend and What The Hell) and is very catchy. It's not a deeply emotional song, it's not really big on the vocabulary, but it's sweet that she wrote the song with a double meaning (one of which is sexual/flirtatious) and that it relates to her love of the Hello Kitty brand.
  • Ron from CanadaWhat no one is talking about is that in the sexual underground, kitty is slang for vagina (often used by lesbians, but also for heterosexuals as well).
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Dar Williams

Dar WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.

Bands Named After Real People (Who Aren't In The Band)

Bands Named After Real People (Who Aren't In The Band)Song Writing

How a gym teacher, a janitor, and a junkie became part of some very famous band names.

Don Felder

Don FelderSongwriter Interviews

Don breaks down "Hotel California" and other songs he wrote as a member of the Eagles. Now we know where the "warm smell of colitas" came from.

Mike Rutherford (Genesis, Mike + The Mechanics)

Mike Rutherford (Genesis, Mike + The Mechanics)Songwriter Interviews

Mike Rutherford talks about the "Silent Running" storyline and "Land Of Confusion" in the age of Trump.

Susanna Hoffs - "Eternal Flame"

Susanna Hoffs - "Eternal Flame"They're Playing My Song

The Prince-penned "Manic Monday" was the first song The Bangles heard coming from a car radio, but "Eternal Flame" is closest to Susanna's heart, perhaps because she sang it in "various states of undress."

Chris Rea

Chris ReaSongwriter Interviews

It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.