I'm Still Breathing

Album: One of the Boys (2008)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This obituary for a dead relationship was produced and co-written by former Eurythmic Dave Stewart. Perry recorded this with Stewart in London, England. In a Songfacts interview with Dave Stewart, he explained that he excels at writing songs with a melancholy kind of atmosphere, and cites this as an example. Says Stewart: "If you go to Katy Perry's album, the one really sad and melancholy song on it is 'I'm Still Breathing.' It's talking about a relationship, but it's putting it into a strange context. It has lines like, 'I'm still breathing, but we've been dead for a while.' You know, 'I think we're losing grip, let's abandon ship,' and all that kind of funny imagery mixed together."
  • Three different ex-boyfriends show up on Perry's One of the Boys album. "I'm Still Breathing" and "Thinking of You" are about the same guy, while "Ur So Gay" and "Mannequin" are about the other two.

Comments: 1

  • John from ThereThis is about us fighting "PTSD-USMC" from and about when I got back from Iraq....she tried soo hard to get with me and I denied her every time...this is all about the time she flew 5 hrs from CA to KY & then drove 2 hrs just to see me for 3 minutes after I kicked her out...this was may-june time frame back in 2008
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Zakk Wylde

Zakk WyldeSongwriter Interviews

When he was playing Ozzfest with Black Label Society, a kid told Zakk he was the best Ozzy guitarist - Zakk had to correct him.

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus WainwrightSongwriter Interviews

Rufus Wainwright on "Hallelujah," his album Unfollow The Rules, and getting into his "lyric trance" on 12-hour walks.

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.

Christopher Cross

Christopher CrossSongwriter Interviews

The man who created Yacht Rock with "Sailing" wrote one of his biggest hits while on acid.

David Sancious

David SanciousSongwriter Interviews

Keyboard great David Sancious talks about his work with Sting, Seal, Springsteen, Clapton and Aretha, and explains what quantum physics has to do with making music.

Martin Page

Martin PageSongwriter Interviews

With Bernie Taupin, Martin co-wrote the #1 hits "We Built This City" and "These Dreams." After writing the Pretty Woman song for Go West, he had his own hit with "In the House of Stone and Light."