Never Worn White

Album: Smile (2020)
Charted: 97 112
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Songfacts®:

  • Katy Perry first began dating the English actor Orlando Bloom in early 2016. The couple got engaged on February 14, 2019, when Bloom proposed to Perry. The intimate ballad is about the singer's unconditional love for her fiancée.

    No, I've never worn white
    But I'm standin' here tonight
    'Cause I really wanna say "I do"
    I do


    Perry previously married English comedian Russell Brand in a traditional Hindu ceremony in Rajasthan, India. Although the color of the singer's gown when she wed Brand is not known for sure, US Weekly reported it as being "dove gray with lace sleeves."
  • Queen Victoria started the tradition of the bride wearing a white gown during a wedding ceremony. When the English queen married her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840, brides of the time preferred bright colors. However, Victoria surprised everyone when she wed in white lace, starting a tradition which continues to this day.
  • The piano ballad opens with a gentle piano version of Felix Mendelssohn's famous "Wedding March," which commonly plays as the bridal party files out at the end of the service.

    Mendelssohn originally wrote "The Wedding March" in 1843 as part of his suite of incidental music for a production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. He used it as the backdrop for the climactic wedding scene in the play.

    We have Queen Victoria to thank again for popularizing its use in marriage services. "The Wedding March" was played at the marriage of the Queen's eldest daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia on January 25, 1858, after which it became a popular wedding recessional.
  • Perry wrote "Never Worn White" with Johan Carlsson, John Ryan and Jacob Kasher Hindlin, with Carlsson producing.
  • French director duo J.A.C.K. (Madonna, Christine and the Queens), directed the video, which shows Katy Perry wearing a bridal gown and a head-to-toe floral ensemble. The romantic clip ends with the singer displaying her baby bump, revealing her pregnancy with her first child with Orlando Bloom.

    Perry explained the decision to reveal her pregnancy in a music video by saying: "I like to tell you guys everything but I knew I would tell you in the best way, which is through a piece of music because that's... I guess that's how I speak to you. That's how we speak together to each other."
  • Katy Perry performed "Never Worn White" live for the first time during her March 10, 2020 appearance on the Australian TV show The Project. The singer also explained how the lyrics are inspired by her relationship with Orlando Bloom.

    "I thought that this song would be a really good first start for this next time in my life," she said, "to set the tone and to really talk about the vulnerability of commitment, and sometimes how amazing it is, but also how terrifying it can be. And a lot of stuff does bubble up when you're about do that big number."
  • During a question-and-answer session with fans, Perry revealed that though Orlando Bloom is a big fan of this song, she wouldn't be including it on her 2020 Smile album.

    "I think he really likes 'Never Worn White,' said the singer. "That song I think was perfect for revealing the good news [that they were expecting a baby], but I think it was a standalone, so it's not on the whole record, but that was one of his favorite songs."

    Perry did include the song as a bonus track on the Fan Edition of Smile.

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