Like Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain', or literally every Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift song ever, rumours about the person at the heart of mystery lyrics will be eternally fascinating.
We love listening to the song, getting our Sherlock Holmes on, trying to figure out who it's about, and Katy Perry's hit 'I Kissed A Girl' is no exception.
Over the years the 32-year-old Perry has left something of a digital breadcrumb trail as to who the song could be about.
Back in 2008 she claimed to NME is was about the fantasy of kissing Scarlett Johansson:
'I Kissed a Girl' was inspired when I opened up a magazine and I saw a picture of Scarlett Johansson…I was with my boyfriend at the time, and I said to him, 'I'm not going to lie: If Scarlett Johansson walked into the room and wanted to make out with me, I would make out with her. I hope you're okay with that?
Not to draw stereotypes about heterosexual men or anything, but yeh, we're pretty sure he would be.
Though, this isn't case closed.
The hypothetical make-out between Perry and the Ghost In A Shell actress Johansson perhaps wasn't the true crux of the story, since Perry came out in March of this year to tell the world she might have actually had a little snog.
She told a crowd at the Human Rights Campaign Awards dinner
I'm just a singer-songwriter, honestly. I speak my truths and I paint my fantasies into these little, bite-size pop songs. For instance, 'I kissed a girl and I liked it'.Truth be told, A) I did more than that, but B) How was I going to reconcile that with a gospel-singing girl raised in youth groups that were pro-conversion camps? What I did know is that I was curious, and even then I knew sexuality wasn't as black and white as this (ruffled Rasario) dress. And, honestly, I haven't always gotten it right, but in 2008, when that song came out, I knew that I started a conversation that a lot of the world seemed curious enough to sing along, too.
Ok so it's finally case closed then, right?
No way josé.
24-year-old Miley Cyrus has thrown her proverbial hat into the lip-on-lip-action ring, by suggesting it was in fact her who inspired the hit pop song.
On Tuesday morning Miley Cyrus told WKTU according to New York Magazine, 'When [Perry] came out with 'I Kissed a Girl,' I was doing the Hannah Montana movie, and I heard her on the radio. They said, 'Who did you write that about? She said: me! … I heard it and I screamed, and started freaking out.'
Woah now, but Miley and Katy P hadn't even met at this point?
No, in fact, it was this encounter that made the two of them mates.
It was only after Miley heard the tell-all radio interview that Perry invited her to go to the VMAs with her.
'That's when I started doing my whole VMA controversy,' she explained. 'So, that's how we met, and we just stayed friends.'
The pair did go on to have a smooch at one point, but, surveying the video, it looks a little bit like Cyrus was the one gunning for the snog, what do you think?
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
