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Kelly Clarkson's Katy Perry Cover of "Wide Awake" Is an Emotional Heartbreaker
Clarkson's version will have you reaching for the tissues.
Kelly Clarkson is living her teenage dream by singing a cover of Katy Perry's "Wide Awake."
The 2012 single released off of the sacred text album Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection, the song is about waking up and realizing a dream is over, no matter how difficult that reality might be. Perry said the track was partly inspired by her divorce from Russell Brand, which the music video also alludes to.
What inspired Katy Perry's song "Wide Awake"
While Perry's original is an emotional bop of a ballad, Clarkson's cover is an even more heartbreaking stripped-down affair. For the "Kellyoke" performance, The Kelly Clarkson Show Host belts out the song, as she is dressed in black, backed only by her musical director Jason Halbert on piano.
"How did I read the stars so wrong / And now it's clear to me that everything you see / ain't always what it seems / Yeah, I was dreaming for so long," she sings.
"This song in particular is a dose of reality. It's kind of like coming down from a high," Perry told MTV News in a 2012 interview. "You've been on cloud nine for so long, and it can't always be so sweet and sometimes you need to realize that, and you have to pick yourself up and move forward and face the facts of life and know that this is just a lesson you learn and you're stronger because of it."
We think Clarkson knows a thing or two about what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
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"Wide Awake" by Katy Perry lyrics
I'm wide awake
I'm wide awake
I'm wide awake
Yeah, I was in the dark
I was falling hard
With an open heart (I'm wide awake)
How did I read the stars so wrong?
(I'm wide awake)
And now it's clear to me
That everything you see
Ain't always what it seems (I'm wide awake)
Yeah, I was dreaming for so long
I wish I knew then, what I know now
Wouldn't dive in, wouldn't bow down
Gravity hurts, you made it so sweet
'Til I woke up on, on the concrete
Falling from cloud nine
Crashing from the high
I'm letting go tonight
Yeah, I'm falling from cloud nine
I'm wide awake
Not losing any sleep
I picked up every piece
And landed on my feet (I'm wide awake)
Need nothing to complete myself, no (I'm wide awake)
Yeah, I am born again
Out of the lion's den
I don't have to pretend (And it's too late)
The story's over now, the end
I wish I knew then, what I know now
Wouldn't dive in, wouldn't bow down
Gravity hurts, you made it so sweet
'Til I woke up on, on the concrete
Falling from cloud nine (It was out of the blue, I'm)
Crashing from the high
I'm letting go tonight (Yeah, I'm letting you go, I'm)
I'm falling from cloud nine (I'm wide awake)
Thunder rumbling
Castles crumbling (I'm wide awake)
I am trying to hold on (I'm wide awake)
God knows that I tried
Seeing the bright side (I'm wide awake)
I'm not blind anymore
I'm wide awake
I'm wide awake
Yeah, I'm falling from cloud nine (It was out of the blue, I'm)
Crashing from the high
You know, I'm letting go tonight (Yeah, I'm letting you go, I'm)
I'm falling from cloud nine
I'm wide awake
I'm wide awake
I'm wide awake
I'm wide awake
I'm wide awake
