Katy Perry covers the September issue of W Magazine. I feel bad about saying this, but I remember when W Magazine was pretty cool. It hasn’t been in a while. It’s like it took actual EFFORT to make this boring – Katy is one of the most famous women in the world, and she presumably has a lot of sh-t to say about politics, about Taylor Swift, about the state of the world and the state of music. Instead, W did a bare-bones interview about nothing much. Katy’s also pretty photogenic and in the mood to do something different – so they paired her with Steven Klein and this was the result? The whole cover package is a mess. Some highlights:

On her politics: “I’m not still upset about the election. I think it’s more important to continue the fight. Teenage girls can save the world! I saw that during the campaign. And that idea continues to give me faith.”

How she gets ideas for songs: “I get them in three different ways. From Transcendental Meditation, where I rest and kind of restart my mind. Or during a massage. Or showering. I always have my phone on standby when I hop out of the shower.

Life with her short hair: “Everything is more fun with short hair! I can just get up and go. I feel so liberated with this hair now. In general, I feel 360-degrees liberated—all around. Whether it’s politically, mentally, spiritually, sexually. I feel liberated from all the things that don’t serve me. I’m surrendering and embracing my 30s. You couldn’t give me anything to go back to my 20s. To get to this place, I had to do some much-needed work on my heart, soul, mind, and body. Since doing that, a lot of beautiful things started to bloom again.

Whether she cries to her own songs: “I have. My songs are so personal. Sometimes they are about people who are no longer in my life, or they’re about unrequited love. I started out on tour last time and I couldn’t perform a couple of the songs on the record because I was just too upset.

Whether she’s been approached with acting jobs: “I have been, but it hasn’t been quite right. I really love being the captain of my ship. If I were to do a film, I’d probably have to direct it. I’d love to do a musical! But that will come in time.”

Her first French kiss: “My first French kiss was in sixth grade in Big Bear, California. I was hanging out with this girl from church who had a bit of a reputation. She had a coed party, and I was not allowed to go to a coed party until eighth grade. But I went anyway. At the party, we played spin the bottle. It got to be my turn, and I spun the bottle, and, all of a sudden, I felt like there was a wet fish in my mouth. That was my first kiss. When you’re in sixth grade, there’s no art to French kissing. There’s no cadence, no beautiful up and down, no waves. Instead, it just feels like your mouth is getting invaded by a slug.

[From W Magazine]

I wonder what acting jobs she’s been offered? I bet it was nothing really amazing, because why would a director go to Katy if the script called for some interesting, quality actress? Then again, Rihanna started acting by doing smaller parts, and now Rih’s in a movie with Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett! As for the idea of teenage girls saving the world… it’s actually a lovely and interesting thought. Part of me really believes that even if the worst parts of teen-girl culture ruled the country right now, that would probably be better than what we have now, which is old dudes who act like tantrumy babies.

Covers courtesy of Steven Klein for W Magazine.