Perry said the song is very personal to her and admitted in an interview with Rolling Stones that most people believe the song is meant about a third person, but it's actually about herself. Katy Perry references the novella, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, in the lines, "This love's too strong like "Mice and Men"/Squeezing out the life that should be let in."
Inspiration for the song
Katy Perry talks "Pearl"
Lyrics
She is a pyramid
But with him she's just a grain of sand
This love's too strong
Like Mice And Men
Squeezing out the life
That should be let in
She was a hurricane
But now she's just a gust of wind
She used to set the sails of a thousand ships
Was a force to be reckoned with
She could be a Statue of Liberty
She could be a Joan of Arc
But he's scared of the light that's inside of her
So he keeps her in the dark
Oh, she used to be a pearl
Yeah, she used to rule the world
Can't believe she's become a shell of herself
'Cause she used to be a pearl
She was unstoppable
Move fast just like an avalanche
But now she's stuck deep in cement
Wishing that they never ever met
She could be a Statue of Liberty
She could be a Joan of Arc
But he's scared of the light that's inside of her
So her keeps her in the dark
Oh, she used to be a pearl
Yeah, she used to rule the world
Can't believe she's become a shell of herself
'Cause she used to be a pearl
Do you know that there's a way out
There's a way out, there's a way out, there's a way out
You don't have to be held down
Be held down, be held down, be held down
'Cause I used to be a shell
Yeah, I let him rule my world, my world
But I woke up and grew strong
And I can still go on
And no one can take my pearl
You don't have to be a shell, no
You're the one that rules your world
You are strong
And you'll learn
That you can still go on
And you'll always be a pearl
