"Lifetimes" is a song by American singerKaty Perry from her seventh studio album,143 (2024). It was released as the second single throughCapitol Records alongside an accompanying music video on August 8, 2024.[3][4][5] TheItalo housedance song was inspired by Perry's love for her daughter.
The music video was shot in theBalearic Islands inSpain, whose provincial government said that filming had been conducted without authorization and could have causedenvironmental damage to the highly protecteddunes ofS'Espalmador. Capitol Records insisted that approval had previously been given to record footage there. "Lifetimes" respectively reached numbers 1 in Hungary, 40 in the Czech Republic, 42 in Venezuela, 45 in Panama, and 89 in the United Kingdom.
Perry co-wrote "Lifetimes" withLunchMoney Lewis,Rocco Valdes,Ryan Ogren,Sarah Hudson,Theron Thomas, and its producersVaughn Oliver andDr. Luke.[6] The singer explained that it is inspired by her daughter Daisy Dove Bloom: "It is funny how sometimes you're looking for your soulmate in a partner. [...] For me it came in the form of Daisy. I wrote 'Lifetimes' about her. Every night, before we go to sleep, I say, 'I love you,' and then I ask, 'Will you find me in every lifetime?' and she says, 'Yes'."[7][8] The song is primarily anItalo house track[9] with elements ofpop[10] anddance music.[4][11]
Billboard author Rania Aniftos found "Lifetimes" to be "the ultimate track for a beach club in the Mediterranean", highlighting its ecstatic, romantic theme.[12]Slant Magazine's Tom Williams believed that even though the track is "built around a generic house beat", its melodic hook is "relatively strong", serving as a reminder that Perry and her team "are still capable of writing some earworms".[13] According toSlate's Carl Wilson, "Lifetimes" is a "passable" song, albeit "seems several years too late to catch the same wave asDua Lipa andBeyoncé's tributes to house and disco".[14]The New York Times's Lindsay Zoladz found it a "blithe" single.[15]
The New Yorker's Amanda Petrusich considered the track to be "fine", though "it also sounds like a song that will soon be playing—endlessly, loudly—at a club without a bouncer, a club at an all-inclusive island resort (off-season), a club that serves chicken fingers."[16] Callie Ahlgrim ofBusiness Insider described "Lifetimes" as a generic and formulaic song with repetitive lyrics, seeing Perry attempt to emulate the sound ofTeenage Dream (2010).[17]The Arts Desk's Guy Oddy called the song "rather anonymous" and over-reliant onAuto-Tune.[18] Rich Juzwiak ofPitchfork believed the lyrics "I'll love you for life," "I'm gonna love you till the end," and "Baby you and me for infinity" were redundant and wrote: "The tension-and-release low end of the track yields not drops but gentle puts. This is kiddie-coaster EDM."[19]The Daily Telegraph's Helen Brown felt the song "simply flatlines".[20]
The music video, which was released alongside the song, was directed by Stillz and shot in theBalearic Islands ofSpain.[21] It features Perry riding a boat off the coast ofIbiza, being driven by a biker acrossFormentera, and playing water sports with a group of people in a bikini on a beach before dancing with a DJ at a nightclub. During the video, she revealed the track list for143.[22][23]
On August 13, 2024, the Department of Environment and Mobility of the Government of the Balearic Islands opened an investigation on Perry to determine whether the music video causedenvironmental damage to the highly protecteddunes ofS'Espalmador; claiming her production crew did not obtain proper authorization to film on the ecologically rich area.[24] A spokesperson for Perry's record label,Capitol Records, toldVariety that her video crew securedfilming permits before production and received "verbal approval" from the Directorate-General for the Coast and the Sea to film on the dunes. Capitol stressed they "adhered to all regulations associated with filming in this area and have the utmost respect for this location and the officials tasked with protecting it."[25] Although the music video is not necessarily a "crime against the environment", it was treated as aninfringement, as filming can be authorized with the proper permits.[26]
The song was used in the fourth season of the comedy-drama television seriesHacks, in the episode entitled "Clickable Face".[30]Also, the song is used to the video game called Dream League Soccer 2026.
