Katy Perry's team was initially hot and cold about "Teenage Dream."
Bonnie McKee, who co-wrote the 2010 hit with the singer, revealed that the track went through a few different lyrical renditions before landing on the chorus known today.
"It was the most difficult to write," Bonnie explained during a May 6 episode of The DaddyMommy Show podcast. "We wrote like five different versions to it."
The songwriter—who's credited on the track alongside Katy, Max Martin and producers Benny Blanco and Dr. Luke—recalled the first version of the hook starting out with the lines: "You make me feel like I'm born again / All brand new, come on, Peter Pan."
Of course, that concept didn't stick. In fact, after deciding those lyrics were "too young" and "needed to be sexier," they went back to the drawing board and worked on a few more ideas, including one that was called "Try Me On."
"It was all kind of fashion references," Bonnie recounted. "Even though that's a really cute idea and worth writing, it felt a little bit camp, and the song was a little more earnest."
Ultimately, the singer-songwriter—who also co-wrote Katy's "California Gurls" and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"—said she went through "several notebooks of different versions" before landing on the song's more "nostalgic and young" lyrics: "You make me feel like I'm livin' a teenage dream / The way you turn me on, I can't sleep."
"There was something about the word teenager," Bonnie remembered. "I was like, 'Teenager says so much,' but it was too many syllables. So, we changed it to 'teenage,' and then it turned into 'teenage dream.' I was like, 'This feels right. I solved the puzzle.'"
But even if she hadn't, the 40-year-old would have stayed in the studio with Katy for however long it took.
"That was kind of my 8 Mile moment because I was broke," Bonnie said. "My cell phone got turned off, I had no hot water, I had no car."
She added, "I was so lucky to be in that room."
Want to revisit more iconic Katy moments? Read on to see the "Firework" singer through the years...