The One That Got Away

I know it.

The one that got away.

I was going to say in another life, but I knew it wasn't that.

Producer Ella, ex-producer of the show, is texting our old group chat with the answers.

Let's take a break for a chart metric stat of the week.

The song of the summer, according to TikTok for 2026 on both its global and US charts is Katy Perry's The One That Got Away.

A 15 year old song from 2011 is the song of the summer on TikTok, the social network that many people see as a key engine for music discovery, especially for younger generations.

Let's sit with this for a moment, because if you spend a lot of time listening to podcasts that are critical about music culture, or if you spend a lot of time on X or other platforms, you may think that Katy Perry's a laughingstock, especially if you are of an older generation.

now we're going to listen to

the one that got away i mean sorry now we're going to listen to party in the usa by miley cyrus and the one that got away by katie perry

to the land of fame.

Am I going to fit in? Jumped in the cab.

Yeah.

Teenage Dream has Teenage Dream, Last Friday Night, California Gurls, Firework, The One That Got Away, which is fucking peaking right now, and that song rules.

Yeah, I'm-

PT.

Yeah, I mean, you used to be able to get around it.

I remember a year or so ago, you used to be able to say, write me a song by an artist that sounds like Pleen, and it's about a rhapsody of bohemians or something like that.

And it would come up with something that sounds like Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

They kind of closed that loophole, and here's another one now.

Um, and that's an interesting thing because I think if you are an AI music company right now, you're thinking, God, I've got, I've got a license.

I've got to sign deals with labels for the recordings.

I've got to sign deal with publishers for the songs and collection societies.

But, I probably now have to kind of figure out a way that artists' rights.

People wanna-

So is The One That Got Away

So I don't have to say you were the one that got away.

The one that got away.

Thank you, TikTok, for all of the wonderful things you bestow upon pop songs by giving them a second life.

I'm just...

Looks like emo era music nostalgia is driving a lot of algorithmic afterlife.

And the biggest story of this week, TikTok announced that Katy Perry's 2011, The One That Got Away, was its number one U.S. and global song of the summer in 2026.

Our viral correspondent Lydia Valentino is off this week, so...

That's another Viral Wednesday.

Let's go.

The one that got away? Oh, my God.

TV stream? Yep.

Wow,

you're right.

The one that got away is correct.

It's not easy, man.

Is