A Pop Star Made Me Cry
What are these things pouring forth from my eyes? Wet, salty...uh-oh.This is the result of just having watched this for the first time, thanks to my mom and my stepmom who pointed it out to me. (You know you're freakin' busy when your own parents are more hip to the MTV headlines than you are. ) I was expecting some sort of angry, raunchy, fist-in-the-air song with a few digs on the drunk driving record.
Wrong.
This song is heartwrenching.
I always wondered just what it would take for the protest song movement to come back again. And now, here it is. In the spirit of Bob and Joan and Janis, here's Pink, singing her little heart out about the state of the not-so-unified union in a way far too poignant for someone quite so young and so, well...Pink.
I'm crying because she's saying all the things I've always thought myself. Because I don't think this is a President with the ability to feel anything for anyone. Because the line how do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye punches me right in the solar plexus.
I'm crying because somewhere near 50% of the people (Ohio my ass, Diebold) think so little of our country, that they've seen fit to put it in the hands of a reckless, incompetent fool. Twice.
I'm crying because I think of my mom shaking her head and whispering, "why? Why didn't my generation do better by you?"
And I'm crying because I don't want to have to say the same to my daughter.
Or maybe it's just my allergies.
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Edited to add: You haven't heard the end of this one, folks. As sassy Celtic queen MacBoudica kindly pointed out, there's breaking news about this very song. Right now, as we speak! Excitement!
A fifth-grader in brother Jeb's state (insert eyeroll here) was forbidden from performing the song at a school talent show. A district spokesperson said it was because the song was about "drug use [it's against it], war [no!], abortion [no such reference] gay rights [yeppers] and profanity [the word hell]." The ACLU isn't buying it.
Personally, I think kids should stick with the songs we sang in music class in my youth. Like "With a little help from my friends." The getting high reference? Totally about shoulder rides.
posted by Mom101 at 6:05 PM
69 Comments:
I must say, I have a newfound respect for Pink. Beautiful song. Thank you for sharing.
It's so not your allergies. Don't try that crap, I stopped beileving people who said that over 10 years ago. I will tell you, I watched it and had the same reaction. You would think we as a country would be so much farther along than we are. I hope it changes for my girls. That is my biggest hope. It's hard to have such little kids and think about what the world they will grow up in is like.
Oh and by the way Pink rocks. I have always loved her. And she is very active in Rock for the Vote.
Pink is smart, down to earth and a talented songwriter who just happens to hide behind her pop icon status a bit too much to be taken seriously. I hope this song changes that for her. She'll probably have the secret service spying on her now.
I first liked her when I saw "Stupid Girl", but this wins my allegiance.
And Yeah. We live in Whitey McWhiteville NH and it is Republicans as far as the eye can see.
I've always liked Pink! However, I had not heard this song until just now on your blog. Thanks for sharing it!
Wow! It brought tears to my eyes too!
A song writer (or really it's Linda Perry - 4 non-blondes). Someone knows what music is supposed to be about.
Thanks for that.
Pink gives credit where it is due but Linda doesn't get the kudos for this one.
"how do you sleep while the rest of us cry" kills me everytime i hear it. THANKS FOR MAKING ME CRY AT WORK! lol
I haven't heard it but I'll be listening for it now.
The state of our nation is appalling. Everyone on Fox News continues to make excuses for Bush while the country falls apart and people die needlessly. If it takes a twentysomething pop star to get everyone's attention, then so be it.
Good for Pink for finally putting to words what many of us feel. I read somewhere recently that a little girl just got banned from singing this song at her middle school talent show (I can't remember where) because of its obsceneties and reference to sex...rediculous.
Sounds like a great song. I will listen to it now.
I think that becoming a mom makes this stuff hit home all the more. You made me think of that mom in Farenheit 911 who lost her son in Iraq. It was just so sad. The entire thing is a total travesty and a waste.
Here is the link to the article.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=77736008&p=777363yx&n=77736388
My daughter loves Pink, and I am okay with that because in between the swearing and the clothes is a real brain and most of all that's what I hope for my daughter. Great post.
I have never heard that before - thanks for sharing. Her words are amazing, just amazing. I can't wait to share this with some friends.
Thanks again!
have a happy mother's day mom 101!
webhug,
mod*mom
While I agree wholeheartedly with the seniment, there's something about the timing of all this backlash that I find akin to closing the barn door after the horse has left (and shat all over the lawn). I wish the President's comeuppance had come before the first election and DEFINITELY before the second. I guess I just wish more people had stood up -- like the Dixie Chicks did -- before it became popular.
As always, a great post.
I seriously don't understand why this country is not in the stages of a revolution to take our country back. I can't start it by myself people....
thanks mom 101 for the insight.
"I'm crying because somewhere near 50% of the people (Ohio my ass, Diebold) think so little of our country, that they've seen fit to put it in the hands of a reckless, incompetent fool. Twice."
Me too, Mom-101, me too. :(
I can't even get started on this topic. I hate to say it, but I had a feeling November of 2000. In my wildest dreams I could not have imagined that it could be this terrible. I just hope we can repair the damage and make our world a better place for our children. I cry about this all the time. I could go on and on how this administration has personally effected my family, but I am not sure there is enough time or space for that. Thanks for the song, who would have thought that Pink could evoke such feelings.
I agree with toyfoto. The Dixie Chicks said it long before anyone else had the balls to...and they should have never apologized.
I used to say Bush was the Antichrist just to get laughs, but now I kinda believe it to be true...
Thanks for posting the video, I hadn't seen it yet. Heartwrenching indeed.
(PS: My grandma would kill me if she knew I were voicing my negative opinions about Bush! Old age + rum&coke = paranoia!)
Soleclaw - noshit, Nate's mother, the devout Mormon, suggested to her sister that Bush may be the antichrist. Her sister kicked her out of the room for saying so, but word to my MIL!
checked out the video and I love it! never heard it before so thanks to turning me on to it.
I just saw this for the first time a few days ago. My daughter wached it with me.
It's difficult to explain to her. She's just learning about the job of the President, his obligations and authority, and it's very difficult to talk about respect for man taking on this reposnsiblity when the guy in office is such a...problem.
Anyway, here's another version of the song (I think it's the original with the Indigo Girls) with artwork of our servicemen, children and Iraqui's added. The photos toward the end of Ktrina victims are especially hard to look at.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UWA_yXQReg&search=Pink%20Stupid%20Girls%20protest%20President%20George%20Bush%20Im%20Not%20Dead
Ahem...speaking for Ohio here. We're not a red state, I swear. We're just run by people who are red state idiots. Totally agree with "Ohio my ass, Diebold".
I actually posted this link to this song on my blog about a week ago. I LOVE IT!!! And the kid not being able to sing it? BULLSHIT!!!
You and I got plexus punched at the same line:
"...how do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye..."
Especially on the heels of me crying this morning reading this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/11/AR2006051101968.html
In the paper. Absolutely UNFORGIVEABLE.
I was also struck and so revitalized to see the protest movement so beautifully rekindled. Thanks for the heads up on the clip--at this rate I would have seen it about 12 years from now...
Oh God Zelda, now I'm crying again. This is going to be a long day.
I love that pink uses her art to send a message. I can't watch the video here but will as soon as I get home. Thanks for writing about it.
I hadn't heard this one - thank you thank you thank you for bringing it to our attention.
You might enjoy this link. ;)
http://grumppopotamus.blogspot.com/2006/05/funny-creepy-cathartic.html
I've been secretly in love with Pink ever since seeing the video for "Family Portrait," which echoed things I myself often felt as young child about my family . . . this just confirms my original thought that she's really too cool for pop school.
BTW, toyfoto, I think, actually, that a lot of pop musicians did try to turn the tide with some serious Bush criticism before the election. The examples that come to my poor sleep-deprived mind at the moment are Green Day's album American Idiot, released September 2004, and Eminem's video "Mosh," released October 2004.
I hate Bush and all his cronies. I was sooo proud of Pink to do this song with class and intelligence. We are living under a regime...and half our friggin country does not get it!!!!!
I worry every day about what the hell is happening in this country due to who is running it. Now they are supposedly nominating his brother to run in the next election...SCARY.SCARY.SCARY!
I am with Dawn, loving Pink since I heard Stupid Girls. I don't have a soundcard on my work computer, but I'm going to rush home and check this out after work!
As for Bush, I'm in shock over the fact that our country went from overly prosperous in the 90s to the wreck it has become, ALL UNDER ONE PRESIDENT. I can't wait for him to go. I can't wait!
Everyone got on the Hate the Dixie Chicks bandwagon because we didn't think they should have gone to a foreign country and spouted off. I agreed with their words, but not their venue. It's interesting to me to see them being looked at as the smart ones now that the rest of the country has caught up with them. Does this mean that I will find them on my radio again? I hope so. I like them. But I want to hear Pink more.
I'm going to link this on my page, too. I think this song should be spreading like wildfire, and I also hope that the rumors of Jeb running for the next presidency are NOT TRUE! Because we will be in for more suffering.
That song is my new favorite song.
I am going to have to check out that son...
Not, NOT, NOT a Georgie fan!
I saw this video a few weeks ago, and I bawled! I am a Canadian, and it upsets me too! I couldn't believe it when george got voted back in. I don't even live there! GAH!
Good for that little girl! Good for the mom for fighting for her daughter!
Jozet: you make such a great point. That is a challenge, isn't it, teaching your child to respect the office of the president, all while not respecting the president. I'd like to see more on that line of thinking (hint hint)
Diana: your point is compelling in that we hear someone like Jeb is "running for president" and now assume it means "going to be president." Let the guy run for all I care. I think he's a disaster.
Don't throw in the towel just yet.
for some reason there is no audio playing for me on this one now, so cannot comment except to say she looks sex-ay.
re: teaching kid about respecting president. we were watching Lord of the Rings the other day (DORK ALERT) and evil wizard comes on. "who's that?" asks my 3yr old boy. "a bad man" I say (creatively). "George Bush???' he replies.
ha!
I hate the Dixie Chicks, but I cheered them on a few years ago as they smacked down GWB.
As a Canadian with a new government I will refer to as "Watered Down Bush", I'm getting scared. Our country is increasing troops in Afghanistan and the Middle East to get on Bush's good side again - but sitting on their hands about Darfur. I fear he's waiting to see what Bush will do on this one before he decides to act. I know where we need to be, and we're NOT there.
I just read today on one of my frequent news haunts (rawstory.com)that Bush's approval rating is down to 29%!!! Congress is at 18%. I am gong to try and be an optimist here and hope we get the Republicans out of congress this fall.
I played that song for J a few weeks ago and both of us got chills. Just loved it. She's singing with the Indigo Girls, correct? I've long been an IG fan. :)
Liz, thank you for writing about this; my feelings on this topic are so strong that I avoid it entirely when in politically-mixed company lest I go on a rant that won't end until the year 2060.
(Oops; just watched the live version. I think Pink sings with the Indigo Girls on the studio version).
Just for clarification: I realize a more than a few performers came out against the president before the second election. Look at what MICHAEL MOORE did, and still the movie swayed few voters.
I didn't mean to imply anything that would denegrate jumping on the popularity band wagon. Especially because the mid-term elections could very well use the juice. It's just that I feel sad that now that it's OK to speak people are getting praised for speaking up. I didn't like the Dixie Chicks as a band then or now, but I definitely thought they deserved better than death threats. And when people called Maines unpatriotic, I hung my head in shame.
OMG, I love this song for all the same reasons.
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful video. Pink is becoming a role model...
I love Pink. First, for Stupid Girl, and now for this. I saw her sing this on TV the other day and was amazed. The story about the kid in the talent show is scary.
I live in Ohio, and that numbnuts who helped to screwed up our vote counts is now running for governor. Check it out:
http://www.kenblackwell.com/
I sooooo want to move.
1) Pink rocks.
2) Un-frickin'-believable. Really.
Candy, I hope you're so right about those flowers.
I finally was able to watch it, and I'm so in love with Pink right now I may start stalking her. Maybe it is time to stand up and say enough is enough. Just maybe saying something out loud in detraction of Gee Dub won't get as much scorn as before, with the war, the gas prices being sky high and his cronies in the oil companies reaping all the benefits. Big business and President don't mix. I can't wait two more years for him to work through the rest of his term. I don't know if I can stand it.
In the meantime, GO PINK!
LOVE PINK! You Go girl. Great song and she was great on Oprah telling girls just to 'be themselves' and not these skanky 'Paris Hilton' types.
Happy Mothers Day!
Ok I am not American, however this still moves me. We are neighbors and we were shocked to watch the results of the election.
Kudos to all those brave people that stand up for your country and your beliefs.
Here it is 4:52 a.m. and I'm bawling like Thalia when the formula has too much water in it! Yesterday I asked a class of 7th graders if they'd heard of the song. No. So, moms: We have work to do. Polite women were taught not to talk about politics or religion in company. I'm so happy that Mom 101 never learned her manners!
I will check out this song...
But am scared to do it, since I cried at a commercial last night...am a bit on the edge of hysteria and hormonal insanity...
Good old Pink...
Oh Jeb - you are such a well-rounded guy!!!! So open....
So caring!!!!!!
And your brother - now there's a real gem.....
I have been impressed with Pink for so long now, and she just keeps getting better. It was easy to write her off as some little punk in the early goings, but she just keeps getting more confident, more outspoken, classier, and more visibly intelligent as she goes on. I am so proud of how she is becoming a role model for young women, because she has got it going on in there. She spoke intelligently and eloquently on Oprah about what the media is feeding young women, too. I love that she writes her own lyrics and partners with amazing female songwriters like Linda Perry for terrific, strong material. Go, Pink. and yeah, now I'm crying at work too and just had to explain that to somebody. Thanks!
Who woulda thunk that Pink would be this generation's Joni Mitchell? I was never a big fan of her's until this recent album. I really enjoyed that song... Thanks for the link.
Woman....we think alike! (I'm really sorry if this thought scares you....but we do...you will find a short, sweet tribute to your crazy sel fin MY blog....and be kind....I am a woman older than you...that is still new to the thought of writing my private thoughts on a public blog for all the world to see...Happy Mother's Day
Wow...amazing stuff. I'm crying too.
Don't flambe me...but I'm not necessarily of the opinion that Bush is the devil incarnate. I don't love him either. I'm really quite apathetic about him and politics in general.
That said...that song was beautiful and heartwrenching. But it was also very timeless quality to it. It really could have been sung during any of the administrations under which our country went to war, or suffered a great human tragedy.
"How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say good-bye"....gosh..that could have been about WWII, Vietnam, Desert Storm, The Depression, The Oklahoma Bombings... I know she wrote the song about Bush...but what makes it such a good song is that it can reach accross the decades and speak to anybody who has ever struggled, or lost, or questioned, or challenged.
Just the .02 of an apolitical ignoramus. ;?)
I really like Pink, and I think she has something more to say than "Get this party started". I'd like to hear more of that kind of stuff from her.
No flambeing, sauteeing, or otherwise heating my readers in any way here, BA! Thoughtful dissent always encouraged.
I agree with your sentiment that it has the potential to be a timeless song for all those reasons, but I would also say that it's pretty darn specific to W. I mean, it comes right out and refers to his earlier drug abuse, to his wife and children, to No Child Left Behind specifically, and to what the songwriters perceive as his lack of compassion or heart.
If you're interested you can find the lyrics here.
You're right. In some ways it is very specific, but I think there is a more encompassing and enduring message there as well that will have generations far removed from this one singing this song or quoting it's lyrics.
Also, I think it's a smidge ironic that Pink is criticizing the president for not knowing hard work. I mean, I'm sure writing songs is very grueling, but I doubt Pink has ever tried to feed a family of four on minimum wage or slept in a cardboard box herself. KWIM?
Regardless, it is an amazingly powerful song, and I give her credit for having the chutzpah to sing it, especially after the way the Dixie Chicks got lambasted.
Thanks for your openness in discussing this. I haven't always found that to be the case.
Since you said, "Thoughtful dissent always encouraged" I have to say I agree with the Blog Anatagonist. I saw this post a a couple of days ago but didn't comment because the song irritated me. I think it's arrogant of Pink to say, "how do you sleep when the rest of us cry" as if she has any idea of the emotional life of Bush.
He is trying to run a country
and she is a pampered rock star. It's so pious. The whole context of the song is that she is so much better/smarter/more sensitive than the president. Then went she started "telling" him about hard work, I just about lost it.
Doe she feel that her relationship with "hard work" as a 27 year old pampered pop star is more intimate than the presidents relationship with hard work. I'd have to say- running a counrty (albeit poorly) is harder work than being a pampered pop star.
Lastly, the cliche cardboard box reference kind of bugged me too. As a social worker who sees the homeless everyday, the cliche just made the song seem even more niave to me.
People like this song because it's emotional, she has a great voice, and because people hate Bush.
I don't like Bush either, but I don't like the song it because it's arrogant and pious.
Good for you for writing this and although I haven't been a Pink fan before I can't tell you how much I love this song and respect it.
I know I am a Canadian so maybe not credible to comment on your politics but I just cannot understand how he was elected ... twice! And why our own country just elected a Bush-loving puppet that terrifies me.
Happy Mother's Day to you!!
Krista, Point well taken. I myself questioned exactly what she knew about homelessness herself, and agree that the cardboard box reference might be a bit cliche and dated. However I think we all have a right to question our President. He works for us, or at least he's supposed to if he were adhering to the principles of democracy.
I don't think she's comparing how hard her job is to his, she's simply pointing out that the man seems to lack any sort of sensitivity or compassion. I mean, I haven't seen it on display once, have you? I've heard him joke about the female deathrow inmate's plea for clemency. I've seen him playing guitar for a photo op while people in New Orleans were dying. And so I believe the question, "how do you sleep at night" is a perfectly legit one. It was easy to joke about Clinton's whole, "I feel your pain" schtick, but I never doubted for a moment that he did. Bush seems to me like a guy who doesn't feel much of anything behind that rich frat-boy smirk of his.
TO offer another perspective, I don't see Pink as a pampered cleb, but as an extremely hardworking and ambitious young woman who's given up a lot to pursue a dream. But I could easily contrast her career path with that of Bush, who has had everything handed to him on a silver platter his whole life (before running it into the ground). If anyone is arrogant, I believe it's Bush. In fact I have not seen such arrogance in a political leader in my lifetime.
As for being better/smarter/more sensitive than the President, well yes, I think she is. As am I. As are you. Tenfold.
But I can definitely see how your perspective as a social worker would lead you to view the song through a different lens than the rest of us. Hey -- maybe you need to write one yourself!
Thanks for sharing your opinion here.It's always good to hear other points of view.
Wow, I'd never seen this video. I haven't followed Pink's career, but I do know that her dad is a Vietnam vet and her family always struggled financially. She also was a runaway who lived on the streets. So, she's seen a lot more hardship than most of the young women her age.
It amazes me how the President can be so detached from the rest of us. If he looks out the window of his limosine while he's riding around D.C., he's sees lots of homeless folks every day. Amazing that, considering the power he wields, he doesn't really feel compelled to DO anything about that problem.
Don't forget Pete Seeger in your honour roll of protest songbirds!
I had to pop two clonopins after reading the post, hearing the song, crying and then reading the addendum. WHAT THE FUCK? I told my husband a long time ago that if Jef Bush ever gets elected president we are leaving the country. I'm sure the Feds are checking out my correspondance to you as I write this.
"I don't think she's comparing how hard her job is to his, she's simply pointing out that the man seems to lack any sort of sensitivity or compassion. I mean, I haven't seen it on display once, have you?"
Actually yes. Anyone who was watching after 9/11 saw the compassion from President Bush. I think it's sad that so many of us seem to have forgotten about his compassion on the days after 9/11 and how he cried when talking about those who were lost on that day. They weren't contrived tears; they were real.
I agree with Krista about Pink and all her "hard work." Maniacal and Thinking About. . . posted about this a few weeks back and I stated there that if she's upset about the homeless, than why doesn't she do something about it? This country is full of people who are able to help. That's why so many of us give to charities regularly. Local giving makes a bigger difference than money that has to be funneled down to the appropriate places. I'm going on a tangent here so I'll stop. . . but one last thing.
Many of us voted for a second term because we thought the alternative was much scarier. We voted for the second term, not because we're mindless, but because we care about this country so much that we felt Bush was the best person to do the job given the situation at that time. To say that everyone who voted for Bush didn't care about the country just isn't right. It's just that what's best for this country isn't the same thing for all people.
BBM: I don't pull a lot of punches when it comes to what I think about this President and those who voted for him. However I'm not going to convince you that he's a fool and you're not going to convince me that he's not.
I'll also say this: Pink is doing something about the homeless--She wrote a hit song about it. And now here we are, discussing the issue and deciding what to do about it. All because of that song.
We'll have to agree to disagree. I didn't think I'd be able to convince you otherwise. ;-)
I hope I didn't come off sounding rude. All I really wanted to say is that just as there are some idiots who voted for Bush, there are a lot of idiots who voted for Kerry too. Neither of us are idiots; we just have different ideas about who is best to lead this country and why. (I personally liked Pink a lot better when she was sniffing her armpits.)
I heard this song at the end of the season finale of "The L Word". It made me cry on the show then again when I watched the video on YouTube. She is amazingly talented and brave, especially after the Dixie Chicks got so much crap for criticizing Bush. I support Pink 110% and I hope she keeps doin' her thang!
same here, heard the song on the L word. I'm surprised I came so late to the party. why wasn't this song mentioned on the political shows like Keith Olbermann's countdown.
Not only did it make me cry, it made so frickin ANGRY.
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