P!nk Thinks You’re Fuckin’ Perfect & Amanda Palmer Loves Australia
P!nk Thinks You’re Fuckin’ Perfect
Today P!nk premiered her new music video for “Fuckin’ Perfect”, which she’s created to promote awareness of escalating teen issues such as bullying, depression, eating disorders, self-harm and suicide.
[TRIGGER WARNING: cutting, anorexia, suicide]
All are referenced in the video, which you can watch here: YouTube, VEVO, MTV.com, VH1.com, NineMSN. Note that it comes with a graphic imagery warning.
Here’s a special comment from P!nk:
Cutting, and suicide, two very different symptoms of the same problem, are gaining on us. (the problem being; alienation and depression. the symptoms; cutting and suicide). I personally don’t know a single person who doesn’t know at least two of these victims personally.
Its a problem, and its something we should talk about.
We can choose to ignore the problem, and therefore ignore this video, but that won’t make it go away.
I don’t support or encourage suicide or cutting.
I support the kids out there that feel so desperate/numb/powerless, that feel unseen and unheard, and can’t see another way. I want them to know I’m aware. I have been there. I see them.
Sometimes that’s all it takes.
Read her full statement here.
I didn’t find this video to be as feather-ruffling as Pink’s blog had prepared me for, but then I’m not a young person or a parent who may be concerned that their young person might see this video. The few friends I polled had a similar reaction. I think that’s probably part of the problem, though – these scenarios should ruffle everyone’s feathers. Maybe they’ve become so common, so widely reported on and depicted on screen that we’re becoming immune. Pink made this video to raise awareness, but maybe those of us who are already well aware can benefit from it too.
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Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under – New Album & Video
Amanda Fucking Palmer has released a new full-length album, Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under, featuring songs that have been written about, or while visiting, Australia and New Zealand. I am particularly fond of this record because of its amusing references to my homeland’s cultural quirks, such as “Vegemite [The Black Death]” and “Map of Tasmania”. I have no idea how these’ll translate overseas, but if you’re an AFP fan then you’re gonna love this album anyway. You can download it here for $0.69, although it’d be really cool if you could afford to pay more.
Speaking of “Map of Tasmania”, the Michael Pope-directed music video has premiered on Spin.com. All I’m going to tell you is that it’s about the liberation of pubic hair, you really need to see it for yourself.
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An Horse Offer Up “Trains And Tracks”
Earlier this week An Horse released a preview of their forthcoming album, Walls. The song’s called “Trains And Tracks,” and it’s available as a free download right here.
An Horse fans, what do you think? Has it made you excited for this album? I’ve been waiting in anticipation, excited to hear what they’ll do next and while I enjoy the track, it’s a little reminiscent of “Camp Out” and “Little, Little, Little”. Regardless, Walls is remaining on my 2111 Anticipated Albums list.
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Hunter Valentine & The Big Queer Party
Are you going to be in or near Brooklyn, NY, on Wednesday, Feb 2? If I was, I’d be going to the Knitting Factory because there’s mad line up of talented ladies playing including Autostraddle favorites Hunter Valentine as well as other solid acts Vanity Theft and People You Know. It’s going to be such an epic night that it needs an official after party – stick around for some DJs and dancing at The Big Queer Party. Check out the Facebook invite and get your tickets here.
10 Great Hits You Won’t Find on Pink’s New “Greatest Hits” Album
P!nk is releasing a greatest hits record! It’s called Greatest Hits… So Far!!! and the album drops on Tuesday.
Does news about Pink excite you? Or even remotely pique your interest? If you’re not fond of Pink’s music, stop reading here. I’m about to get my fangirl on.
So if you can move past the album’s excessive exclamation marks (and I hope you can), I think you’ll find that Greatest Hits… So Far!!! is a fairly well-crafted reflection of Pink’s decade-long, genre-jumping musical career. Here’s the track list:
1. Get the Party Started
2. There You Go
3. Don’t Let Me Get Me
4. Just Like a Pill
5. Family Portrait
6. Trouble
7. Stupid Girls
8. Who Knew
9. U + Ur Hand
10. Dear Mr. President
11. So What
12. Sober
13. Please Don’t Leave Me
14. Funhouse
15. I Don’t Believe You
16. Glitter In The Air
17. Raise Your Glass [new]
18. Fuckin’ Perfect [new]
19. Heartbreak Down [new]
These are arguably Pink’s most commercially successful hits; they got a lot of airplay and moved a lot of records and made Pink a very popular lady and Linda Perry a very rich lady. However, there are a handful of tracks missing from this greatest hits record that my heart considers to be ‘hits’ as well. Which brings me to the following:
The Great Hits That You Won’t Find
on P!nk’s Greatest Hits… So Far!!!
1. Most Girls (Can’t Take Me Home, 2000)
Greatest Hits… So Far!!! favors Pink’s later work, but I was nonetheless surprised that “Most Girls” didn’t make the cut. I suspect it’s because Pink’s name isn’t listed in the writing credits, girl isn’t silly.
“Most Girls” first introduced me to the idea of having ‘game’ and for that I will always be grateful. The song is about finding a man with the bling-bling. Or not wanting to, in Pink’s / our case. What it lacks in relatable lyrical content, it makes up for with a brilliant hook that, nearly a decade later, is still showcased in Pink’s live shows. [Watch the live clip]
2. Split Personality (Can’t Take Me Home, 2000)
Before Pink was a pop star, she was an R&B artist – and a rather talented one, at that. “Split Personality” is one of the early songs that makes me wonder what Pink could’ve achieved if only she’d stuck with the genre. (As AS reader Janay pointed out to me via twitter, the Pink/Perry collaboration, “Catch Me While I’m Sleeping,” is a similar indicator of her R&B potential.)
When you break it down, this is about two girls trying to blend, trying to vibe, trying to live just one life. She just wants to fly, fly, fly, you know? While the artist in “Split Personality” is not overly familiar today, several characteristics of this track — such as the spoken interjections — have been carried through her entire career. [Watch the live clip]
3. 18 Wheeler (M!ssundaztood, 2001)
“18 Wheeler” was one of many girl power-esque anthems that helped to position Pink as the independent kick-ass woman that we see today. Of course there were traces of this person from the very beginning, but it was in M!ssundaztood that she really amped up the attitude. I was 17 when I first heard “18 Wheeler” and it made me feel invincible. Sorta link you could run me over with your 18 wheeler truck and I wouldn’t give a fuck. [Watch the live clip]
4. Tonight’s the Night (Try This, 2003)
I’ll never understand why Try This was Pink’s lowest selling album of all time, it is SO GOOD you guys. Maybe in 2003 America wasn’t ready for the future, or something. We can probably blame George W. Bush. “Tonight’s the Night” is not a complicated track, I don’t want to beat you with needless analysis. It’s just a feel-good song with a memorable vocal line and wicked groove. Everyone should try it at least once. [Listen here]
5. Oh My God (Try This, 2003)
If you’ve never heard this collaboration between Pink and Peaches, you should probably go and do that right now.
For all of its ambiguity, gender-wise, “Oh My God” comes across as hyper hyper queer. I like it for being wonderfully primal and organic and sexual without the fanfare that accompanies like-minded tracks by Pink’s pop peers. Part of its appeal is lesbian subtext that (maybe?) only exists in the wishful minds of listeners, and yet even with the fantasy element there’s still something so incredibly honest here. Also, every time I listen my mind jumps to this place where Pink and Peaches are making out, which is a magical and not-entirely-impossible scenario that’s worth the admission price.
6. Waiting For Love (Try This, 2003)
“Waiting for Love” is a collaboration between 5 (!) songwriters, including Pink and Linda Perry, and happens to feature one of my all-time favorite guitar lines. But its beauty is mostly in the slow, dramatic buildup, which is not nearly as predictable as Pink’s other hits. She really makes you want it. [Listen here]
7. The One That Got Away (I’m Not Dead, 2006)
Pink has enough acoustic heart-string ballads in her repertoire to show us that ‘less’ is more. She also has enough themed records and circus stunts under her belt that prove that ‘more’ is Pink. “The One That Got Away” somehow manages to bring both. It’s just a girl and her guitar and a make-believe campfire, belting out an anecdote about real life that, even in its simple raw form, reveals far more than you might expect. [Watch the live clip]
8. Fingers (I’m Not Dead, 2006)
“Fingers” is a song about masturbation. It uses little metaphor or subtext. In concert, Pink performs the song in underwear and a net. When she touches herself the crowds’ jaws collectively drop to the concrete. They throw each other a look that says, “This is really happening.” It’s quite amazing. [Watch the live clip]
I don’t love this song for its sound, or adult content, or even the way she performs it onstage (although that is a bonus). What I adore about it is the way it just sits there, unadvertised, at the end of the album. It’s more cheeky than it is ‘shocking.’ It’s like a private joke and she’s waiting for you to find it.
9. Crystal Ball (Funhouse, 2008)
What I love most about the Funhouse record is the element of fantasy. It’s really no surprise that Greatest Hits… So Far!!! plucks so many songs from its track list. Right in the middle of the Funhouse’s bells and whistles and carnival crazy is a ballad that I think everyone should hear once. It’s not hugely memorable, but it is lovely. [Watch the live clip]
10. Bad Influence (Funhouse, 2008)
“Bad Influence” is Funhouse‘s party song. It’s unpredictable, while remaining effortlessly on theme. It makes me excited about the pop music of the future. [Watch the live clip]
Got any to add?
Pink’s New Music Video Raises Your Glass to Homosexuality
When P!nk let it slip that the music video her new single, Raise Your Glass, was going to include a gay wedding scene, a lot of people got excited, me included. If this were any other artist, I’d have just shrugged, but Pink isn’t just any artist. I adore her. I’ve spent the last 24 hours lurking on her website waiting for this music video to drop, and now it has, check it –
[If you can’t view the video, stream it on Pink’s website]
Pink explained the gay wedding scene by saying, “I threw my best friend’s wedding in my backyard. She is gay and it was a beautiful ceremony. At the end of it, her mom said, ‘Why can’t that be legal?’ and started crying. It was the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever seen and that’s why I’m doing it in my video.”
So what do you think? My number #1 feeling is her use of multiple pairs of black-rimmed glasses and how that’s sorta funny, right? My #2 feeling is how the gay wedding is probably the least queer thing about this video, just tell me that your big homo heart isn’t aching for that ripped black sweater.
Pink seems to be turning up the homogayness with each new album release – escalating from political commentary in Dear Mr. President (ft. the Indigo Girls) and a sex scene with her doppelganger in Sober, to some man-on-man pashing and a button-pushing bedroom scene with a nun. While there are some confusing statements floating about regarding the singer’s own sexuality, there’s little denying that when it comes to LGBT rights, Pink’s on our side. It’s a stand that just two weeks ago was acknowledged by the Human Rights Campaign with the ‘Ally for Equality Award’.
The video is entertaining and all, but I’m not overly fond of the song itself. The first time I heard it I exclaimed “what the f*ck is this!?” and scrambled to change the radio station. Dramatic, I know. But with the recycled Max Martin beat and trashbag lyrics (“Party crasher, panty snatcher, call me up if you a gangsta”), I assumed that I was listening to Katy Perry, or Ke$ha. Not the artist who I (still) wholeheartedly believe is our generation’s greatest pop star.
What I do love about this song is its spirit. Underdog anthems are Pink’s best trick, and “Raise Your Glass” is her biggest call to arms yet (“Raise your glass if you’re wrong in all the right ways”). Pink’s forthcoming Greatest Hits… So Far record celebrates a catalog of music that celebrates individuality, and as the lead single this track makes perfect sense. It’s just a shame that it’s not her greatest hit… so far.
Pink’s “Funhouse: The Tour” Makes 58 Sold-Out Dates in Australia – The Autostraddle Concert Report
Photographer Stef Mitchell & Autostraddle Deputy Music Editor/Australian Specialist Crystal report from the trenches of the Outback’s Outbreak of Pink Fever. Lady Gaga Who?
“Even the most passionate Pink fans couldn’t have predicted that this feisty pop star was capable of selling out a whooping 58 stadium shows in a country with only 21 million people. But she did, and I was one of the 660,000 Australians who helped her out. Four times.”
Ex-Miss-Cali Gets In the Mix & Pink’s Been Out Since 2006
Today on Autostraddle: Stef does one of her legendary cartoon recaps about Saturday night’s Lady GaGa concert! More later.
+Ex Miss California is pro gay marriage. (@Desert Dispatch) Best part hands down of this article: “She originally began championing global warming awareness but became more interested in equal rights through meeting pageant people who supported gay rights.” You know, like the boys that did her hair!
+In The High School Comic Chronicles of Ariel Schrag, her four-part series of autobiographical graphic novels, the 29-year-old cartoonist moves year-by-year through her life as a gay teen in 1990s California, tackling puberty, friendship and coming out along the way. (ed. note: Ariel used to write for The L Word, too, when it was good and stuff.) (@npr)
Riese Rants Briefly: This “Pink is bisexual” story is driving me insane. Pink comes out as bisexual! Pink says she never said that! Who cares? Back in ’06, I was working on a book about bisexuality, and I routinely cited Pink as one of many popular actors/musicians who’s flexible sexuality had not prevented their mainstream success. We’re all too hung up on labels and linguistics — the way I see it is that Pink’s using her own words to refer to the same concept that the media is implicating when it employs the word “bisexual.” If I had the time, I’d go through all my Pink-is-“bi” sources but I don’t, so! Here’s one!
In addition to her sexy music video where she actually makes out with herself (also female), I’d like to cite this OCTOBER 2006 interview from DIVA magazine.: (more…)