I like Pink. She has that whole androgenous “I don’t give a f***” look about her that makes me think that if we were to have a few beers at my local, she can still keep up and hold an entertaining conversation. Not run off, make out with my boyfriend, and flash her crotch for the papparazzi after a few shots of sambuca like some other starlets I can think of.
Pink has a new song out called Dear Mr. President, and in that song she airs her very negative opinions about George Bush and his policies. It may be a song with a message, but it’s not getting much airplay and she believes she’s being censored for her anti-Bush stance:
From MSNBC.com:
The outspoken rocker — who recently went after her singing sex-symbol peers in her song “Stupid Girls” — is now taking aim at the commander-in-chief, in her controversial song, “Dear Mr. President.” But she says that she’s not allowed to discuss her political views on the radio.
Pink appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” and thanked him for letting her sing and discuss the song, which she says the hasn’t been able to do on the radio or other TV shows.
She later joked that she hopes Mr. Bush will write a song for her and have Eminem sing it in retaliation (see–Lindsay nor Paris have a sense of humour like that, do they?)
I downloaded her song on I-Tunes and heard it on the train this morning, and although I thought the lyrics were very apt and well written, the song isn’t exactly something you can really bop your head to. Let me put it this way: It’s a hot summer’s day, your driving in your car, windows down, and you have two political songs you can play on your radio that you can cruise to–Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On? and Pink’s Dear Mr. President. I’m going to pick Marvin Gaye every time–it has a deep political message, yet it has a nice little ditty that you can sing and shake your thang to.
That’s why I think she’s not getting much airplay for this song; as much as I like Pink, Dear Mr. President is not radio friendly enough for me to get my groove on. And in America, where most of the radio stations play rap and R&B on a constant loop, that is a major factor to what gets added on a playlist.
Note by Celebitchy: I heard this song on German radio and it’s a folksy protest song. At first I thought it was by The Indigo Girls, until the announcer mentioned that it was Pink. In fact it is a collaboration between Pink and the Indigo Girls. It has a good message where she wonders aloud how he sleeps at night and how he feels when he seems homeless people. It’s not that catchy, Jessie is right, and it’s a good song but it’s not hit material.
This type of post is why I keep coming back to this site; there’s equal parts intelligence and snark, and nothing gets too mean.
I think what’s working against her song is actually a combination of the two concerns. I have heard the song and like it, but it definitely is more of an old fashioned folk song than top-40 radio bait. However, I think that Pink is essentially getting Dixie Chick-ed. Their album has sold well and won Grammies despite its lack of radio play, but they haven’t been given many opportunities to promote or play their songs on American media because they are so openly anti-Bush. CMT and the like have totally ignored them. Even though the majority of Americans are against the war and Bush’s approval rating is hovering in the 30’s and below, lots of media outlets are still afraid of aligning themselves with potentially contraversial acts.
See, now, I love this song, have for almost 6 months. I play it all the time and it’s the ring tone on my phone for when my father the Republican calls me…
She hates the President, just like everybody else in the entertainment industry. Big deal. There is too much of this kind of stuff being released for it to be easily censored. The media and most radio and television stations are at least left slanting enough to dislike Bush that it wouldn’t be left unplayed because of that.
The Dixie Chicks had issues because a couple years ago, when approval ratings were higher (not great, but higher), they insulted Bush and Republicans, which is the important part, because they were country music artists and they were openly insulting their fans and listeners, who might not be hard-line pro-Bush, but were conservative. I don’t listen to people who insult me, and neither does the majority of country music listeners. That’s what happened to the Dixie Chicks. There are plenty of other artists who have insulted Bush and such, but they didn’t have a right-leaning audience.
How the fuck does PINK feel when SHE sees homeless people? Or the indiglo girls for that matter. Unless they are lesbians, then I guess Pink and IG would throw them a dollah.
This is the old cliché about the artists being all knowing and all wise.
It just make me want to puke.
Darcy got it right: What those fat cats are doing for the homeless? I mean, Pink is involved in animal rights but she can’t help homeless folks? Then she sing a sad song about how the president dosen’t want to spend PUBLIC MONEY from the citizen’s TAXES to solve the problem?
Pink, if you want me to take you seriously, spend a million of $ for the homeless. Then you will have the right to judge,
i don’t give a sh*t about pink’s political views. howev, she looks mega hot in this pic. i’m a straight chick who is SO not into her music or scene otherwise, but her makeup looks fly with her hair color.
Yawn…..ANOTHER anti-Bush celebrity.
Maybe instead of all their bitching and criticizing they could do something with their uber-millions and celebrity status? Now, that would be something new.
Dictator Bush? Bush isn’t the president – he was never elected.
Cheers,
Lori R. Price
http://www.legitgov.org/
Lori- just an historical note, dictators originally were elected 😉 Rome instituted a law which allowed one-man rule to create a cohesive government during times of extreme crisis and that person was elected by the Senate and were ultimately responsible to him – Julius Caesar was “dictator” (said with a Latin accent) and uniquely elected to remain so for 10 years… of course it went to his head, so the knives went for him….
But in relation to Pink, I’ve not heard the song, but she seems like she’s a smart eloquent girl. But what exactly is she meant to do for the homeless? They are generally American citizens and therefore it is the federal or state’s responsibility to ensure their basic human rights are fulfilled. If and when they worked they were TAX-PAYERS too. Indeed if there are any Value Added Taxes on purchased items and they buy them, they are still technically tax payers.
Lookit – everyone pays everyone elses wages.
And as for her getting involved with animal rights – why the hell not. My concentration is in the built environment, but does that mean my commitment to animal, social and environmental improvement is cancelled out? No, that is where I feel I can be of most benefit.
It’s all about what type of world you want, if you want a pleasant, well-balanced place to live then animal, social, heritage, built and natural environment issues must be addressed and built upon. Neither are mutually-exclusive and work in all makes for a much nicer place for “TAX PAYERS” (nnnnagh.. that phrase does my head in) and their children to live.
Wow, I think I’m going to start bashing Bush so I can be cool and popular too. While I’m at it, I think I’ll start blaming him for social ills that have existed for decades, like homelessness. Then I’ll be hip and trendy, right?
Normally I like Pink’s music and message, but why does every singer/actor/celebutard feel the need to sit around and bitch about this contry and its problems. If homelessness bothers you so much, donate to a charity that helps them. Donate time you your local soup kitchen. Work to raise awareness for programs that help educate and employ the homeless. Wait a minute, that’s not very cool and trendy is it?
I love the song and have always enjoyed her music. i totally agree with her views on worthless war and hate bush and all he and Chaney stand for.I worked indirectly for Chaney prior to his vis pres and was laid off as well as a hundred or so others due to our jobs at Halliburton sent overseas.Great for American moral! Rock on girl I will buy!
I love the song and have been listening to it for months. I assumed that she wrote the song to stimulate debate about Bush’s policies and its worked. If people had more protection in their jobs, they wouldn’t be afraid of losing them if they promoted the record
It is “Cheney” not Chaney.
Another celebutard jumps on the bash Bush bandwagon. YAWN. It’s become a way to further your “career” and be controversial. It would be more controversial if, in a primarily leftist celebrity world, you were actually pro Bush; but then you wouldn’t get to keep your job in Hollywood.
Of course the “liberal media” is not going to support Pink’s political view by way of this song. (What liberal media?)If they even bring up the fact that this song exists, Pink’s name and political views will be smeared in hopes that this whole controversy will be blown into Dixie Chicks proportion.
Most radio is owned by the same right-wing corporate giants that own the major tv outlets. They control everything we see and hear on radio and tv. If you control the information being sent out, you control the perception of the viewer/listener.
I said that to say this, the problem with corporate owned media in America is that too many people want to be spoon-fed by their television without a second thought. “Whatever I see on tv or hear on the radio must be true, right? I don’t think I’m going to take the time to research ol’ Bill O’Reilly and see if what he’s saying even has an inkling of truth attached to it. He’s a good-ol’ boy, ya’ll. Got them ‘mercan flags wavin an’ all.”
Wake up.
To Mairead: The Whore High Court (three members of which had ties to Bush) installed Bush in a coup d’etat in 2000. In 2004, we had the second coup, mostly formulated by Rove through Ohio’s Ken Blackwell and an GOP ‘elections’ board that has recently resigned.
As to a crises created, the ‘mandate’ in the aftermath of the first coup was forged by the Bush regime’s 9/11 terrorist attacks, an obvious inside job to pave the way for the illegal invasion of Iraq and a clampdown on US civil liberties (USA Patriot Act).
BTW, the name is Cheney Halliburton –he’s still collecting a salary from Halliburton –$1M per year, deferred –hence all those ‘no-bid’ contracts in Iraq, Iran (oil services) and yes -‘rebuilding’ the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina (KBR’s $500M for that project).
Cheers,
Lori R. Price
Mgr., Citizens For Legitimate Government
http://www.legitgov.org/
Thanks for responding Lori – I would like to clarify that the first paragraph of my last post was in no way a critiscism, I was just putting an historical context that a “dictator” rather like the Athenian “tyrannos” (tyrant) were originally elected post. If I had enough Latin I’d probably have a more accurate quip than “Caveat Suggragator” (Voter Beware)
And thank you also for detailing the second election – I was pretty familiar with the reasons of the first – but any additional information is good. (and also for touching on what could well be the “real” reason for the War in your last paragraph. 😉
Oops.. I meant Suffragator *blush*
I appreciate those with a larger voice (celebrities) who criticize the president. It’s more important now than it has been since Vietnam. Perhaps more so even. These are serious times. Serious. The w.a.s.p. mafia that has hijaked our political system is smashing and grabbing at an alarming rate. They are ruining our name, the global environment, and running an illegal useless war. So for those of you who think it’s a “YAWN” for those in the public eye to speak out, remember this: the president is a public servant, not a king. Any president ought to be held to intense scrutiny. Bravo to Pink. Plus she can ACTUALLY SING!
As I’ve said before, If a person is a performer, I would pay to watch/hear them perform not spout off their political stances (left and right wing alike). The song is decent. But, eh, I can see why it’s not played that often.
I “YAWN” because it is not really the president who is pulling the strings. Everyone blames him but there is an emeshed web of lobbyists, PAC groups, corporations, money brokers in/outside of the U.S. that pull the strings here. Doesn’t matter if it is a Democrat or Republican. Yes, you are right…the president is a public servant as real as a talking head for big money.
Oops – I meant “the president is a public servant as well as a talking head for big money.”
Yup: Agreed- it’s a bigger group for sure, hence my term “w.a.s.p. mafia”. For a songwriter, I’m sure it’s a lot easier to put together lyrics aimed at “Dear Mr. President” than the corporations, lobbyists, dominionists, et al. Just have to assume for the sake of brevity that people are smart enough to understand that whole “figurehead” aspect. On another note, I don’t think anyone has come close to “Imagine” as a perfect ‘protest’ song. Some radio stations banned it after 9/11.
Another point: it’s great for citizens of the world to see another representation of Americans other than the administration members. Performers become ad hoc ambassadors. And thank God for that.
“Performers become ad hoc ambassadors. And thank God for that.”
I completely disagree with this. Performers only show their personal viewpoints and not that of the nation. I don’t want them speaking for me since I can do it myself. They are no more educated than I am and just because they have a bigger outlet does not mean they should force their viewpoint down others throats. I’m NOT saying that government does an adequate job of being ambassadors. But there are are a lot more qualified out there than “Pink” to be my ambassador.
What a fantastic thread this is.. I’ve learned something today, thanks guys. Its nice to know there’s some very intelligent people reading this site, you’d think it would attract total numpties being predominantly a place of gossip (and there definitely are some numpties hanging around) but there’s definitely great people out there too with very solid views.
Personally I think Bush is merely a puppet on strings and people shouldnt direct all their hatred of the government towards him, it’s ignorant. However, if Pink wants to sing about it, well, its a free country with freedom of speech so sing away Pink, sing away.