It’s reminiscent of the dark best of 70’s Fleetwood Mac, an interesting note in the very modern setting of Funhouse that works surprisingly well. Recorded in a single take, it’s a raw, acoustic track that shows off P!nk’s vocals nicely. Crystal Ball builds on the carnival metaphor. The slinky groove and wordplay make for a smart, angry statement of purpose. Love is supposed to be fun, but it can sometimes be really scary.īonus points for making the phrase “evil clowns” actually work in a pop song. As P!nk observed in her online biography:Ĭarnivals are supposed to be fun, but really they are kind of creepy … and that’s like life to me, and love. The lyrics capture the dichotomy of carnivals - they are supposed to be unrestrained fun but contain an element of fear. She considered calling the album Heartbreak Is A Motherfucker, opting instead to use the middle song as a title track. It’s also good rock star fun of the sort only P!nk can deliver. It’s a fun romp of a song, a wink and a nod back to the opening track and a nice bit of sequencing that illustrates the back-and-forth of grief and coping. On Bad Influence the angry diva comes back to the fore. With a great guitar figure, playful backing harmonies, and a fine lead vocal, it’s a flawless pop gem. It’s a smart song that finds her owning her part of a broken relationship. Trying to pull herself back from the brink, she offers up one of her best musical moments, the playful and pained Please Don’t Leave Me. Dark and brooding, it also has a nice urban groove that hearkens back to the first days of P!nk’s fame as she belts out a passionate, agonized chorus. One Foot Wrong moves from vulnerability to crisis, as the singer teeters on the brink of losing control. It’s a quietly powerful track and demonstrates the flawless sequencing of the album. Strings kick in for the chorus as P!nk delivers an aching vocal that shows off her range. Opening with an acoustic guitar and hushed vocal, the lovely track captures the confusion of separation. That vulnerability moves into sharp focus with I Don’t Believe You. While inspired by a party filled with drunk friends, it’s a larger metaphor about identities that the singer describes as “How do I feel so good with just me, without anyone to lean on?” Her vocal is more raw than usual, a nice touch that the production makes the most of. Sober is a stark counterpoint, a dark rocker about independence that tosses aside the excesses and hopes for a positive single life. It’s a brilliant, angry kiss-off song, opening with the telling “Guess I just lost my husband.” Filled with the braggadocio of fame, it has just enough implied self-doubt to set up the impending musical roller coaster.
Things kick off in classic P!nk style with the sassy swagger of So What.
The result is a dynamic emotional whirlwind, ultimately uplifting but comfortable with its full range of emotion and experience. Drawing on her almost infamous personal strength, she also opted to present her most open and vulnerable self in music for the first time, aided by supportive collaborators like White and Martin. While P!nk has made it clear that Funhouse isn’t just about her relationship with Hart, those aspects of her life clearly informed the writing and recording. Titleīreakup albums can be tricky things. The result was a powerful personal statement and pop masterpiece. She travelled to work on her next album, spending significant time in London with Eg White and in Stockholm with Max Martin. Her on-again-off-again relationship with motocross racer Carey Hart was on the skids after a brief marriage. Almost a decade into a superstar career, she was overwhelmed with the pressures and privileges. By 2008, she found herself in a dark place. The rock muscle that Perry contributed rounded out P!nk’s sound and set the stage for a massively successful pop career. P!nk recruited Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes to help with her second album. She achieved significant chart success but felt trapped in a musical mold. Her solo debut featured a dizzying array of hip-hop collaborators, blending her smart, sassy teen star persona with an infectious urban groove. Reid, impressed with P!nk’s strong vocals, told her she should go solo or go home. They made an album that got shelved producer L.A. By the time she was 16 she had been in three groups that had disbanded and was singing as part of Choice, a trio that got signed to LaFace records in Atlanta.
She adopted the stage name “Pink” - a childhood nickname later famously stylized with an exclamation mark - and sang in a series of female vocal combos. She began singing in junior high and wrote lyrics as an outlet for her feelings and frustrations. She developed an early interest in music thanks to her father’s at-home guitar and vocal performances. Alecia Moore was born in Pennsylvania in 1979.