When pop artists go political, it is often a thorny needle they are left to thread their way through. If the song is packed too loosely, the underlying message can be lost to the mass consumption of a radio hit. On the other hand, if the artist works in less subtle ways, they are often chastised for being too whiney, too uninformed, and, as of late, even too trendy. I bring this up because, in perusing some old videos earlier today, I stumbled upon this clip of
Pinks Dear Mr. President, from her April 06 release
Im Not Dead. Its a compelling performance. 1) Because its Pink an artist who, in my mind, is still the teeny bopping bad girl from the dawn of the century stripped of all other musical embellishments, save a guitarist and two, elegant soul singers, belting out the kind of political ballad I never would have guessed she had up her sleeves. And 2) Because Dear Mr. President is overtly political
a scathing, open letter to President Bush that, as far as Im aware, did not meet the kind of Shut Up And Sing sentiment many of her peers did
yet effortless in its artistic delivery. Scanning over the lyrics on paper, Dear Mr. President reads like well manicured poetry
and sounds even better. Why post a song that is almost two years old? I suppose because I only heard it for the first time today. And Im guessing Im not the only one. -
David Pitz
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Pink @ MySpace
