I am a Pink fan.  Not the color, the singer but my keyboard can’t stylize her name the way that she does.  It’s been many years since I declared that she was one of the best lyricists of this generation.  I’m talking, many years, even before some of her best work to date.  Even though we have nothing in common, there are many lyrics of hers that I feel connected to.  

For me, Just Like A Pill (2002) was the hook.  I must have mentioned something along those lines to a coworker because he made me (shhh) a burned copy of her CD.  Which I’m assuming it was the album Missundaztood.  I don’t think I asked for it, he just made me (shhh) some copies of CDs that I either liked or that he thought I should like. The details are hazy.  Maybe he was just unloading his hot merchandise.  Maybe he thought he saw a spark of some coolness buried deep inside me. Whatever the reason, I have one (shhh) burned copy of Missundazstood.  I think. I haven’t listened to it since CDs have gone the way of the dinosaur. This was when we still owned things and right before not owning anything became en vogue. 

While I have always appreciated Pink’s talent for writing, I never thought I would want to go to a concert.  Let’s just say, we don’t use the same vocabulary.  While we still don’t, I have changed my mind and if she happens to come to concert in my vicinity, I would probably go. Just trying to practice my summoning skills.

It’s not just her music that makes me a fan, it’s who she seems to be as a person.  Not to be cliche, but she seems to keep it real and sidestep the drama of other famous personas.  Of course, while writing this I quickly googled “Pink feuds” and after making it clear I meant the singer and not the color, the only thing that showed was Christina Aguilera.  This stems from an incident when they were both younger and Pink was newer in the business.  A few years ago, Pink mentioned the incident that had taken place years ago and then regretted it.  Instead of being able to promote her album Trustfall, the interviewers brought up this old rivalry.  In her words, the two singers had already made peace and moved on.  But the interviewers kept focusing on the incident from years ago instead of letting her promote her new work.  She said she learned a lesson.

It seems a well learned lesson because I couldn’t find another negative remark from her about another singer.  As far as I can tell, she seems to be more about promoting others and less about tearing so-called competition down.  I like that.  It is actually a welcome relief to not have the cattiness that abounds in pretty much everything. I applaud the positivity.

Meeting famous people is not something I really need to do in life.  People are people.  I can be just as awkward and shy around a regular person as I can around a famous person.  So, needing to meet someone famous is not on my bucket list.  But I will say, there are a few people that if I did get a chance to meet, I would go all Amy and tiara with them.  If you are a Big Bang Theory fan, you will get the reference (The Shiny Trinket Maneuver, season 5, episode 12).  In short, Amy = [me]; tiara = [Pink].  Honestly, the tiara could also be Reba but I’ve already gushed about her so we’ll just keep this to Pink.  I don’t expect there to be a Venn diagram in which our lives will intersect so I’m pretty sure no one will have to witness that spectacle.  

She is a songwriter.  Not only does she write her own songs but she has written them for other people as well.  One of my favorite stories is when Pink wrote a song for Celine Dion.  I already covered that in previous post so if you want to read about it you can check it out here. 

I go through phases of obsession with some songs.  My most recent fixation was with the song Love Me Anyway (2019) by Pink and Chris Stapleton.  Yes, it is five years old.  Yes, I am a bit behind on some things.  Something about this connected to me and I played it over and over and over (a benefit of being single).  While the lyrics didn’t exactly fit, the melody or rhythm of the song reminded me of something I was trying to express about my mom.  To be clear, the lyrics do not fit my mom but the mood of the song reminded me of her in some way that I can’t really explain.

I listened to it over and over and then I wrote.  My poem is inspired by the format of this song.  Which I know gets into dangerous territory of plagiarism.  That was not my intent.  If by some chance we do get a Venn intersection I hope Pink understands that I admired her work so much I used it to write my own personal story.  This comes from admiration above anything else. Honestly, I don’t think anyone will be able to recognize the similarity if I hadn’t just pointed it out. My words are not up to the same standard. I am still learning how to write and express myself.

My poem will be posted on Wednesday (10/23/24).

If, by chance, we each get a personal theme song to sum up our life, I would like Pink to pen mine, if it’s not too much trouble. Having said all this, if anyone would like to tell Pink she should come back to the Rocky Mountain area that would be cool.  Just sayin.

Some essential Pink (not in any particular order and I’m probably missing some):

Love Me Anyway (2019)

Bridge of Light (2011) my new funeral song

Recovering (2016) sang by Celine Dion

Just Give Me a Reason (2012)

All Out of Fight (2023)

Who Knew (2006)

Just Like a Pill (2002)

Most Girls (2000)