Sunday, February 9, 2014

The Top 50 P!nk Countdown!

Rebel. Badass. Sensitive. This Woman Does It All.
The Top 50 P!nk Countdown
I've made it no secret in my life that this woman is my role model and my icon. She's been my favorite artist since her first single, There You Go, hit the MTV airwaves in 2000. I remember saving my yard sale money to go and buy Can't Take Me Home. She's had her ups and downs throughout her career commercially, but she's never let anyone define her or tell her she was done. She evolved as an artist as I evolved as a person; her music always hitting the perfect spot with where my life was at the moment. She's an outspoken rebel, an underdog, and a sensitive person underneath that hard exterior. All of these are qualities I can relate to. She's outspoken in what she believes is right and takes on anyone who gets in her way!

Recently, it came to my attention that people could not pick out what my favorite P!nk song was. I was baffled, as I have always thought it was pretty clear...considering it's also my favorite song of all time. Without further ado, I give you the Top 50 P!nk Countdwn!

50. Do What U Do
Album: Can't Take Me Home
Year: 2000
From the very first album, P!nk spread her ideals of being an individual and not letting anyone define you. In the linear notes of the album, she reminds us, "We're all pink on the inside."

49. Feel Good Time (feat. William Orbit)
Album: Try This
Year: 2003
Technically, Feel Good Time was a soundtrack single for Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, but it also was the first song to hit radio from Try This, even though it didn't make the US edition. The track is fun, quirky, and had a pretty cool video which is nowhere to be found on YouTube. A must have for a summer road trip mix!

48. Family Portrait
Album: M!ssundaztood
Year: 2001
While honestly not a song I frequent often, this song showed P!nk's sensitive side for the first time and became an anthem for broken homes across the world. This also was a definitive moment in P!nk's career that helped her expose her sensitive side, paving the way for future ballads.

47. Last to Know
Album: Try This
Year: 2003
I wasn't into her grungy look in the Try This era. Thankfully, I was 13 and YouTube wasn't a huge thing then, so I missed out on the grotesque visual aspect of the Try This era until years later when I finally watched the Try This Tour DVD. Last to Know is one of P!nk's F U anthems and, despite some vulgar language, she does uphold morals and show she has standards for herself in the song. "After the date, I wouldn't go home with you, I wouldn't put my heels in the air for you, you tried to get me to do things I just won't do, last I heard from you, here is how I guess the story goes, you woulda came if I was a ho, f*** for parts that's just not how I roll, move it on down the road."
  
46. When We're Through
Album: Sober - EP
Year: 2008
A brilliant Indie-styled song that P!nk clearly penned during one of the lowest points of her near divorce. 

45. It's All Your Fault
Album: Funhouse
Year: 2008
While the beat to this track is faster than most sad songs, she still managed to deliver that hallow ache that so many can relate to as she belts out her broken heart.

44. Push You Away
Album: The Funhouse Tour: Live in Australia
Year: 2009
Cut from the original Funhouse album, it appears as the only studio track on The Funhouse Tour audio CD. P!nk's manic state in her divorce rings clear through this fun, yet heartbroken track. It's the midpoint between So What and Crystal Ball during the Funhouse era.

43. Cuz I Can
Album: I'm Not Dead
Year: 2006
      If you ever need something to pick you up and remind you you are awesome? This is the song for you.

42. Crystal Ball
Album: Funhouse
Year: 2008
Since 2006's I'm Not Dead, P!nk has always had one track that she sat down and recorded in one take. This is Funhouse's songs. It's an acoustic track that is beautiful. She deals with the fact that love couldn't save her marriage and her fears of starting over. "But I'm not scared at all of the cracks in the crystal ball."

41. Run
Album: The Truth About Love
Year: 2012
Run is a ballad dedicated to her daughter, Willow. If I ever have children, these words will be my promise to them. I get chills every time she sings, "See, here's the bloody, bloody truth , you will hurt and you will lose, I've got scars you won't believe, wear them proudly on my sleeve, I hope you'll have the sense to know that sadness comes and sadness goes, love so hard and play life loud, it's the only thing to give a damn about."

40. Missundaztood
Album: M!ssundaztood
Year: 2001
The opening track of her sophomore album is a playful track, but it is introspective and deep at the same time.  The words have resonated with me through high school up until the current point in my life. I think there are a lot of people out there who can say the same.

 
          39. Lonely Girl (feat. Linda Perry)
Album: Missundaztood
Year: 2001
Do you even know who you are? A bottled dream or a superstar?
This song asked so many questions that I was facing myself as a teenager. It kept me going, as did a lot of her music.

 38. Time After Time
Album: The Truth About Love: Live in Melbourne (DVD)
Year: 2013
Her live slowed-down ballad version of this song is breathtaking. It immediately puts Cyndi Lauper's version to shame. This video isn't the DVD performance which is so much better. Blogger wouldn't let me find that video with the way it embeds video.
Here's the good version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob9z1dKS3Jc#t=22

37. My Signature Move
Album: The Truth About Love
Year: 2012
         Everything about this song is totally me. I'm a fighter when I've been wronged and I get lost in the heat of the moment. I laughed so hard the first time I heard this song, because every word was my internal thought process spelled out.

36. Respect (feat. Scratch)
Album: M!ssundaztood
Year: 2001
Here we have another quirky, fun songs about self respect. Besides my upbringing, this, ironically, is one of my anthems that's helped me stay classy along the way! 

35. Timebomb
Album: The Truth About Love
Year: 2012
A beautiful pop rock anthem, Timebomb is about letting go of the fear and prejudice. It's about realizing love isn't something to be afraid of or something we have to protect ourselves from. She goes on to discuss how everyone makes a big deal out of things, but "it's only love, not a timebomb." I adore the line: "I don't want to be flawless, when I go, I want the cuts to show, so take this, take it, oh you can have everything."

34. Funhouse
Album: Funhouse
Year: 2008
Not many people are aware that this song is actually the story of the night they decided to get divorced. She went out, got completely wasted, came home, couldn't find her keys, crawled through the doggy door, looked at her wedding album, drug her mattress to the front yard, and never went back. And people question why I love her?

33. Get the Party Started
Album: M!ssundaztood
Year: 2001
       When ranking this one, I was extrmely conflicted. It's become cliche to me and I rarley listen to it, but it was the song that really pulled me into P!nk, despite me loving her from her first single. I finally settled on putting it here.

32. Slut Like You
Album: The Truth About Love
Year: 2012
I honestly pegged the tracklist as fake when it originally surfaced for this album, because I thought this title was too blatant, even for her. However, it was legit and I've grown to love this song. She describes this as her feminist anthem. Men sleep with all the women they want and have the "power." She's taking it back!

31. Are We All We Are
Album: The Truth About Love
Year: 2012
The opening track of The Truth About Love is definitely a stadium anthem. I love the message. "We are the people that you'll never get the best of!" In an interview, she stated she wrote this to be her opener for the tour...ironically, it was not!

     30. You Make Me Sick
Album: Can't Take Me Home
Year: 2000 
At the time that this hit radio, I liked it, but never thought of it as a song I'd still be listening to 14 years later. Truth be told, I love it more!

29. I'm Not Dead
Album: I'm Not Dead
Year: 2006
The title track from P!nk's fourth studio album proves to be another anthem for those who feel in between. The title comes from a death hoax (which she claims is how she knew she was officially famous) and the fact that everyone was counting her out after Try This failed commercially. It was a statement and the message is pretty clear. She's not over until she says she's over!

28. Walk Away
Album: Try This
Year: 2003
One of my favorite non-singles of her career. It's just a good song about knowing when it is time to let go.

27. Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)
Album: I'm Not Dead
Year: 2006
P!nk perfectly captures the annoyance that comes with being around someone too much. Also, she encompasses the bipolar feelings that come with  love. I'm a high maintanence person when it comes to emotions, so I totally get this one!

26. Walk of Shame
Album: The Truth About Love
Year: 2012
P!nk wrote this song off of stories of people her husband, Carey Hart, witnessed while running his business in Vegas. P!nk always finds people with low morals entertaining, and thus Walk of Shame was birthed...and it's so much fun too!

25. Unwind
Album: Try This
Year: 2003
Another stellar album track from Try This finds its way up the charts. It describes me perfectly in the beginning and I identify with the need to unwind, because I've always worked myself to the max through school and now with work. Sometimes, you just need to let it all go for a minute. 
    
24. Most Girls
Album: Can't Take Me Home
Year: 2000
P!nk sets out to remind men that she's not anything like ordinary girls. She can support and defend herself, all she needs is real love.

23. Dear Mr. President
Album: I'm Not Dead
Year: 2006
P!nk thought she was going to kill her career by putting this song out there, but doing what was right had never stood in the way and, in 2006, it wasn't about to start. This acoustic letter penned to George W. Bush is powerful, on target, and shows P!nk's activist side in full swing.

22. Please Don't Leave Me
Album: Funhouse
Year: 2008 
    This is yet another one of her songs that captures me completely. Love makes us all a little nuts and we all can be jerks when our hearts are broken. She says it best when she sings, "I forgot to say out loud how beautiful you really are to me, I can't be without, you're my perfect little punching bag, and I need you, I'm sorry." The writing on this track is absolutely brilliant. Oh, and the music video is hilarious!

21.  Love Song
Album: Try This
Year: 2003
  Easily the most vulnerable songs on Try This....and possibly of her career, Love Song lays it all on the line to her muse. It's amazing!

20. Stupid Girls
Album: I'm Not Dead
Year: 2006 
  Taking on the bimbos that were becoming famous for no reason, P!nk didn't get massive commercial success off of her lead single from I'm Not Dead, but she sure made her point! The video is easily one of the best music videos and the message is clear. This was my anthem, despite being a boy, during my high school years. It empowered me to remember my brain is the best asset I had...looks aren't forever, ya know!

19. True Love (feat. Lily Rose Cooper)
Album: The Truth About Love
Year: 2012
True Love is one of P!nk's most underrated singles. It really captures what true love is like. It's not always rainbows and butterflies, rather it's the ups and downs, the good and the bad. Even though we want to smack that other person sometimes, you know they are the one because you still want them to be there, even in the worst moments. It is so cleverly written. The video had so much more potential though.

18. Nobody Knows
Album: I'm Not Dead
Year: 2006 
     P!nk really started to get in touch with her sensitive side on her fourth studio album. Nobody Knows is raw, honest, and quite introspective. P!nk takes down those walls of her hard exterior to let us in. The world she opens with Nobody Knows is easily related to and she sounds so beautiful.

17. Mean
Album: Funhouse
Year: 2008
Mean is another one of P!nk's brutally honest tracks. It was written at a picnic with Butch Walker right in front of Carey. She's so ballsy, you just have to love it. I have found many times in my life where I've been driving down the road, belting along at the top of my lungs. The blues feel to it adds an element that makes it stand out against other tracks.

16. Don't Let Me Get Me
Album: M!ssundaztood
Year: 2001
The teen angst runs rampant on P!nk's album M!ssundaztood...and it shines brightest on Don't Let Me Get Me, an anthem about battling with society standards and our own insecurities. It's amazing to see P!nk evolve from this stage of being insecure to the strong, bold, and beautiful woman she is now.

15. Just Give Me A Reason (feat. Nate Ruess)
Album: The Truth About Love
Year: 2012
This power ballad was one of the first tracks to leak when The Truth About Love began leaking. I was immediately hooked by the beautiful and emotional ballad. I've been here, I understand where this was written from, and I'm so glad she talked Nate into recording it as a duet. This was one of the most powerful songs to witness live at her concert. I adore her emotional songs.
  
14. Sober
Album: Funhouse
Year: 2008
While it's scandalous, erotic P!nk on P!nk video may have been too much for MTV, Sober still remains a staple in P!nk's career. Live, she drives the song with acrobatics and aerial stunts. This song is a turning point in P!nk's career. This is when  she realized she needed to make a change. Even for non-drinkers like myself, this song still represents that hollowness inside, an emptiness that needs filled. I felt so alone when I came to college my first semester of freshman year, but it was a time of adjustment and change. Sober helped to fill that void as I turned that loneliness into one of the best years of my life.

13. Blow Me (One Last Kiss)
Album: The Truth About Love
Year: 2012
One of her most refined F U anthems, this song really set The Truth About Love era to pick up with heartbreak where Funhouse left off. Many people were worried. Turns out, The Truth About Love was its own entity, but Blow Me was too good of a song to pass up as lead single. It's not solely about relationships at all. When it first dropped, I was stuck in a job where I was miserable. A week later, I said blow me to that company and went on my way to the best job I have ever had!

12. U + Ur Hand
Album: I'm Not Dead
Year: 2006
Who else in the pop industry was gutsy enough to make such a bold statement in 2006? This became an anthem for women to have self respect. I personally still adore this song and find this to be one of my favorite songs to sing along to in the car, especially after a bad day.

11. Trouble
Album: Try This
Year: 2003
Not only is this song the epitome of everything P!nk, this is such a jam! It has one of her best videos of all time and earned her a Grammy. I'd say that's a pretty good reason to rank it high up. I also occasionally wish this would play around me as I walk into places...

10. There You Go
Album: Can't Take Me Home
Year: 2000
   There You Go introduced P!nk to the world. It only makes sense to be a sassy, independent female anthem. It captures her as an individual, even if she didn't have much creative control at this point of her career. Unheard of prior to the song, she still managed to find her way to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. She definitely left her mark with this track. Look at the legacy that followed. There You Go was her first badass anthem and I've been hooked ever since!

9. Glitter in the Air
Album: Funhouse
Year: 2008
Glitter in the Air always has a visually stunning performance when it is done live. Her Grammy performance skyrocketed the song to #18 on the Billboard Hot 100. But Glitter in the Air is more than just that. The song is mysterious and beautiful. It broke me down to tears the first time I heard it. I didn't understand the entirety of the song, but something moved inside of me. To this day, I still find new elements of the song when I hear it and it is the song I want to be played at my funeral (along with I Was Here by Beyonce).

8. Just Like a Pill
Album: M!ssundaztood
Year: 2001 
     If you think you have to be on or have been on drugs to get this song, you are so wrong. The song is a metaphor for life, such as the things that seem redundant and ever the same. M!ssundaztood, the album, was about figuring life out and figuring one's self out. This is such a good song!

7. Who Knew
Album: I'm Not Dead
Year: 2006
Despite being marketed a break up song, P!nk has revealed in interviews it is about her losing multiple friends to drug overdoses by the time she was 17. The video is so enthralling, yet heart wrenching. The emotion of this song still gets to me every time I hear it. It takes me back to 9th grade and to the loss of a friend to suicide.

6. 18 Wheeler
Album: M!ssundaztood
Year: 2001
P!nk's 18 Wheeler is my favorite non-single song from her discography. It's an anthem about not letting life or anyone else get the best of you. In the song, she challenges anyone to do their worst, but she reminds them "you can run me over with an 18 wheeler truck, I'll just get back up." I live by this song and would kill to see it done live again. Sadly, it was not performed on The Truth About Love Tour.

5. F**kin' Perfect
Album: Greatest Hits... So Far!!!
Year: 2010
P!nk says she went through phases writing this song. At first, it was about Carey, but then it evolved to herself and eventually to be about every single one of her fans. It's my dedication to any student that I will ever teach or any individual I help along the way. I want anyone who ever feels imperfect or outcast that they are perfect in my eyes. P!nk used the video as an opportunity to raise awareness to cutting and suicide. She released the video on her website with a beautiful letter that stated, "
I'm sure my newest video for "F**kin’ Perfect" will be much like some of my other videos, which basically means I expect it will ruffle some feathers. My favorite books, art pieces, films, and music, always have something jarring about them. I want art to make me think. In order to do that, it may piss me off, or make me uncomfortable. That promotes awareness and change, or at least some discussion. That is my intention." (Read the full, amazing letter here.)

4. God is a DJ
Album: Try This
Year: 2003
Easily the most underrate single of P!nk's career, God is a DJ never broke the Billboard Hot 100. Crime of the century? Possibly! This pop gem reared its head in the film Mean Girls and is pure pop gold. This song is about finding the best in life, about letting go of the past and living in the now. "God is a DJ, life is a dancefloor, love is the music, you are the rhythm." Words to live by.

3. Raise Your Glass
Album: Greatest Hits... So Far!!!
Year: 2010
P!nk's thank you to her fans came on her Greatest Hits in the form of Raise Your Glass. As always, P!nk encourages her fans to embrace their underdogs within and had every fan feeling proud to be an individual. The video embraces all sorts of people and is easily one of P!nk's best songs.

2. Try
Album: The Truth About Love
Year: 2012
Try is one of the very few songs P!nk has not written in her career and many people discredit it for this reason, especially because a minor band originally recorded it. However, with P!nk always writing her music, doesn't the fact that she recorded this song speak to how amazing it truly must be? This anthem pulled me through a lot of hard times, and continues to every time I need a boost. It wasn't until the video that I fell in love with the song though. This is her most passionate and beautiful video. I was uncomfortable the first time I saw it, but now I watch it frequently. So AMAZING.

1. So What
Album: Funhouse
Year: 2008
P!nk turned out her best anthem in 2008 as the lead single from Funhouse. Going through a divorce, she penned a playful song that has an emotional bridge towards the end. Not only is this simply a fantastic song, but it came at a critical time in my life. I was suffering a huge fall out with a really close friend right as I was leaving home for college in August 2008. Change was difficult but these small words got me through so much: "So what, I'm still a rockstar, I've got rock moves and I don't need you, and guess what, I'm having more fun and now that we're done, I'm gonna show you tonight, I'm alright, I'm just fine, and you're a tool, so so what!"
The music video is hilarious. I cannot tell you how badly I want to ride a lawnmower down Sunset Blvd. Her personality shines so bright in the video and I'm so thankful for this song. I can't even properly put it into words!
       

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