AdTastic is on hiatus this week because Pink has just released as a new single. If Barack Obama is elected president, I hope he arranges a national holiday for this sort of thing. 

For those who don’t know, I love me some Pink. Like, crazy love. And yet as I write this, I have not heard her new single, “So What.”

Therefore, I will write the following review as I listen to the song for the first time.  And unless I’m correcting a typo, I won’t change a single word after I write it. 

After the jump, join me in my crazy experiment!

“So What” by Pink: A Stream-of-Consciousness Review

First Listen:

 

Okay… crunchy guitars, sassy “na-na-nas.” Standard Pink. Good.

Whoa! She’s singing about her divorce! And how she wants to go out and start a fight, now that she’s free. And her voice sound especially gruff.  She’s pissed.

And this chorus… well, she’s still pissed. “You’re a tool,” she’s saying. But she’s saying it over a pounding drum beat, with multi-tracked vocals. My head is definitely bobbing.

Whoa… I missed the whole second verse while I was writing that.

Bridge: You know, this sounds an awful lot like every other Pink song I’ve ever heard. But is that bad? I wish her vocals weren’t mixed so low in the chorus. She can really wail. Why not let her bust loose? Oh, wait. There it is. She’s wailing at the top of the mix now.

Of all the popular pop women, no one is more convincingly crude than Pink. I know that’s why some people loathe her, but I like it. It makes her seem really authentic. Like Kid Rock. Trashy-yet-talented.

First impression? That’s a pretty good song. Better than “Stupid Girls,” but not as instantly awesome as “Leave Me Alone (I’m Lonely).” But what is? 

Second Listen:

It’s interesting that she’s not venting her anger about her divorce by having lots of sex, which is what I’d expect from a song like this. Instead, she’s going out to start a fight and prove how famous she is. As in, “I don’t need relationships any way, you tool.”

But this is interesting! In the second verse, she can’t get a good table at a restaurant because the waiter gave her table to “Jessica Simps.” So even though she’s trying to prove how fantastic she is without her man, she’s not quite thriving.

God! This is why I love her music. That’s so much more complicated than your basic kiss-off. She’s torn up and hurt and vulnerable, and even though she’s famous, the world isn’t exactly helping her get over it. I mean, I’m a little annoyed that this is yet another song about famous people being famous, but at least there’s a human, relatable twist there.

And she blows a raspberry at the very end. She’s trying to act like she’s goofing, but she’s already shown us some real pain. That blend of emotions makes me like this song a lot more than “U + Ur Hand,” which I’ve never really enjoyed. You know what that song is from the moment it starts, but with this one, close listening gives you something more than a good beat. Getting over a break-up usually DOES involve a mixture of righteous anger and confused sadness. I’m glad we get tastes of both. 

Second impression? Loving it.