Posted March 20, 200718 yr The hit single "Stupid Girls" has gotten Pink a lot of attention for its commentary on how, in today's culture, women -- especially aspiring celebrities -- are discouraged from showing intelligence and self-confidence and instead pushed to just worry about their looks and even dumb themselves down to fit the standards of a superficial modern world. Pink's video for the song -- which appears on her current CD, "I'm Not Dead" -- makes the point to searing comedic effect, as she lampoons the likes of Jessica Simpson and Paris Hilton as airhead icons of modern womanhood. She spoofs the need for fake breasts and plastic surgery, and, in one particularly provocative scene, depicts two young women forcing themselves to vomit because they want to maintain their figures. Those who tuned in to Pink -- who performs here Monday night with Justin Timberlake's tour -- when her 2002 CD "Missundaztood" sold more than 5 million copies in the United States and 16 million worldwide shouldn't have been surprised to see her tackle the subject. In interviews at the time, Pink, born Alecia Moore, frequently commented about how she was perceived as being outspoken, brash and just plain difficult because she wouldn't play up to the pop-princess image of other starlets -- a situation she felt spoke more about the prevailing culture than her own career. It wasn't a subject, though, that Pink ever expected to be anything more than a discussion point in interviews. "I didn't ever think I'd write a song about it," she says. "But one day, I just walked into the studio and there were 18 tabloids on the floor, and it just became too much." "Stupid Girls" has done a lot to put Pink back into the media spotlight after her popularity took a major dip behind the indifference that greeted her 2004 CD, "Try This." The song was a Top 20 hit on a half-dozen pop and dance charts. The native of the Philadelphia suburb of Doylestown first blazed onto the scene in 2001 by collaborating with Christina Aguilera, Missy Elliott, Lil' Kim and Mya on a version of Patti Labelle's "Lady Marmalade" for the "Moulin Rouge" movie soundtrack. Then came "Missundaztood," which racked up stratospheric sales behind the omnipresent hit single "Get the Party Started." The album proved to be quite a reinvention -- and vindication -- for Pink after her first CD, the 2000 release "Can't Take Me Home," had leaned toward the radio-ready hip-hop/soul flavored dance-pop of singers like Britney Spears and Aguilera. That formula worked, as the debut CD produced a pair of Top 10 singles, "Most Girls" and "There You Go," and sold 2 million copies. But Pink, 27, wasn't going to settle for more of the same. She branched out musically to create a genre-busting CD in "Missundaztood" that touched on everything from sassy dance-rock -- "Get the Party Started" -- to the driving pop of "Don't Let Me Get Me," to the grooving R&B-laced balladry of "Eventually." Initially, L.A. Reid, then the head of Arista, was not pleased. "When I recorded 'Missundaztood,' everyone told me it was s--- and I was crazy and it wasn't going to work," Pink says, recalling the blunt assessment of the CD. Reid, though, eventually got behind the CD, a move that paid off with the staggering sales of "Missundaztood." But the 2004 follow-up, "Try This," was a whole different story sales-wise. Musically, Pink once again showed her spirit of adventure by collaborating on several tracks with Tim Armstrong, frontman of the punk group Rancid, and maverick electro/dance rock artist Peaches on a number of tracks. This time, though, the music didn't connect, and "Try This" fizzled out at about 700,000 in stateside sales. Pink, though, doesn't consider "Try This" a failure. In addition to offering some stylistic stretching, the album also gave her an emotional breather from the heavier thematic music she had written for "Missundaztood." "For me, it's all emotional," Pink says of her lyric writing. "But for 'Try This,' I was just having a breezy, easy good time. I needed a break from the therapy that 'Missundaztood' was." "I'm Not Dead" brings back more of the emotional depth of "Missundaztood" -- as well as the varied mix of rocking pop, dance pop and hip-hop flavored tracks that has come to be Pink's signature. In fact, Pink considers "I'm Not Dead" to be her most personal album to date. One such song that hits close to home is "Who Knew," which touches on both a broken friendship and the death of another friend. The title song, meanwhile, delves into what a person gains when a romantic relationship falls apart. "I'm Not Dead" also shows a topical side, not only with "Stupid Girls," but on the song "Dear. Mr. President," which is essentially an open letter to President George W. Bush critical of his policies. Pink figures to showcase some of her new material on her current tour as opening act for Justin Timberlake with a show that will focus on music and not flash. "This show is really just about music and having a good time," she says. "It's just me having incredible musicians, and it's just about playing songs and fun covers and just having a psychotically good time."
