P!nk 'So What'

Chart Peak: 1 [3 weeks]

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P!nk notched up her 2nd UK No.1 single (and her 17th UK hit overall) in October 2008 with 'So What'... There has been speculation that the track was written about her her ex-hubby Carey Hart, however she says that "it's just about divorce in general" and that "there are no bad feelings between her and Carey" - he even appears in the music video for the track!

Actually, her third Number One if you count her appearance on 'Lady Marmalade' (which would be consistent with including 'Walk This Way' for Girls Aloud) and also the single that holds the record for biggest climb to the top within the Top 40; it entered at 38 on one day's sales but this didn't split the vote enough to keep it from climbing the 37 places to the toppermost the following week, helping to deny Oasis what would have been their ninth (and presumably last) Number One.

You can see how people might have thought the song was about her own marital troubles, what with subtle hints like the first line being "I guess I just lost my husband" and the scene in the video where she chainsaws a tree with "Alecia+Carey" written on it. Still, he really is in the video which would seem to imply there was less bitterness in reality than in the song (or at least that things had calmed down between the writing and release) and I must admit that this did rather support my existing feeling that P!nk was a bit of a phony. Certainly she seems to tread a difficult line, simultaneously appearing to draw on real life and claiming to have a "brand new attitude" which turns out to be the same one she'd been peddling since the turn of the century. That said, I happened to hear this on the radio unawares and found myself, if not liking it, at least warming to it, because there is a certain cartoonish quality that has its own appeal. And whilst this is quite a horrible-sounding record, thanks to Max Martin's over-compressed production, there's enough exuberance to make it stand out, and it does go up in my estimation for having a properly memorable ending.

As for P!nk and Carey Hart, having never officially divorced they reconciled in 2009 and had a daughter in 2011. Not often you get a happy ending on these blog posts, but there's one for you.

Also appearing on: Now 64, 65, 72, 73, 78, 83, 84 [with Nate Ruess], 85 [with Lily Allen],
Available on: Race For Life