Offensive Song Sends Positive Message

broadcast journalism.  But that’s a whole different ball of wax, that will be addressed in a wholly different story. Last night, while I was waiting on the computer to finish working on another project, I went off in search of a really cool song I heard on the radio.  That’s what I do.  Like I said, I was a DJ.  I found out that the song is named “So What” by the artist Pink.  Somewhere in my searching, I ran across an article announcing Pink’s newest album entitled “Greatest Hits… So Far.”   My first thought was, “MAN!  I’m getting old.  It seems like yesterday when she was the hottest new artist on the charts… and there’s already a ‘greatest hits’ album?” I clicked on the link and went to Amazon.com so I could check out what was on the album.  That’s where I saw it.  There are two new tracks on the album, just to bait people who already have all her stuff – all five albums, six, if you include her “live” album – into buying it.  I realized that I already own all the albums but was extremely interested in at least hearing the new stuff. I went to YouTube and searched for “So What” so Cristy could hear it.  After the video finished, the links to similar songs came up and there it was again.  So I clicked on the link to listen to the uncensored version of the song.   I already know from viewing the censored name that I would be dealing with some foul language.  What I dealt with, though, was an awesome, emotional, tearful experience. The song, the title of which I am saving until later for those who are sensitive to the language, details the story – assumed to be autobiographical – of a girl who feels under appreciated, ignored and exiled.  She suffers from a bad self-image and is the victim of her own bad decisions.  The chorus of the song rails against those feelings of self hate and Pink almost screams the title of the song in such an emotional manner it brought tears to my eyes. That’s right.  I’m a 38 year-old man and I cried.  I lost it. There are some songs that I can hear on the radio and, if I’m driving, I have to pull over or just fight back the tears.  Those songs are important to me personally and aren’t really reason to cry all on their own.  I can only remember two other songs in my entire life that brought out that kind of reaction in me.  The first was “Last Kiss” – originally done by J. Frank Wilson in the 60’s and the other was Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).” In the case of “Last Kiss,” I first heard it at the age of fourteen when my brother John and I were playing guitar at his home in Lawton, Oklahoma.  Johnny was teaching me a little bit more about the guitar and was showing me a very simple song.  That song immediately made me burst into tears because it brought the memory of a good friend, who had died in a car crash the previous summer, to the fore of my mind. I believe that the Jackson track is self-explanatory for those who have heard it.  If you haven’t… get out from under the rock you’ve been living under since 9/11 and go find it. This song, for reasons that escape me now, but may find me later, just knocked me down.  From out of left field, never saw it coming, knocked me down.  I sat in front of my computer and listened to the song (and watched the extremely powerful video) three or four times.  I’m tearing up thinking about it right now, because I know I’m gonna listen to it again before I hit the “publish” button on this post. For those of you who are sensitive to the language, I apologize.  I’m doing my best to censor it here but you’ll get the point.   I understand that some of you reading are not going to click the link and I respect that.  I encourage you to find the lyrics and read through them, even if the word is there.  It’s an extremely powerful track and a moving video.  I’m headed over to the new record store that took the place of the old BeBop to pick up a copy of the album on Monday.  It would probably behoove me to introduce myself to them and offer up some ad space on the site.  I encourage you to listen – with an open mind – to the song linked below. The name of the song is F***in’ Perfect, the video is embedded below. Fuckin’ Perfect BMF Uploaded by BlakMusicFirst. – Explore more music videos. There’s another new song about self empowerment entitled “Raise Your Glass.” I’ve included the video below. [wp-tube vid_id=”XjVNlG5cZyQ” /]]]]]> ]]>