P!nk - 'Please Don't Leave Me'
It seems incredible to think of it now, but before Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and having your own official website, the only way a pop act could communicate the intricate details of their day-to-day emotional life to the fans was in song form, or in interviews. This was a golden age for songs about pop life. Songs about being on the road, songs about leaving loved ones behind in airport departure lounges, and songs about meeting up with new loved ones in hotel rooms.
It was also a time when music journos would spend four or five days with an artist, developing a bond, observing the highs and lows of their working day, and getting them to spill their guts into a dictaphone. Then there would be a tussle with management over which bits could were suitable for public consumption, and bingo! A feature appears in a music magazine a fortnight later.
Nowadays, you're wiping celebrity feelings off your PC monitor with the dried-on cornflake milk, while they are still feeling them. Which has, by and large, resulted in a bigger gap between the stuff people sing about and the stuff they live through.
(. That's where the music is.)
P!nk's the honorable exception to this. She does the usual media circus, but saves the really brutally honest and personal stuff for her songs. 'So What' was a cry of defiance after her marriage seemed to be falling apart, putting you, the listener, in the room with her while she flicked the Vs at a cruel world (and her ex).
Now here's the flipside, a song begging for forgiveness for being quite hard work, and pleading for a second chance. It's either taken directly from her life, or she's a very good character actress.
Either way, you can't critique a song like this, any flaws only enhance the idea that it's a product of massive emotional upheaval. It's not supposed to be a polished pop product, it's been carved out of her tear-stained heart, and as such, might make a bit of a mess on the carpet, but at least it's real.
And having checked her , I can confirm that she's not about to waste valuable inspiration on the internet when there's a new album to write. Which is exactly how things should be.
Download: Out now
CD Released: April 27th
Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Music page
(Fraser McAlpine)
Comment number 1.
At 20th Apr 2009, Daniel wrote:I think this song is great. You can hear the emotion in her voice and it sounds like she means every word.
The video is great too, Misery's one of my favourite films and she parody's it well.
I also like the Dance Remix of this (perhaps a little more than the original).
All round, a good song!
C'mon Fraser, It's well worth 5 stars!
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Comment number 2.
At 20th Apr 2009, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:Iunno...we gave 'Rock Star' five, and to my ears, that song is better. That's my only reason for not going the full five.
Course, if you want to colour your screen in with the extra star....
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Comment number 3.
At 20th Apr 2009, Daniel wrote:Well, I'm Tippexing out your typo!
:p
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Comment number 4.
At 21st Apr 2009, CurtainJerker wrote:Just as long as that's Tipp-Ex...
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Comment number 5.
At 21st Apr 2009, spirit wrote:ha ha ha ha ha ha....... lol lol
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Comment number 6.
At 21st Apr 2009, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:Bah! I am clearly not destined for perfection.
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Comment number 7.
At 21st Apr 2009, spirit wrote:Not quite yet.........
But as each day goes by.... everyone on this blog will help you to improve... little by little......
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Comment number 8.
At 21st Apr 2009, fluffyfinches wrote:The cornflake milk kind of distracted me from the rest of the review. You've written a lot of weird stuff Fraser, but seriously... what the hell?
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Comment number 9.
At 21st Apr 2009, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:Haha!
Nobody else looks at the internet while eating their breakfast? And then maybe flicks the spoon out of the bowl while reaching for the mouse?
That only ever happened to me?
Oh fine then, please yourselves... :-)
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Comment number 10.
At 21st Apr 2009, NOSH33N_x wrote:love this song =] x
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Comment number 11.
At 22nd Apr 2009, thranjax wrote:I think, Fraser, that everyone thought "wiping celebrity feelings off your PC monitor with the dried-on cornflake milk" was some innuendo laden description of filthy goings on in your house in your dressing gown in front of pictures of scantily clad celebrities, which, as you have explained, is exactly what it is.
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Comment number 12.
At 22nd Apr 2009, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:Only filthy in the sense that I could've been speedier with the cleaning cloth.
And "dressing gown"? How dare you!
It's a velvet house-coat, with a silk sash for a belt.
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Comment number 13.
At 22nd Apr 2009, spirit wrote:Jax .... you are so funny....... hilarious.... .. I almost choked on my cornflakes !
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Comment number 14.
At 23rd Apr 2009, Daniel wrote:"A velvet house-coat" lmao!
I love this blog.
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Comment number 15.
At 23rd Apr 2009, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:And this blog loves you.
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Comment number 16.
At 23rd Apr 2009, spirit wrote:Well velvet housecoats aside for one second ........ this song is gonna be another TOP 20 single for Pink.
OK let's get back to the real reason why we are all on this blog.....
Fraser ......... we all want to know....... what colour is the velvet housecoat ? !!
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Comment number 17.
At 23rd Apr 2009, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:Deep burgundy, of course.
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Comment number 18.
At 23rd Apr 2009, spirit wrote:OK ...... suddenly everything's become clear !
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Comment number 19.
At 23rd Apr 2009, CurtainJerker wrote:I can't believe I'm getting involved in this, but it beats working...
From about two minutes' "desktop research" (ie looking up Wikipedia and Google results), it would appear that a housecoat is a woman's garment.
I think a smoking jacket would be more appropriate. With cravatee.
Hmm... I might need to wipe my own screen in a moment...
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Comment number 20.
At 23rd Apr 2009, CurtainJerker wrote:Dammit, I meant "cravate".
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Comment number 21.
At 23rd Apr 2009, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:Wait, wait...first I'm not allowed to eat cornflakes in front of a computer and now you're demanding I dress appropriately?
Besides, .
Smoking jackets don't keep your knees warm, so ner.
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Comment number 22.
At 23rd Apr 2009, CurtainJerker wrote:Oh yeah? OH YEAH?!
But your link was awesome. I hadn't appreciated that you were aiming for the over-80's, assisted-living market. That open-backed housecoat will look pretty sharp on a matching mobility scooter.
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Comment number 23.
At 23rd Apr 2009, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:Pah! Dictionaries! What do they know?
And if you can make a glorified dressing-gown look chic, Curty, you're a better man than I.
Or is that a better transvestite?
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Comment number 24.
At 23rd Apr 2009, Daniel wrote:I've just had a genuine LOL at these last few posts!
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Comment number 25.
At 23rd Apr 2009, thranjax wrote:Fraser, the fact that you have an intimate knowledge of old men's night attire is one thing, but looking at that link to assistireland... why does the gown have to have an open back? Is that something you insist on? What's going on round there that requires such openness?
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Comment number 26.
At 23rd Apr 2009, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:Do you know...that's been bothering me a bit too. I mean it's not the first thing you demand in a robe, is it? Open FRONT, yes, otherwise you can't get into it. But to advertise it as having an open back makes it sound like those gowns people wear in hospitals.
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Comment number 27.
At 23rd Apr 2009, Daniel wrote:Y'know, I was thinking that, about the open backed hospital gown...but I didn't wanna say it.
I can imagine you now, Fraser, pottering around ChartBlog Towers in your open backed "house coat", with your pipe and night cap...
Won't an open back be a bit drafty come Autumn?
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Comment number 28.
At 23rd Apr 2009, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:Let's assume, for the benefit of our younger readers, that there are some silk pyjamas involved too, shall we?
I should get a night cap! Of COURSE!
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Comment number 29.
At 23rd Apr 2009, -RachelS- wrote:I think the advert should show the open back, though... otherwise it just looks like a standard dressing gown (sorry HOUSE COAT!) - they've made it look like an open fronted one, anyway, with the overlap there... maybe that's it's selling point... so many questions!!!
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Comment number 30.
At 23rd Apr 2009, -RachelS- wrote:And then they deal the killer blow: "Check details with each supplier as product specifications can vary." Huh!
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Comment number 31.
At 24th Apr 2009, spirit wrote:Well I am sick to death of all of you....
You know I have an on line shopping problem, and can't resist spending money..
I come on here to blog about music and thanks to you guys posting those links, I HAVE JUST SPENT AN ABSOLUTE FORTUNE ON HOUSECOATS !!!
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Comment number 32.
At 24th Apr 2009, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:I'm a trendsetter! AT LAST!
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