Dear Mr. President by Pink

Album: I'm Not Dead (2006)

Charted: 34

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Written by Pink with her collaborator/producer Billy Mann, this song is an open letter to the President of the United States at the time, George W. Bush. In the song, Pink asks questions covering many controversial issues, including war, homosexuality, the homeless, abortion, and drug abuse. It was released as a single in Europe, Australia and Canada, but was never released as a single in the US because Pink didn't want it to be interpreted as a publicity stunt.
Amy Ray and Emily Saliers of Indigo Girls sing on this track with Pink. They shared the political views expressed in this song - the Indigo Girls track "Pendulum Swinger" also takes on President Bush.

In a Songfacts interview with Amy Ray, she talked about the collaboration: "We were big Pink fans even then, so we were kind of flabbergasted, actually, like, Wow! We didn't even think she knew who we were. It was a big surprise. But then it all made sense. We got together with them and did the song. And Pink's an awesome person. She's just really a really great person and such a great artist. When you're in the studio with her and you hear her sing with no band and no effects - there's nothing else going on except for her voice - it's just quite amazing."
Linda Perry's group 4 Non Blondes released a song with the same title in 1992. Perry wrote Pink's 2001 hit "Get The Party Started."
This appears on Pink's fourth studio album, I'm Not Dead, which sprung from an epiphany the singer had after an intense dream. She recalled to Variety in 2019: "I was 24 when I made I'm Not Dead. I remember I had a dream that I got shot in the head and I was stuffing newspaper into the back of my skull. I woke up completely freaked out and decided that my dream interpretation was that I had to start reading The New York Times. And I did, every day. Then I turned 25 and felt like I had just woken up. I became involved in causes like Peta. I thought, 'What's actually going on in the world? And what does it mean to be a girl? And what does it mean to be a woman? And who the f--k is this guy we're calling our president?' Then I wrote 'Dear Mr. President' and 'Stupid Girls.'"

Comments: 1

Mia Townshend from Brisbane, Queensland. AustraliaWhen I first heard Pinks song Dear Mr President I was so mad at George W. Bush. He could've done better. Pinks song has changed the way I view certain types of people.

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