Family Portrait by Pink

Album: Missundaztood (2001)

Charted: 11 20

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A very intimate and personal song, Pink reveals her family dysfunction in this track. She explained in Entertainment Weekly: "That was from a poem that I wrote when I was 9 when my dad left. My mom cried for four days when she heard it. I've seen my dad cry three times and that was one of them; that was awful. And then my stepmom cried. She's so strong - she was an Army nurse in Vietnam, and I'd never seen her cry. That was a song I wrote for me, and I didn't realize how much it was going to hurt them."

Even though Pink's parents got divorced when she was 9 years old and she wrote the original poem at the time, she didn't record the song until she was 21. "I tend to hold onto things," she says.
On the MTV show Driven, Pink's mother said of the first time she heard this song, "Oh my god, I didn't know she felt this way." >>
Suggestion credit:
Stacy - Sunbury, Australia
Pink recalled to Q magazine January 2010 that this song got her into trouble with her mom after she called her a lunatic in it. The singer added: "She went to the National Enquirer. We laugh about it now but it wasn't the best way to address family problems."
Sophie Muller, who would go on to direct Pink's "Trouble," directed the video, which has the adult Pink struggling through her day while her child self is singing the song. Kelsey Lewis, who played little Pink, also appeared in the clip for "Trouble."
Pink didn't completely abandon her R&B roots when she shifted to pop-rock on her second album, Missundaztood, as this soulful ballad proves. At 16, the singer scored a record deal with LaFace Records as part of the R&B trio Choice, but after wowing executives at the label's Christmas party, she was encouraged to go solo. Her debut album was an R&B-influenced pop effort that established her as a hot up-and-comer but left her cold. She wanted more control over her sound and adopted a rock edge for her followup. It was a shrewd move - three of the singles hit the Top 10, including the ubiquitous "Get The Party Started." A throwback to her old sound, "Family Portrait" was released as the fourth single. It was well-received but wasn't as successful on the charts, peaking at #20.

Comments: 11

Soofia from Newcastle Upon TyneHey I'm soofia I really like listening to pink family portrait song all the time but I do always feel sorry for pink all the time wen I do listen to this song it always makes me cry all the time but I feel really sorry for pink as well
Madina from KazakhstanYesterday I was in New Zealand’s store and heard this song. This song was released almost 13 years ago, that time I couldn’t speak English at all. And yesterday after hearing this song I went to check the lyrics and it made me cry, specially now when I do understand English. I sort of had same childhood, but in my case parents never got divorced as I came from Muslim family and in our tradition parents usually tries to stay together, because it’s a shame for a woman to divorce, as people will talk about her behind her back.

And things which was in song I experienced all the time while I was living in family house. I always wanted to leave, but I had no choice. And only after graduating and leaving the parents house I felt so much better. I always miss my family, but it always gives me anxiety coming back to a place which I left, because of endless fighting. I don’t even remember when last time we had family dinner where all were happy. I just feel like now, after so many years my parents just hates each other. But still lives together. I could never do that.

Even being outside of the house and seeing sometimes world can be mean to me, I still decide to not come back to my home. It’s just hurts so much to see this all. It took me so many years to slowly slowly recover from what I saw during my childhood time.

I wish all the kids will grow in loving family and will never see such things.
Chantelle From Nottinghamshire from United StatesThis makes me cry because P!nk experienced this same as me.
Hayley from London, United KingdomP!nk was my hero as a little girl, I sorta had the same childhood, my mum and my step dad brought me up and he brought me up for 7 years, one night when I and my brother woke up we heard crying so we sat on the stair listening in but we knew that they were gonna spit up and me and my brother cryed, they obiously heard us because they called us down and told us the were divorcing :,(.... Pink reminds me of me and my mum :)
Chantelle from Nottinghamshire, United KingdomThis makes me cry because P!nk experienced this same as me.
Shilo from Noneofyourbuisness, ItalyI love everything about this song. It has so much depth and emotion in it...WOW...^^ ~Shilo~
Gina from Devils Lake, NdThis song is so me...My parents divorced when i was 10. My parent fought...not just word but physical abuse and they did fight about me and my brother and about the bills. and i always tried to be so much better so they wouldnt break up...and i did run away but had no clue where to go...and the iraq war is basically war world 3...and in our family portrait taken 2 years before they divorced and i do have an older brother. i didnt want to split the holidays and i didnt want a step parents...and my mother did get remarried and changed her name...and i really didnt want a step brother...

But i never had to split the holidays...i havent seen much of my father since the divorce... and i did get 3 step siblings... a step brother and 2 step sisters but one has past R.I.P. Kayla Jo
but my mother is very happy and im not the best...im mean i love my father..but i hate him so much i cant stand him he got a girl pregant and i said to my mother how can he take care of another child when he couldnt take care of us...but she had abortion...and for my brother he has a beautiful daughter and a stupid girlfriend...who basically cheated on him and now he has a better girl..but he is okay that i know of...
BUT THIS SONG IS VERY MEANINGFUL TO ME...AND IT IS SO WEIRD THAT THIS HAPPENS EVERYWHERE. AND I JUST WISHED EVERYTHING COULD BE Perfect, BUT I KNOW THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN...
Jon from St. Paul, MnPink's mom's quote is actually from Driven which used to be on VH1 not MTV.
Savanah from Sparta, IlI have to say to Eireann, Las Vegas, NV, that even though Wikipedia can be resourcefull and very enlightening, it is not always true. The people that write the content on those pages, are regular ordinary people. Basically anyone can go on the website and alter anything. So all i am saying is be carefull what you believe and dont always use Wikipedia as a support for your facts. Anyway, i love Pink. She doesnt always write all her songs, though. However, her latest album is written by her or co-written by her. Thanks and God Bless!
Eireann from Las Vegas, NvOk, I can no longer let this go. Alecia's (pink's) parents got a divorce when she was 7 not 11. Wikipedia back's me up on this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_%28singer%29#Early_life_and_career
I've sent several e-mails about this but nothing was happening so I decided to post it here.

P.S. I absolutely love you pink! You're my role model! I idolize you! And I have no idea if you even know about this site but I thought I'd post it here anyway! You rock Pink!............. I'm done now..........
Stacy from Sunbury, AustraliaI love P!NK. I can't believe I am the first to make a comment about this amazingly gorgeous song. The heartfelt lyrics are enough to make even the most toughest man weep. Please continue making these songs P!NK, just I hope that you don't have to go through more stuff like this to get your 'muse' to write about. If that made no sense, its coz its 1:42am and i have not slept for 3 days.

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