Please Don't Leave Me
by Pink

Album: Funhouse (2008)
Charted: 12 17
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Songfacts®:

  • This painfully honest love song was one of four numbers on Funhouse where Pink collaborated with Max Martin at his studio in Stockholm, Sweden. Martin previously co-penned for Pink "Who Knew," "U And Ur Hand," and "Cuz I Can" on 2006's I'm Not Dead.
  • Like a number of songs on Funhouse, this alludes to the breakup of Pink's marriage with the motocross racer Carey Hart. The singer-songwriter explained on her website: "It's like letting down the armor and admitting I'm human. I'm a girl. We all want to be loved and love. That's all we want." Pink added that that this song "is also kind of funny though. It's like, 'Okay, I'm an a--hole, but love me anyway.' I'm trying to be better. We're all a work in progress."
  • The song's music video is a violent take on the 1990 movie Stephen King's Misery, which is about an unhinged fan who holds her favorite author hostage in her remote farmhouse. The promo, which was directed by Dave Meyers, features Eric Lively (24: Redemption) as the male lead. In the clip, Pink is so desperate to make her boyfriend stay, she causes him to tumble down the stairs and keeps him in bed using sedatives. When that no longer works, she bashes his leg with a golf club and allows him to be attacked by a dog (a nod to King's Cujo). In the climax, she chases him through the home with an ax, a reference to yet another King story, The Shining, but meets her doom when she falls backwards over a balcony.
  • This was the third single taken from Funhouse and Pink's 13th top 20 hit in the US and 15th in the UK.
  • Although Pink and Carey eventually patched things up, they weren't even close to a reconciliation when she poured her heart out on this emotional track. Pink recalled to Variety in 2019: "I wrote 'Please Don't Leave Me,' I tried calling Carey and he wouldn't answer my calls. I was so f--king lonely. And I made one of my best records from heartbreak."
  • Pink filmed an alternate video (The Funhouse Freakshow Edition) for her Funhouse Summer Carnival Tour in 2010. Opposites attract at an old-time carnival in the black-and-white promo, which has Pink portraying a giant woman in a sideshow act who falls in love with a little person (played by Hart).

Comments: 5

  • Lee from UkRead about the mental condition, Borderline personality disorder. Also known as, "i hate you, please dont leave me" This is a replica of my wife you are watching. Usually these people have suffered abuse or loss during child hood and develop into borderlines. If you ever meet one, run for the hills!
  • Wendy from Fsj, BcWow... what a song. I love the music and singing, but the video, as amusing as it may be to many (a statement about our twisted sense of humour), sends out a message that worries me. I wonder how many men and women think that violence in a relationship is okay if they are sincere in their so called "love" for the person and really apologize after. Treating someone so badly all the time- that's not love- that's abuse. I know we're all human and make mistakes, but we should probably think about whether we are just using that as an excuse for things.
  • Breanna from Henderson, NvI love the line, "you're my perfect little punching bag" it's a brillant line.
  • Tricia from Rockville Centre, NyThis song is definetly a thought process...it makes you think so many times in a relationship where your pissed at your significant other and yell, accuse, pick or ignore them....they have every right to LEAVE YOU! And then you realize you have to let go....I think a man should be signing this song instead of a woman! I love the part where she goes DA, DA, DA, ....sad, but pretty...
  • Steph from Claverack, NyI think this song can represent several different senarios in life- irreverent, funny and complex. Like a good relationship that evolves, so does the actual course of relationship in the song itself. Poinant, and describes the way that you feel when your'e truly letting go. Beautiful song.
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