Just Like a Pill
| "Just Like a Pill" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Pink | ||||||||||
| from the album Missundaztood | ||||||||||
| Released | June 10, 2002 (U.S.) | |||||||||
| Format | 12" maxi single | |||||||||
| Recorded | 2001 | |||||||||
| Genre | Pop rock, R&B | |||||||||
| Length | 3:57 | |||||||||
| Label | Arista | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Pink, Dallas Austin | |||||||||
| Producer | Dallas Austin | |||||||||
| Certification | Gold (Austria) | |||||||||
| Pink singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Just Like a Pill" is a pop rock song by American singer Pink. It was written and produced by Dallas Austin and Pink for her second studio album Missundaztood. The lyrics of the song deal with getting out of painful relationships, with a subtheme about drug abuse.[1]
The song was released worldwide as the third single from Missundaztood in June 2002 and was a commercial success, peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. It also performed well internationally, becoming her first number-one in the United Kingdom and reaching the top 10 in, amongst other countries, Ireland, France, the Netherlands and Sweden.
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[edit] Background and writing
"Just Like a Pill" was written by P!nk and Dallas Austin, who also produced and arranged the song.[2] Pink said in an interview that "Just Like a Pill" shows "part of who I am", referring to her documented problems with drugs.[3]
[edit] Reception
[edit] Critical response
The song was generally well received by contemporary music critics. NME called it "the third best track off her killer last album".[4] Drowned In Sound's Robert Luckett commented that it is "a fascinating record...this is a record with a edge, a kind of pot boiling over at any moment, ready to go off at any time vibe." He also wrote "it obeys the Pop Industry's well dusted rules for a hit."[5] Stylus Magazine's Todd Burns, in his review of the album, compared "Just Like a Pill" to the other singles from the album, "Don't Let Me Get Me" and "Get the Party Started", writing "The guitars... sound much more integrated into the work and the overall song works far better."[6]
The song was shortlisted by Digital Spy as a nominee for the best single of 2002, finishing third in the vote to Red Hot Chili Peppers' "By the Way" and Liberty X's "Just a Little".[7]
[edit] Chart performance
In Australia, the song was a radio only single, in hopes of rising album sales. Although it was a #1 radio hit, a physical release never eventuated. In late June 2009, the song charted at #97 on downloads, most likely due to Pink's national tour.[8]
[edit] Music video
The video for "Just like a Pill" was directed by Francis Lawrence for LaFace Records.[9] The video for the song is considerably different from Pink's previous videos. "Get the Party Started" and "Don't Let Me Get Me" were lighter in nature than the dark atmosphere which is reflected in the video for "Just like a Pill", an example of which is the fact that Pink can be seen throughout the whole video wearing black outfits and wearing black hair. In the first scene, Pink lies on the floor. In the chorus she sings in front of her band. She is also featured in another scene with white rabbits around her in a room, and in another scene, she is seen with an elephant. There are also scenes with Pink singing in front of and amongst various people. In the latter half of the video, she runs in a hall whilst lip-synching the song, before disappearing into a bright doorway atop a staircase at the conclusion of the video.[9]
In the video, Pink is seen sitting in front of an elephant. After the elephant had been on the set, she saw the abuse and captivity the animal was in. "Pink learned about the abuse of captive elephants when a trainer brought one onto the set of her 'Just like a Pill' video. She could see that something was wrong and she called us to learn more about the issue. Now, Pink would like to see circuses pack their trunks", according to PETA spokesman Dan Mathews.[9]
In an interview with VH1, Pink said "This poor elephant...a huge elephant, it's so cute, and I could see how painful it was for it to get down on its hands and knees, and I'm like, 'Can we not do this anymore? I think we got the take, you know, it's enough. The elephant has had enough.' And the trainer's like, 'Oh, he loves it.' And so I was like, 'So when were you an elephant?'... I didn't like it. I won't do that again. ... No more animals." When talking about the different style of video, Pink said "This one's very dark and artsy, and I have black hair, which is very fun. I loved it. It's another part that I haven't concentrated on before."[10]
The censored version of the song/video changes "Can't stay on your morphine, it's making me itch" to "Can't stay on your life support, it's making me itch", and changes "bitch" to "witch". Pink's mouth is only blurred once in the censored version as she says "bitch" at about 2 minutes 45 seconds in the video.
[edit] Cover versions
- Eurodance trio Cascada recorded a cover version on the European and Japanese editions of their 2007 album Perfect Day. Cascada also included this on the North American versions of the Evacuate the Dancefloor single.
- Maaike Vos performed this song on the third season of the Dutch version of the X Factor during the 7th week of competition as a contestant
- The American rock band Perfect World covered Just Like a Pill on their 2003 debut album, Perfect World.
- X Factor Australia contestant Sally Chatfield performed this song on the final 4 Number 1 Hits Night and received a standing ovation from judges Natalie Imbruglia, Guy Sebastian and Ronan Keating.
- In the Colombian reality "Yo me llamo" contestant Jennifer Ramirez performed a cover of this song.
[edit] Formats and track listings
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[edit] Charts
"Just Like a Pill" was Pink's first UK number one.
| Chart (2002) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Singles Top 75 | 2 |
| Belgium UltraTop 50 | 5 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 4 |
| Denmark Singles Top 20 | 10 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 6 |
| Finland Top 20 Singles | 19 |
| French Top 100 Singles | 29 |
| Germany Top 100 Singles | 2 |
| Greek Top 50 Singles[11] | 12 |
| Hungarian Singles Chart | 6 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 2 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 2 |
| Norwegian Top 20 Singles | 7 |
| Swedish Top 60 Singles | 5 |
| Swiss Singles Top 100 | 6 |
| UK Singles Chart[12] | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[13] | 8 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream[14] | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks[15] | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40[16] | 19 |
| U.S. Billboard Latin Tropical/Salsa Airplay[17] | 20 |
| U.S. Billboard Latin Pop Airplay[18] | 30 |
| U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40[19] | 34 |
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart[20] | 97 |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Sheffield, Rob. "CD Review - M!ssundaztood". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/150507/review/6212488?utm_source=Rhapsody&utm_medium=CDreview. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
- ^ Soghomonian, Talia. "Archive of song reviews". all-reviews.com. http://www.all-reviews.com/song-lists/song-title-J.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
- ^ "Interview: Pink". musicOMH. http://www.musicomh.com/music/features/pink.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
- ^ Wells, Steven (2002-08-22). "Track reviews - Pink: Just Like a Pill". nme.com. NME. http://www.nme.com/reviews/name/6663. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
- ^ Luckett, Robert (2002-09-21). "Pink: Just Like a Pill". Drowned In Sound. http://drownedinsound.com/releases/5596/reviews/4896. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
- ^ Burns, Todd (2003-09-01). "Pink - M!ssundaztood - Review". Stylus Magazine. http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/pink/mssundaztood.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
- ^ Wilkes, Neil (1 January 2003). "BBC big winner in DS Awards". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/about/a9939/bbc-big-winner-in-ds-awards.html. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
- ^ http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20090805-0000/issue1009.pdf
- ^ a b c "Pink Just Like a Pill Music Video on Yahoo! Music". Yahoo! Music. Yahoo!. http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/Pink/Just+Like+A+Pill--2155092. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
- ^ Perry, Rachel. "Pink: Party started, pill swallowed, elephant spared". VH1. http://www.vh1.com/artists/interview/1457203/20020826/pink.jhtml. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
- ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20021201130851/http://www.ifpi.gr/chart03.htm
- ^ "Pink - Just Like a Pill". Chart Stats. http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=30270. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
- ^ "The Billboard Hot 100 - Just Like a Pill". billboard.com. Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=379&cfgn=Singles&cfn=The+Billboard+Hot+100&ci=3047275&cdi=7919567&cid=10%2F26%2F2002. Retrieved 12 June 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "The Billboard Top 40 Mainstream - Just Like a Pill". billboard.com. Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=381&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Top+40+Mainstream&ci=3047522&cdi=7928414&cid=11%2F16%2F2002. Retrieved 12 June 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "The Billboard Top 40 Tracks - Just Like a Pill". billboard.com. Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=382&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Top+40+Tracks&ci=3047356&cdi=7922522&cid=11%2F02%2F2002. Retrieved 12 June 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "The Billboard Adult Top 40 - Just Like a Pill". billboard.com. Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=343&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Hot+Adult+Top+40+Tracks&ci=3048349&cdi=7957300&cid=02%2F01%2F2003. Retrieved 12 June 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "The Billboard Latin/Tropical Salsa Airplay - Just Like a Pill". billboard.com. Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=375&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Latin+Tropical%2FSalsa+Airplay&ci=3047128&cdi=7914489&cid=10%2F12%2F2002. Retrieved 12 June 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "The Billboard Latin Pop Airplay - Just Like a Pill". billboard.com. Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=372&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Latin+Pop+Airplay&ci=3047050&cdi=7911758&cid=10%2F05%2F2002. Retrieved 12 June 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "The Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 - Just Like a Pill". billboard.com. Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=378&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Rhythmic+Top+40&ci=3047136&cdi=7914800&cid=10%2F12%2F2002. Retrieved 12 June 2009.[dead link]
- ^ http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20090805-0000/issue1009.pdf
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