Who Knew
| "Who Knew" | |||||||||||||||||
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| Single by Pink | |||||||||||||||||
| from the album I'm Not Dead | |||||||||||||||||
| B-side | "Disconnected" | ||||||||||||||||
| Released | May 8, 2006 (U.S. radio)[1] May 29, 2006 (UK) June 26, 2007 (U.S. radio re-release)[2] |
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| Format | Digital download, CD single, 12" maxi single | ||||||||||||||||
| Recorded | Decibel Studios, Stockholm, SWE; Conway Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA | ||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Pop rock | ||||||||||||||||
| Length | 3:27 | ||||||||||||||||
| Label | LaFace | ||||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Pink, Max Martin, Lukasz Gottwald | ||||||||||||||||
| Producer | Max Martin, Dr. Luke | ||||||||||||||||
| Certification | Platinum (ARIA, RIAA) | ||||||||||||||||
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"Who Knew" is a pop rock song written by Pink, Max Martin and Dr. Luke for Pink's fourth album, I'm Not Dead (2006). It was released as the album's second single worldwide in 2006, and was re-released to U.S. radio as the album's fourth single in the United States in 2007, after the success of "U + Ur Hand".[3]
Pink has stated that "Who Knew" is her favorite song from her first compilation, Greatest Hits... So Far!!!, as it can be about almost everyone.[4] Lyrically, it is about losing a friend because of drugs. The music video shows Pink singing in a county fair, with a storyline about two young lovers who end up being separated after the guy begins using drugs. The song is Pink's longest chart runner on the Hot 100, spending 36 weeks before dropping out.[5]
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[edit] Background
In an interview for the Daily Mail on 26 May 2006, Pink said this song is about losing a loved one to drugs: "My life was insane, I was [in her youth] out of control and doing lots of stupid things. Some of my friends were selling crack, and I got into drugs too. I've always been honest about that, although I don't like going into details. I've got lots of young fans and I wouldn't want to give them any ideas. I found a friend dead from a drug overdose when I was 14. He was a male friend, not a boyfriend. Most of the people at the funeral were just children. It should have been a wake-up call for me, but it wasn't." Billboard magazine, in its second review of the song (to accompany the U.S. re-release), called it "another cool, smart, plenty passionate melodic jewel about the death of a friend and/or friendship, with an instantly identifiable, quick-to-the-point, singalong track—maintaining Pink's stance as the smartest female millennium-era singer/songwriter, dazzling in star quality as alterna-pop's premier princess."[3]
The song features acoustic guitar, keyboards, drums, and electric guitars. Gottwald, Martin and Pink co-wrote another song on the album, "U + Ur Hand".
[edit] Chart performance
It was released as the album's second single in 2006 (see 2006 in music) and was very popular in Australia, where it reached number two on the ARIA Singles Chart and is certified platinum for sales of over 70,000 copies. It was ranked at number nine on ARIA's Top 100 singles of 2006. "Who Knew" entered the UK Singles Chart at #19 in early June, 2006 and ascended to a peak of #5 the following week. It is her joint fifth highest charting single in the UK and her second longest charting behind only "So What!". With a total of 26 weeks inside the top 100 songs it beats her #1 hit "Just Like A Pill".[6]
When the single was originally released in North America, "Who Knew" was less successful. Though it peaked at number nineteen on the BDS Airplay Chart in Canada, it was virtually ignored by American radio. In the U.S., where it was released to mainstream radio on May 8, 2006,[1] it failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, initially reaching number 18 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart (which comprises the most popular songs yet to enter the Hot 100). Billboard magazine credited the poor performance of the single on radio with significantly reducing momentum of initial sales of I'm Not Dead.[7]
In March 2007 the song was used in promotion for the ABC television show October Road, after which download sales of the song increased; as a result, it debuted at number ninety-five on the Hot 100 at the end of the month.[8][9] During the same period, "U + Ur Hand", the third single from I'm Not Dead, had achieved major success on pop radio and was credited with "reviving" Pink's career in the U.S.[3] Pink performed "Who Knew" on the May 9, 2007, episode of American Idol. It was re-released to mainstream radio in the United States on June 26, 2007,[2] although it had already been receiving minor airplay on CHR/top 40 and hot AC/adult top 40 stations earlier in the month.[10] In week twenty-five of 2007 "Who Knew" re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number ninety-four; it eventually climbed to number nine, giving Pink her eighth top ten single on the chart and matching the peak position of "U + Ur Hand".[11]
[edit] Music video
The single's video was directed by Dragon,[12] a team comprising Sam Bayer, Robert Hales and Brian Lazzaro. It was filmed in the weekend beginning April 15, 2006 in Los Angeles, United States,[13] and it was released to the internet and to UK music channels in early May 2006. The video reached number one on MTV Germany's top ten and on TRL Italy. "Who Knew" was voted number one on TRL Germany twenty times, allowing Pink to earn the "Golden Tape". In the U.S. Total Request Live broadcast a "First Look" of the video on May 22, and it debuted on the show's top ten countdown the following day;[14] it spent eight non-consecutive days on the countdown (until June 9), peaking at number seven.[15]
It features a young couple visiting a fairground and going on the rides, and at one point the boy puts a necklace on the girl. The video flashes back to the boy secretly injecting himself with drugs on a previous night while the girl is sleeping. At the carnival, when the girl is playing a game, the boy walks away. The girl realizes he's gone and follows him, but when she tries to get him to stay with her he gets violent. He goes to the back of the fairground to inject himself with drugs and breaks into a sweat. His girlfriend wanders around looking for him, and finds him unconscious; he has overdosed. She gives him a kiss, gives back the necklace and phones for an ambulance; after it has arrived, she walks away crying. The video is inter-cut with shots of Pink singing the song at the entrance to the fairground.
In Pink's 2008 album Funhouse, she compares life to a carnival, because carnivals are supposed to be enjoyable, but in actuality, they're not. The setting for the music video with the fairgrounds provides a false sense of security for the girl in the music video.
[edit] Track listings and formats
- UK CD1
- "Who Knew" (Album Version) - 3:28
- "Disconnected" - 3:58
- UK CD2
- "Who Knew" (Album Version) - 3:28
- "Who Knew" (Sharp Boys' Love Jonathan Harvey Remix) - 8:42
- "Who Knew" (Bimbo Jones Radio Edit) - 3:27
- "Who Knew" (Beat Cult Club Mix) - 6:25
- "Who Knew" (Don Diablo & Jason Nevins Mix) - 7:19
- "Who Knew" (Live In Europe Preview)
- Other Mixes
- "Who Knew" (Bimbo Jones Club Mix) - 7:49
- "Who Knew" (Don Diablo & Jason Nevins Edit) - 5:45
- "Who Knew" (Jason Nevins Radio Edit) - 3:27
- "Who Knew" (Eddie Baez Club Mix) - 9:45
- "Who Knew" (Sharp Boys' Coronation Street Dub) - 8:55
[edit] Charts
- 2006 singles
- Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks number-one singles
- Billboard Pop Songs number-one singles
- Songs produced by Max Martin
- Pink (singer) songs
- Songs about suicide
- Rock ballads
- Pop ballads
- Songs written by Max Martin
- Songs written by Dr. Luke
- Songs about drugs
- Songs produced by Dr. Luke
- Songs written by Pink (singer)
