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Dear Mr. President (Pink song)

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"Dear Mr. President"
Single by Pink featuring Indigo Girls
from the album I'm Not Dead
A-side"Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)"
ReleasedDecember 21, 2006 (2006-12-21)
Recorded2005
Studio
Genre
Length4:33
LabelLaFace
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Pink
  • Billy Mann
Pink singles chronology
"Nobody Knows"
(2006) 		"Dear Mr. President"
(2006) 		"Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)"
(2007)
Indigo Girls singles chronology
"Peace Tonight"
(1999) 		"Dear Mr. President"
(2006) 		"What Are You Like"
(2009)

"Dear Mr. President" is a song by Pink featuring the Indigo Girls, and was recorded for Pink's fourth album, I'm Not Dead. The song is an open letter to the then-President of the United States, George W. Bush. The song criticizes several areas of Bush's administration and terms in office, including the Iraq War, No Child Left Behind Act, opposition to gay marriage and the gay rights movement in general, perceived lack of empathy for poor and middle-class citizens, and Bush's drinking and drug usage in college. Pink felt that it was one of the most important songs she had ever written.

Released as a single in December 2006, "Dear Mr. President" became a hit in continental Europe and Australia. It reached number one in the Flanders region of Belgium for four weeks and in Austria for one week while reaching the top five in Australia, Germany, and Switzerland. It became the third highest-selling single of Austria for 2007 and the eighth highest-selling single of Switzerland the same year.

Critical response

The song received mostly positive reviews from music critics. Entertainment Weekly's Chris Williams described Dear Mr. President "with its incongruous folkie social concern and Bush-baiting applause lines."[1] The Los Angeles Times' Natalie Nichols said that Pink taps her inner Ani DiFranco on the confrontational "Dear Mr. President."[2] The New York Times' Jon Pareles noted that the song is "well meaning", "hectoring" and that it "grow[s] even more sententious".[3] PopMatters praised the single with long overview:

Oh, and speaking of presidents, Pink’s musical letter to the Commander-in-Chief (“Dear Mr. President”) is just as topical. The Indigo Girls tag along for moral support and, with lyrics like “How can you say, ‘no child is left behind’ / we’re not dumb and we’re not blind” or “You’ve come a long way, from whiskey and cocaine”, you just know that if she’d made the song a few years earlier, it would have been featured in Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911. You also get the impression that this is personal for Pink, that she’s not doing it to be trendy. On the lyric page for “Dear Mr. President”, there’s a picture of Pink in an oval frame. Red, white, and blue ribbons are tied to the frame and her father’s dog tags share the reddish page."[4]

Rolling Stone's Barry Walters praises Pink for "writ[ing] a scathing letter in 'Dear Mr. President'" and "cooing righteous folk harmonies with Indigo Girls."[5] Sal Cinquemani was mixed, writing that "'Dear Mr. President,' which cleverly uses George W. Bush's own words against him, pales next to Missundaztood's 'My Vietnam.'"[6]

Formats and track listings

Digital Single

  1. "Dear Mr. President" – 4:33
  2. "Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)" – 3:18
  3. "Dear Mr. President" [Live from Wembley Arena] – 4:45
  4. "Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)" [Live] – 4:44

UK Collector's Set CD1

  1. "Dear Mr. President" – 4:33
  2. "Dear Mr. President" [Live from Wembley Arena] – 4:45
  3. "Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)" [Live] – 4:44
  4. "Dear Mr. President" [Video] – 5:00

UK Collector's Set CD2

  1. "Dear Mr. President" – 4:33
  2. "Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)" – 3:18
  3. "Dear Mr. President" [Live] – 4:45
  4. "Live From Wembley Trailer" [Video] – 0:59

Germany Collector's Set CD1

  1. "Dear Mr. President" – 4:33
  2. "Dear Mr. President" [Live from Wembley Arena] – 4:45
  3. "Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)" – 3:18
  4. "Live From Wembley Trailer" [Video] – 0:59

Germany Collector's Set CD2

  1. "Dear Mr. President" – 4:33
  2. "Who Knew" [Live From Wembley Arena] – 3:29
  3. "Dear Mr. President" [Live from Wembley Arena] – 4:45

Australian Tour Collector's Set CD1

  1. "Dear Mr. President" – 4:33
  2. "Who Knew" [Live From Wembley Arena] – 3:30
  3. "Dear Mr. President" [Live From Wembley Arena] – 4:45
  4. "On The Road With Pink" [Video] – 10:00

Australian Tour Collector's Set CD2

  1. "Dear Mr. President" – 4:33
  2. "U + Ur Hand" [Live From Wembley Arena] – 4:39
  3. "Dear Mr. President" [Video] – 5:00
  4. "Live From Wembley Trailer" [Video] – 1:00

Remixes

  1. Offer Nissim Club Mix
  2. Offer Nissim Radio Edit

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[27] 2× Platinum 140,000‡
Austria (IFPI Austria)[28] Platinum 30,000*
Germany (BVMI)[29] Platinum 300,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

  1. ^ William, Chris (April 3, 2006). "I'm Not Dead". EW.com. Entertainment Weekly.
  2. ^ Nichols, Natalie (April 2, 2006). "Think of Pink as a spectrum". latimes.com. Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ Pareles, Jon (April 3, 2006). "Critic's Choice: New CD's". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Huff, Quentin (May 17, 2006). "Pink: I'm Not Dead". Popmatters.
  5. ^ Walters, Barry (April 4, 2006). "I'm Not Dead". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone.
  6. ^ Cinquemani, Sal (April 6, 2006). "Pink: I'm Not Dead". slantmagazine.com. Slant.
  7. ^ "P!nk – Dear Mr. President". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  8. ^ "P!nk – Dear Mr. President" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  9. ^ "P!nk – Dear Mr. President" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  10. ^ "P!nk – Dear Mr. President" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  11. ^ "P!nk Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  12. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 40. týden 2007 in the date selector.
  13. ^ "Hits of the World – Eurocharts" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 119, no. 28. July 7, 2007. p. 51. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  14. ^ "P!nk – Dear Mr. President" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  15. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 20, 2007" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  16. ^ "P!nk – Dear Mr. President" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  17. ^ "P!nk – Dear Mr. President". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  18. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200729 into search. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  19. ^ "P!nk – Dear Mr. President". Singles Top 100. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  20. ^ "P!nk – Dear Mr. President". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  21. ^ "ARIA Charts – End of Year Charts – Top 100 Singles 2007". ARIA. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  22. ^ "Jahreshitparade Singles 2007" (in German). Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  23. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 2007" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  24. ^ "Top 100 Single–Jahrescharts 2007" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  25. ^ "Swiss Year-End Charts 2007" (in German). Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  26. ^ "Bestenlisten – 00er-Single". austriancharts.at. December 25, 2009. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  27. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2018 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  28. ^ "Austrian single certifications – P!nk – Dear Mr President" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  29. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Pink; 'Dear Mr. President')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
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