Girls Like Us: Kelly Clarkson, P!nk & the Max Martin Factor (Pt 2)

Yesterday I introduced two artists that have to potential to be Girls Like Us. Here is the rest of the story:

After Kelly's massive success with Max Martin/Dr Luke penned singles "Since U Been Gone" and "Behind These Hazel Eyes" Pink was the next female star to hook up with the hit making duo. Her next disc, 2006's I'm Not Dead opened with the single "Stupid Girls" - a scathing indictment of fame-chasing celebutants. While the song was controversial, with a video clearly lampooning Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and the Olsen twins, it didn't translate into the massive hit. Releasing the song was the start of her very public political side. Lyrics like "What happened to the dream of a girl president/she's dancing in the video next to 50 Cent" are hard hitting and bold.

She followed that single with a slow rising track "Who Knew" - a powerful ballad co-written with Martin and Luke. Exploring the themes of a lover who leaves after promising to never go was more universal than the bratty woman-child of her previous albums. The song never fully explains the reason for leaving, the video suggests drug use caused a rift but it could be interpreted as a lover dying. "If someone said three years from now/you'd be long gone/I'd stand up and punch that mouth/'cuz they're all wrong/I know better/'cuz you said forever/who knew" is a powerful lyric that resonates with so many.

She also showcased her political side with a protest song "Dear Mr. President" - an open letter to an already vastly unpopular president. She takes him to task on his views on gay rights and a lack of compassion for the poor.

While Pink was racking up hit singles with Max Martin's catchy pop formula's, Kelly Clarkson was riding high on her ASCAP win for Songwriter Of The Year. Ignore her label head, legend Clive Davis, she wanted to co-write all the songs for her next album. The result was 2007's commercial flop My December.

The difference between between her hits with Martin and Luke songwriting team and her own compositions was minimal at first glance. Her songs were angry pop/rock in some places, while others were slow burning ballads. The whole album was a unified artistic statement, a story of a young woman burned yet again by love. From the sweeping sadness of "Sober" - "three months and I'm still breathing/been a long road since those hands I left my tears in" to the bitter ex of "Never Again" - "I hope the ring you gave her turns her finger green/I would never wish bad things but I don't wish you well" to the most heartbreaking moment of her career.

"Irvine" was written while burnt out and exhausted, after trying to remove people from her life that were bringing her down. It's a prayer born out of pain, it's almost suicidal. Yes, American Idol's original sweetheart asks God "Can you feel how cold I am? Do you cry like I do? Are you lonely up there by yourself? Like I have felt all my life?" and "Are you there watching me/As I lie here on this floor? Do you cry with me/cry with me tonight?" It's heart breaking and beautiful.

While the album failed to create the singles and sales that Breakaway did, it's vastly more personal. Both Kelly and Pink have continued to work with Max Martin and Dr Luke (as have other hit making chicas like Avril Lavigne, The Veronicas and Katy Perry) and they have created some major hits. But the difference between those hits and the hits of Carole King or Joni Mitchell is that they aren't always their own words, their own stories. In the pop world it is hard to sell your own voice, but it's how you make that connection.

Post Script: Kelly Clarkson worked with a new songwriting giant Ryan Tedder on a track for her All I Ever Wanted called "Already Gone" It is great example of how a singer/songwriter can be paired with a songwriting producer and create a masterpiece. If only Tedder hadn't used a similar track for a Beyonce single a few months later. Lyrically, Kelly explores the pain of breaking up with someone who loves you but you know you are not able to love back in the right way. It's something that I know about, and something people I know have really related to.

Pink released her Greatest Hits... So Far!! with new singles written with Max Martin and his newest collaborator Shellback. Both "Raise Your Glass" and "Fuckin' Perfect" shows the political Pink, finding her siding once again with the underdogs and bullied of the world. Collaboration can create fine music.

These are the songs that make Kelly and Pink Girls Like Us:

"Irvine" (from Kelly's My December)


"Who Knew" (from Pink's I'm Not Dead)


"Already Gone" (from Kelly's All I Ever Wanted)


"Fuckin' Perfect" [uncensored version] (from Pink's Greatest Hits... So Far!!)

Pink - Fuckin Perfect - Official Music Video found on Pop

Girls Like Us: Kelly Clarkson, P!nk & the Max Martin Factor (Pt 1)

In many ways, I've felt like Kelly Clarkson sings my life. Just like Taylor Swift yesterday, Kelly Clarkson has sung so many songs that tell my story and tell the story of so many young women and men. That could make her one of the Girls Like Us. I also would posit that Pink could make the same claim.

Kelly made a splashy entrance into the pop world with her win on the inaugural season of rating juggernaut American Idol in 2002. Her debut album was the usual pop fare, with 16 producer credits and 26 writers (including Clarkson herself on 4 tracks.) It produced a couple of decent singles, including the smash "Miss Independent" which was originally written with Christina Aguilera in mind. While the result was pleasant pop/rock music with r&b undertones the only saving grace was Kelly amazing voice.

In a similar vein Pink released her debut album Can't Take Me Home in 2000. Like Kelly's debut, the album had a strong theme but didn't seem connected to the artist in any way. With 8 producers and one song alone boasting 9 writers, it was a standard pop release with very little artistic aim. One way Pink did put her stamp on it was with her brash attitude, which would remain a recurring theme on her later releases.

In 2001 Pink released her sophomore disc M!ssundaztood. This time the young pop star took more control, contacting Linda Perry of 4 Non-Blondes out of the blue to ask her to produce some songs. The album had a blend of pop, rock and r&b influences but seemed to be the work of one artist. Pink's attitude bloomed fully, with angry tracks like "Don't Let Me Get Me" and "Just Like A Pill" showing a self-destructive side that would resonate with an increasingly angry young America. Pink also showed the vulnerable side that would underscore the basis for such anger, with the tender ballad "Family Portrait" about the aftermath of her parent's divorce.

Pink would go all the way around the bend to rock on the lead single for her third commercially disastrous album Try This. "Trouble" has the singer in full bad-ass mode, but it's somewhat noticeable that her heart wasn't in it. Follow up single "God Is A DJ" is more fun, but the personal side of Pink wasn't carried over from the prior release.

Meanwhile, Kelly Clarkson headed to Sweden to record a song written for her by pop masterminds Max Martin and Dr. Luke. Kelly had hoped to expand her songwriting skills on her sophomore album, but "Since U Been Gone" was non-negotiable. Despite the fact she didn't write the song, it will forever be her defining hit. She sings the angry rock song like she means it, which puts her in a league of master song-interpreters.

She did get to put her songwriting skills to the test for Breakaway, though. She co-wrote the single "Behind These Hazel Eyes" with Martin and Luke, resulting in a blistering attack song that shows the fury of a woman scorned. She slowed it down for the most personal song of her career, "Because Of You" The ballad relays the pain that resulted from her parents divorce and her strained relationship with her mother when she was 16. It's one of the songs that resonates most with me, and I would imagine with anyone who has felt leaned on too much by a parent.

"Because Of You" would net Clarkson an ASCAP award for songwriter of the year and would be remade by Clarkson and country legend Reba as a duet.

Pink's star rises again, Kelly's falters: tomorrow in Part 2.

These are the songs that make Pink and Kelly Girls Like Us:
"Family Portrait" (from Pink's M!ssundaztood)


"Don't Let Me Get Me" (from Pink's M!ssundaztood)


"Because Of You" (from Kelly's Breakaway)


"Behind These Hazel Eyes" (from Kelly's Breakaway)

The "It Gets Better" Playlist

In the wake of teen suicides nationwide, it's easy to wonder where these teens can turn. For the first time that I can recall, pop radio may hold the answer.

OK, I may be putting pop songs on a pedestal, but pop stars are releasing songs that people can dance and sing along with but also encourage young people who are bullied without being schmaltzy. And while these are not the newest themes, as Christina Aguilera and Cyndi Lauper would be quick to remind you, this is the first time I've seen a recurring theme of singles and album tracks that are directed at bullied youth (and LGBT ones in particular.)

That naughty trash-pop minx Ke$ha tells Entertainment Weekly that her mini-album Cannibal's lead single "We R Who We R" is intended to be a pride anthem, a "celebration of any sort of quirks or eccentricities." It's also a lot of fun to dance to, as well:



Meanwhile, Katy Perry's tumultuous relationship with the gay community takes a turn for the better with the "Fireworks" - a Jack Kerouac-referencing ditty of empowerment, with boys kissing in the video:



Over in P!nk's world, one of two news songs included on the US release of her Greatest Hits... So Far!!! album is "Raise Your Glass." Besides quoting the Joker, this anthem for underdogs and sundry other "dirty little freaks" continues P!nk's strong commitment to gay rights. She performs the song at a gay wedding in the video for the song:



The Facebook Generation's songwriter of record, Taylor Swift includes the song "Mean" on her platinum-selling disc Speak Now. It's a simple tale of childhood bullies left in the dust as Taylor goes on to selling a million-plus CDs in a week. "Someday I'll be big enough that you can't hit me" the country-pop cutie sings, and I pray that troubles kids are singing along. Because it's true!



I'm still on the fence about Eminem and Lil' Wayne's Haddaway-sampling single "No Love" The video is heartbreaking, but as usual Wayne and Em can't control their potty-mouth, including both racial and homosexual slurs in the rhymes. Thoughts?



Let's clean our ears out with some very positive music from Broadway cast members! The proceeds from the iTunes downloads of "It Gets Better" directly benefits The Trevor Project, the only national suicide prevention hotline for LGBT youth. It's very inspirational and catchy, too!



And we cannot forget the classics, Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" has been a source of inspiration for gay people for years. In support of the "It Gets Better" project, the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles performed the song. Truly beautiful!



Of course, you know Lady Gaga will be weighing in soon...

VIDEO: Pink Is Tired Of Being Sober, Please Don't Leave Her

Even though "Sober," the fantastic second single from Pink's fifth album Funhouse, is currently sitting pretty in the top twenty of Billboard's Hot 100, a third single and video is waiting in the wings.

"Please Don't Leave Me" is co-written by her "U & Ur Hand" and "So What" producer Max Martin, who long time readers of Pictures & Conversations know I love. But this is not the catchy hook that Max and Pink have given us before. A acoustic slow jam with a scatty hook, "Please" is an OK pop song, but the video is ridiculous fun. Like Misery as directed by A Fever You Can't Sweat Out-era Panic! At The Disco (ya know, when they still had an exclamation point in their name) Pink is gonna keep her man from leaving, even if she has to take an axe to him. Wild make-up and eyes stitched shut are just some of the crazy antics you'll see, but as I always say "all's well that ends with a maniacal pop star falling over a balcony." Watch: Via PopBytes.

Watch more

Funhouse videos on AOL Video

Five Ten Songs On Shuffle, Volume 21

This is the twenty-first installments of my weekly blog entry series "5 Songs On Shuffle." Normally I’d put my iTunes on shuffle and blog about the first five songs that play, but since I forgot one last week I'm doing ten songs. It's only fair!

"What I Like About You" - The Romantics The Modern Edge
Long before it was the theme to the unfortunate sitcom starring Amanda Bynes and Jenny Garth, this was a karaoke favorite and bouncy sing-along punk song. Despite the harmonica, which is my most hated instrument of all time, it's so darn fun to sing I had to have it on the 'Pod.

"Thriller" - Fall Out Boy Infinity On High
Ooh, Mr. Carter intros the best punk-pop band of the '00s! Can it get anymore celeb-centric? "Thriller" might share the title with a classic Micheal Jackson album/song/video but it's not quite the same. Almost as catchy, though.

"Streets Of Philadelphia" - Bettye LeVette Song Of America
Maybe you don't remember, but there was quite a bit of talk late last year about Janet Reno and her nephew-in-law curating this three disc collection of American music from the 1400s to the present, much of it performed by indie and folk artists. Bettye LeVette is a soul diva who was shut out of the industry as a young person in the 1970s, but has had two well reviewed discs come out in the past couple years. She brings even more emotion to this Bruce Springsteen hit, as you would expect from a big beautiful black woman.

"Love You I Do" - Jennifer Hudson Dreamgirls Motion Picture Soundtrack
Speaking of big beautiful black women, my Oscar-winning girl J.Hud sounds sooooo good in this song, written just for the film version of Dreamgirls. She has such a strong voice, perfect for this sunny Motown-biting love song.

"When In Rome" - Nickel Creek Reasons Why: The Very Best
This song was the whole reason I bought the best-of collection by the now-defunct alterna-bluegrass trio. With a writing scheme more REM than Soggy Bottom Boys, but capturing the tradition elements of fiddle and mandolin, a new sound was born. Without Nickel Creek, I don't think I could have appreciated new variations on acoustic music like Jay Brannan's stuff as much as I do.

"Anyone Else But You" - The Moldy Peaches Juno
The lo-fi acoustic sound is almost amateurish, but the sentiment and writing on this song is stellar. Just sweet but strange, just like Juno herself. And seriously, I just imported this CD from the disc I borrowed from the library this afternoon, and it's already popping up on random.

"Mississippi Goddam" - Nina Simone Verve Jazz Masters 17
After one of the many racial-related crimes in the south, Nina wrote this bitter song in response. A super-simple piano line underlines the deservedly venomous lyrics about the broken trust between African-Americans and the rest of the nation. "Everybody knows about Mississippi goddam!"

"An American Crime (End Credits)" Petra Haden, Composed By Alan Lazar An American Crime
Petra Haden is known for her a capella work, like her brilliant cover of "Don't Stop Believin'" from the Guilt By Association album. Alan Lazar takes her wordless vocals and layers them in an increasingly creepy way, building up like strings in a traditional score before breaking into a piano solo and then returning to the vocals. Seriously, one of the scariest scores I've heard in a long time.

"My Interpratation" - MIKA Life In Cartoon Motion
Not one of the best songs from his poppy debut disc, but still a serviceable adult-rock style pop song. I just unchecked from my iPod, I'm out of room and need to add some of my newer acquisitions.

"U + UR Hand" - Pink I'm Not Dead
Yeah, it's just a dirtier version of "Since U Been Gone" (Max Martin wrote both songs) but it's still a classic in the dirty-pop tradition. Also, the best masturbation song since "She Bop"