On This Day in Pink History… 27th October 2008, Funhouse album was released

On This Day in Pink History… 27th October 2008, Funhouse album was released

Funhouse is Pink’s fifth studio album, released in 2008 by LaFace Records. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 180,000 copies in its first week. It reached number one in the album charts in six countries; Australia, Netherlands, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland and UK. Funhouse has sold six million copies worldwide.

Pink wrote and recorded approximately 30 to 35 songs for Funhouse. “It’s like getting rid of your children: ‘I like that one too, but I’m going to let that one die,'” she said of choosing the album’s tracks. “The good thing now is that different countries want extra songs and B-sides, so there’s always a home for the other kids.” Pink traveled internationally to write and record the album, working with Eg White in London and with Max Martin in Stockholm. “It was really good to get out of my house and get away from my life. No distractions. No phones”, Pink said of her sessions outside the U.S.

Pink has stated that this album is her most vulnerable to date. Much of the album’s subject matter alludes to the fact that Moore had recently separated from her husband, Carey Hart. The first single, So What, opens with: “I guess I just lost my husband/I don’t know where he went”. Please Don’t Leave Me also addresses the split. The artist sums up its theme thus: “Okay, I’m an asshole, but love me anyway.” In Mean, she sings, “It was good in the beginning/but how did we get so mean?” The song that Moore is the most proud of is Crystal Ball. She said about the track: “I recorded it in one take and we didn’t mix it. It just went straight to master. It was all about a vibe and not about perfection or being polished. I just love that song and I loved recording it.” She wrote the song with Billy Mann, who also aided her with the songs Stupid Girls, Dear Mr. President and I’m Not Dead (all 2006), among others.

In It’s All Your Fault, Pink blames her lover for giving her hopes of a love relationship, then simply giving up on her. She proclaims in the lyrics “I conjure up the thought of being gone, but I’d probably even do that wrong.” In Glitter in the Air, Pink asks many questions such as, “Have you ever looked fear in the face and said I just don’t care?”, and “Have you ever hated yourself for staring at the phone?” Pink admits, “I still don’t have some of the answers to the questions I pose on this record. I’m still figuring it all out.”

The track Sober, which is the album’s second single, was written by Pink at a party hosted at her home, where everyone was drunk or drinking except for her, and she wanted them all to leave. She went to the beach and had a line in her head saying “How do I feel so good sober?”. Eventually it had nothing to do with alcohol but with identities. “How do I feel so good with just me, without anyone to lean on?”, Pink said in an interview.

Ave Mary A deals with world issues and problems. “One Foot Wrong” talks about an acidtrip that went wrong, but also has an underlying theme. “That song is also about losing control and how easy it is to lose the plot in life and teeter on the edge.”

Originally, Pink wanted to call her album Heartbreak Is a Motherfucker, but her record label declined because of a fear that offensive language would affect sales. She also said that she did not want the album to look like a break-up album; “There is a lot of that [break-up], but there is fun happening too and that’s why I named it Funhouse in the end.” Pink has also stated that she sees life as a carnival: “Clowns are supposed to be happy, but they are really scary. Carnivals are supposed to be fun, but really they are kind of creepy.” […] “and that’s like life to me, and love. Love is supposed to be fun, but it can sometimes be really scary. And the funhouse mirrors that make you look so distorted that you don’t recognize yourself and you ask yourself, ‘How did I get here? How do I get out of here?’ But, you think that you want to do it again. That is the same as love and life. It’s a metaphor for being in love and for life.” This also shows in the title track “Funhouse” where she tells that it used to be fun. “It’s about when the box you’re in doesn’t fit anymore, burn that fucker down and start a new one.”

Wikipedia

Singles: