Just Like A Pill
by Pink

Album: Missundaztood (2001)
Charted: 1 8
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In this angst-fueled pop-rock number, Pink compares her toxic romance to a bad drug trip - something she's quite familiar with from her wild teen years. "That's part of who I am but I'm not as self-destructive as I used to be," she explained in a 2004 interview. "I've done it so I'm not curious about it."
  • This is the third single from Pink's second studio album, following "Get The Party Started" and "Don't Let Me Get Me." She wrote it with Dallas Austin, a hit songwriter/producer who worked with Madonna, TLC, and Gwen Stefani. Austin also produced the track.
  • Missundaztood is a sonic departure for Pink, who was marketed as an R&B/dance-pop singer with her debut album, Can't Take Me Home. Although the album was a hit, selling 2 million copies in the US, Pink wasn't satisfied. The singer wanted more creative control, and was willing to walk away from everything if she didn't get it.

    "I had to fight for it. It wasn't a choice with my marketing mind thinking, 'Well, I'm going to totally switch directions,'" she told the Los Angeles Times in 2003. "It was like, 'I have to do this, guys. It's in me and it's in my heart and if I don't get it out I am going to self-destruct, and I won't be here to make another of your stupid albums. I have to talk about things that mean something to me and if you won't let me do this, then you might as well drop me back behind the counter of McDonald's cause I can't go on.'"

    With her newfound power over her music, Pink took control of her lyrics and her sound, which adopted a rock edge. The change earned her lots of new fans, with the album selling 5 million copies in the US.
  • The music video, directed by Francis Lawrence, opens with the singer sprawled on the floor of a gloomy facility. Pink told VH1 of the clip: "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."

    Pink roams the halls of the building and discovers a room full of white rabbits and another with a group of amorous people. She also has a run-in with an elephant, an encounter that deeply affected the singer. "I felt so bad," she recalled, "I got into a fight with the trainer. This poor elephant; it's in a warehouse where it has to keep getting down on its hands and knees. This is 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.'"

    After witnessing animal cruelty firsthand, Pink refused to use animals in her future music videos.
  • Canadian indie-pop duo Tegan and Sara sang this in honor of Pink when the singer was named Billboard's Woman of the Year in 2013.

Comments: 2

  • Rick Fox from IndianapolisIn the scene where everyone is fighting, Pink accidently got punched in the side of the head. The director thought it added to the video and left it in.
  • Sandi Grbic from Melb Australia love the song and the clip. I'm interested in the appearance of a 'high wizard', whose idea? is it an actor or the real deal? also interested to know what his presences represented in the clip?
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