"Pink" is a song by American rock band
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...
. It was written by
Steven Tyler
Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, piano, and percussion. ...
and professional songwriters
Richie Supa and
Glen Ballard
Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's 1995 album ''Jagged Little Pill'', which won Grammy Awards for Grammy Award fo ...
. It was released as the third major single from ''
Nine Lives'' in 1997.
Composition
The song is highlighted by a
harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
performance by Steven Tyler at the beginning, as well as a strong bass rhythm throughout the song, and a mix of acoustic guitars and jangling electric guitars throughout the verses.
Many of the lines in the verses start with the word "pink" (e.g. "Pink it's my new obsession ", "Pink it's not even a question", "Pink on the lips of your lover"). The song is also highly suggestive, in that the origin of the fascination with pink stems from the admiration of a woman's reproductive organs, particularly the inner side of the outer lips – the "pink in the middle" – and also the man's penis – "I wanna wrap you in
rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...
" and "my favorite
crayon
A crayon (or wax pastel) is a stick of pigmented wax used for writing or drawing. Wax crayons differ from pastels, in which the pigment is mixed with a dry binder such as gum arabic, and from oil pastels, where the binder is a mixture of wax an ...
"
Chart positions
The song reached No. 27 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, No. 38 in the United Kingdom, and No. 19 in Latvia. It also topped the
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...
chart for four weeks.
Music video
The
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
for the song used CGI to morph characters' faces to other bodies. A variety of random characters mixed in with band members moving towards the camera, morphing into different characters in the process (e.g.,
Joe Perry as a
centaur
A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse.
Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...
,
Brad Whitford
Bradley Ernest Whitford (born February 23, 1952)Putterford, Mark (1991) ''The Fall and Rise of Aerosmith'', Omnibus Press, Strong, Martin C. (2001) ''The Great Metal Discography'' (2nd edn.), MOJO Books, , p. 11-13 is an American musician who i ...
as a little boy, Steven Tyler as a skeleton, and a boy dressed as the
Easter Bunny
The Easter Bunny (also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare) is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit—sometimes dressed with clothes—bringing Easter eggs. Originating among German Lutherans, the "Easter Hare" orig ...
). The video premiered on November 11, 1997, and was directed by
Doug Nichol
Doug Nichol is an American filmmaker and commercials/ music video director.
Biography
A graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, he started his career as a cinematographer working with David Bowie, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen and U2 and ...
.
Two versions of the music video exist. In the uncensored version, there is a woman dressed in a blue jumpsuit walking towards the camera. For a brief second, the top, unzipped portion of the jumpsuit is pulled away, revealing her right breast. There is another instance where a woman's breasts are briefly fully revealed when a woman, painted blue and green, does a pirouette.
The uncensored version caused minor controversy and several television networks required Nichol to censor the video for daytime airings. As a result, the edited version censored the pirouette scene. The clean version also shows Tyler and Perry presented as a two-headed man and only the coverup portion of the breast reveal scene is present.
Live performances
As of 2007, "Pink" is one of only two songs from ''Nine Lives'' consistently played on Aerosmith tours, along with "
Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)".
Track listing
Covers and other versions
A different version of the song, The South Beach Mix, was included on the career-spanning compilation ''
O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits
''O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits'' is a greatest hits album by American hard rock band Aerosmith, released in 2002 by Columbia Records and Geffen Records. A double-disc album, it includes 27 of the band's biggest hits in chronological order and ...
''.
Japanese edition of the "Pink" single from 'Nine Lives' features six tracks: three mixes of "Pink" (Album Version, The South Beach Mix & Live from the Howard Stern Radio Show), plus live versions of "Falling In Love (Is Hard On The Knees)" & "Walk This Way" recorded in March 1997. As well, there is a techno remix of "Falling in Love (Is Hard On The Knees)" titled Moby Fucked Remix.
It is a bonus playable song in the video game ''
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith'', and the only track from ''Nine Lives'' present in the game. In the Wii and PlayStation 2 versions of this game, the word "high" (in "Pink gets me high as a kite") is removed.
Awards
The song won the band their fourth and most recent
Grammy award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
in 1999 for
Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1980 and 2011.
The award was discontinued after the 2011 award season in a major overhaul of Grammy categories. Beginning in 2012, all solo or duo/group ...
.
Additionally, the video won an
MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock was first given out in , one of the four original genre categories added to the VMAs that year. In its first year, the award was called Best Heavy Metal Video, and from 1990 to 1995, it was renamed Best Meta ...
in 1998.
"Madonna, Prodigy, Will Smith, Aerosmith Win Big At Video Music Awards"
MTV news, September 10, 1998.
Certifications
References
{{Authority control
Aerosmith songs
1997 songs
1997 singles
Songs written by Glen Ballard
Songs written by Richard Supa
Songs written by Steven Tyler
Song recordings produced by Kevin Shirley
Columbia Records singles