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Pop Culture

Pink's 'What About Us' hits different when it's being sung by children

The lyrics of the political protest song take on a whole new meaning in this tear-jerking cover.

One Voice Children's Choir/YouTube

The One Voice Children's Choir sang a moving rendition of "What About Us?"

When Pink released "What About Us" in 2017, the U.S. was at one of its most intense political moments. Donald Trump had been inaugurated as president of the United States, the Women's March swept cities throughout the world, the infamous Charlottesville neo-Nazi rally happened, the Las Vegas mass shooting happened and tensions within the country were high.

Pink told Vulture that the day she wrote the song was "just another day I was angry about what's happening in the world." But the song doesn't have an angry feel—it's a ballad, but not quite. It's a protest song giving voice to the world's marginalized people, but it plays like a heartbreak song.

"I think it’s a beautiful song," Pink shared. "It feels good in my body, number one. And it says everything I needed to say."

When you listen to the lyrics as an adult posing a plea to the powers that be, it's powerful. But when you hear it being sung by children as an anthem to the adults of the world, it's a whole different animal.

The One Voice Children's Choir sang a cover of "What About Us" that has been viewed 18 million times on YouTube and brought countless people to tears.

Under the direction of the choir's founder and director, Masa Fukuda, the children sing lines like "What about us? What about all the times you said you had the answers?" and "What about us? What about all the broken happy ever afters?"

Oof. Every line of the song hits different when it's sung by kids. It conjures up the hard emotions we feel when the latest mass shooting happens in a school, when we see children paying the price of adult wars, when kids who go to school hungry are denied lunch because their parents can't afford it. It reminds us of all the ways adults have failed to protect children.

Watch and see how the lyrics sound when kids sing them.

People have been moved by the performance.

One commenter quoted Fred Rogers: “Listen to the children, learn about them, learn from them. Think of the children first.”

"A cry from the defenseless, begging the rest of us not to forget them. Real touching. When I feel lonely and sad, I listen to OVCC because I know they’ll cheer me up every time. And they do. God bless you guys. Keep it up. Thank you," wrote another.

"This is just...wow. I mean, this song is already so intense. I didn't think anything could surpass the original version of it, and yet...I mean, there's so much. They're children, so it makes the whole song even more poignant, and also their voices, such beautiful voices. Makes one want to cry, and scream and just...yeah," shared another.

People throughout the comments described the goosebumps and tears the video prompted, not only from the message of the song but from the impressive performance of the kids. Their singing talents and the emotion they poured into it made the song even more impactful. Absolutely beautifully done.

You can see more from the One Voice Children's Choir here.

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Pink steps into the role of Olivia Newton-John for an incredible awards show tribute

Not a dry eye in the house.

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Pink sings "Hopelessly Devoted to You."

Pop royalty Pink paid a heartwarming tribute to fellow music icon Olivia Newton-John at the 2022 American Music Awards, which aired this past Sunday, Nov. 20.

Newton-John, who led a lustrous career—including winning 10 AMAs herself—as well as a life dedicated to philanthropy, died of breast cancer at the age of 73 in August of this year. Though Newton-John had a wide variety of beloved hits throughout the years, Pink chose to sing arguably one of her biggest hits of all time, “Hopelessly Devoted to You.”
The “So What” singer revealed in an Entertainment Weekly exclusive that her daughter, who had just done a school production of “Grease,” helped her learn the movie musical’s hit song and do it justice.

The coaching paid off. Her distinct rock-'n'-roll rasp fit surprisingly well into a song written for Newton-John’s more dreamy, ethereal tone. As she sang, images celebrating the late singer’s life filled the stage. Unsurprisingly, audiences were moved by the powerhouse performance.

“I'm pretty sure @olivianj is looking down from heaven and just thrilled ❤️ ❤️bravo!!,” one person commented on Twitter.

Earlier this year—following Newton-John’s passing—Pink shared a black-and-white photo the two took together, praising her as “kindness personified.” Though they had only met a small handful of times, Pink regarded her as “one of the loveliest, kindest, light from within human beings I have ever met.”

Newton-John was (and still is) exactly that to so many people. She might be gone, but leaves behind an abundant source of inspiration, especially when it comes to acting with compassion.

Thank you Pink for honoring her memory in such a beautiful way!

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In one tweet, Pink nails why we talk about aging all wrong

Pink is a grade-A 100% certified badass. Full stop.

The multi-award winning (Grammys, Emmys, Brits, she's even got a couple of VMA Moon Men), best-selling, stadium-filling artist is a legend.

If you didn't bop to her songs in high school (I did!) or blast her anthem about not giving a **** and being a *************** rockstar from your open car windows, then you must watch her perform her own acrobatics at the Grammy Awards in 2009.

Even if you're not a fan of her music, it's easy to get behind someone who preaches self-love so consistently (she made a PowerPoint of her daughter's comment about feeling "ugly") and has no time for haters. She didn't take insults laying down when people came for her weight, or when she read mean tweets on "Jimmy Kimmel."

So when a Twitter troll came at her about "being old," you best believe she wasn't about to let that slide.

Pink gave a master class in how to respond to ageism.

Yesterday, a Twitter-user suggested that the 38-year-old artist might be past her prime.

While Pink's initial response was a little harsh, the artist then dropped some valuable knowledge about aging, and why it isn't something to be ashamed about.

All of us should embrace every line and wrinkle. Why? Because it means we're still out here, living, raising hell, and creating meaning out of this big old mess of a world.

The mean tweet once again reveals the immense pressure women everywhere are under "not to age."

While men are praised for looking "mature," "debonair," and "distinguished," as women age, the media and the fans criticize them for not doing it in a way that is deemed "appropriate."

As more people with platforms speak out about it, the more we can become aware of the toxic culture around women's worth, and what determines it, actually is.

In a perfect world, Pink wouldn't have had to drop this perfect response.

We're not there yet, but even simple clapback tweets are a step in the right direction.

Until the only questions asked about Pink and all women in the limelight are "Is she talented?" or "Is she rocking the arena?" or "Do you get entirely too emotional when that one song about 'giving just one reason' comes on the radio?," we'll cheers to this pop-punk goddess.

Plus, it's clear Pink's not slowing down anytime soon.

Image via Twitter.

Wrinkles and rolls tour here I come!

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This photo of Pink 'shading' Christina Aguilera went viral. Now she's shutting it down.

During the American Music Awards, Christina Aguilera performed an emotional tribute to the late and iconic Whitney Houston.

Houston's ballads are notoriously challenging to sing, and not everyone thought Aguilera was up to the task. Some viewers even took screencaps of different celebrities in the audience who producers cut to during the performance, a few of whom appeared to be cringing or grimacing.

Including singer Pink, whose reaction face went viral on Twitter.

Immediately after the show, Pink posted on Twitter to make things crystal clear: That was no grimace on her face.

The singer noted that she had loved the performance and that people were misinterpreting her awe as discomfort.

"I am in awe of Christina's talent," she wrote. "Show the clip where I'm in tears, you negative Nancy's!"

That didn't stop the "Pink disses Christina!" narrative from spreading across the internet.

The whole thing hearkened back to the pair's admittedly complicated relationship over the years. (Pink has said Aguilera actually tried to punch her once.)

So Pink returned to Twitter two days later with an even stronger message.

"You all perpetuate keeping women apart b/c you're afraid of the power we have when we get together," she wrote.

Her tweet spread far and wide, with over 7,000 retweets along with hundreds of messages of support.

Our culture has a bizarre fascination with Hollywood feuds and friendships gone sour, especially those involving women.

From Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor in the late 1950s, to Katy Perry versus Taylor Swift in the 2000s, we can't seem to get enough of who's beefing with whom. Pink says it has to stop.

Not everyone is going to get along or be friends. But in America in 2017, it's counterproductive to celebrate petty divisiveness or, worse, manufacture it where it doesn't exist. The very least we can do is listen to women when they're trying to support each other, instead of forcing them into tired catfight narratives.

In an age where an alarming amount of men in entertainment are being accused of sexual harassment, at best, coercion and rape at worst, it's especially irresponsible to artificially pit women against each other based on split-second facial expressions.

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