Pink's Lyric Change In Support Of Britney Spears Is Healing To Any Pop Fan Who Was Raised In The 2000s
The misogyny of the early 2000s has given way to a more nurturing and inclusive mindset.
Photocarioca & Tinseltown / Shutterstock The early 2000s were heady years, marked by the intersection of paparazzi-fueled tabloid culture and the internet as a rising force. So much of what was framed as normal then has been deconstructed, as we recognize the misogynist veneer exemplified in that era.
As anyone who watched MTV’s now-defunct show "Total Request Live" could tell you, female pop stars were pitted against each other in ways that seem especially cruel now. But decades later, it's evident that times have changed.
Pink changed the lyrics to her song ‘Don’t Let Me Get Me’ to support Britney Spears, a move that’s healing to anyone who was raised in the 2000s.
At the start of her musical career, Pink, 43, was marketed in a way that compared her to Spears, while simultaneously defining her in opposition to Spears.
The sound on Pink’s first studio album, “Can’t Take Me Home,” was steeped in R&B. Her second album, “Missundaztood,” released in 2001, was a noticeable departure from how her image had previously been established for pop music consumption.
Pink established her musical style and physicality to counteract any comparison to Spears. She leaned into an edgier aesthetic, an example of which can be seen in her second single off that album, “Don’t Let Me Get Me.” As one set of lyrics outright stated, Pink was bristling back against any mention of herself and Spears as similar artists.
In the original version, Pink sang, “LA told me, ‘You'll be a pop star’ / All you have to change is everything you are / Tired of being compared to damn Britney Spears / She's so pretty / That just ain't me.”
As news broke on August 16, 2023 that Spears and her husband Sam Ashagri are preparing to divorce, fans of the 41-year-old pop icon have rallied behind her in a show of support, including Pink.
At her show in Detroit, Pink changed her lyrics from expressing frustration with being compared to ‘damn Britney Spears’ to ‘sweet Britney Spears.’
Pink’s original lyrics were less about taking Spears down and more about critiquing the male-led music industry for upholding rigid and archaic views about female recording artists.
Her concerns were focused on being labeled in a way that didn’t fit how she saw herself creatively.
As the dominant narrative of the early aughts insisted, there was only space for one reigning queen of pop music. That reductive mindset pushed female artists into narrow boxes, in an attempt to define who was allowed to exist in what ways.
In the 21 years that have passed since the initial release of that particular Pink song, the overarching societal viewpoint has undergone a major seachange. We’ve looked back with enough conscious critique to recognize — and vocalize — how the deeply seated misogynist attitudes of the early 2000s caused major harm.
The effects of that harm rippled out in a way that not only touched those particular female artists but also any young person who came of age in that era, who were trying to determine how to exist amidst strident gender roles and the hypersexualization of female singers.
By changing her lyrics, Pink showed care for Spears, highlighting the idea that we can always lift others up as we continue to climb.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers celebrity gossip, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.