“What about us?” when the people who need hope were forgotten by the authorities, they keep asking this question. Why can the authorities make their promises so easily and then broken them so shamelessly? P!nk tells her audience that we are tired of these promises which will never be fulfilled. Repetitively using the rhetorical question “What about us?” in her song, P!nk shows her dissatisfaction with authorities` unreliable promises. More than a blame, when I hear the P!nk sings out her question I feel her sound is empowering. She also tried to give her audience an encouragement. Though we do experience the bad promises before, there are billions of beautiful hearts among us, and they all expect a future filled with hope. The change will come soon or later if the beliefs of the vast majority are good.
P!nk is a very active artist in the protest of animal rights and environmental protection. She also energetically involves in the political stage and make a positive influence on our political movements. Her song “Dear Mr. President” address the issues associated with the Iraq War. “What about us” has a very similar tone as “Dear Mr. President”, but the lyrics of “What about us” are more implicit and satirical. With P!nk`s clear and empowering voice, “What about us” not only show our dissatisfactory to authorities` unreliable promises, and it also encourages all the people to expect a better future, as most of us are in good beliefs, and our protest will change this situation a lot.
Written By Yida Chen
Politics Through Rhythm 