Dear Mr. President by P!nk
Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me.
Let's pretend we're just two people and
You're not better than me.
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.
What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?
How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?
Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say
No child is left behind?
We're not dumb and we're not blind.
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell.
What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.
How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don't know nothing 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh
How do you sleep at night?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Dear Mr. President,
You'd never take a walk with me.
Would you?
Come take a walk with me.
Let's pretend we're just two people and
You're not better than me.
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.
What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?
How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?
Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say
No child is left behind?
We're not dumb and we're not blind.
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell.
What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.
How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don't know nothing 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh
How do you sleep at night?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Dear Mr. President,
You'd never take a walk with me.
Would you?
Dear Mr. President: An Analysis
'Dear Mr. President,' written by P!nk is a song about her feelings on the direction in which President George W. Bush led America from 2001-2009. It talks about the various wars he started, reforms he didn't pull through with and the actions of the people who worked for him such as Dick Cheney.
There are quite a number of messages in the poem with one of the stronger messages being, 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions.' This is best represented in her song through the policy of No Child Left Behind. The whole point of that motion was to increase the amount of children with access to education but it failed to continue through and was eventually forgotten about by the Bush administration. His intentions were noble but in her opinion, they were yet another change that he failed to pull through with and instead, caused more harm. 'They're all sitting in your cells,' is her stating the opinion that after the No Child Left Behind fell through, more children grew up to eventually end up in prison. It literally means that children were left behind and she blames him for that.
Another important message would be that he made a lot of mistakes due to his lack of empathy for the people. He simply couldn't connect with them and so she feels that everything that went wrong was his fault. Her anger seems to blind her and this shows in the tone of the song. It's bitter and seemingly biased as she almost refuses to consider his point of view but also upset at the lack of empathy he showed. He simply couldn't understand the people he governed and because of that, he failed.
Some poetic techniques used are repetition, imagery, rhetorical questions and sarcasm. Imagery is the technique used most often throughout the song with the likes of 'Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away. Building a bed out of a cardboard box' Through the use of this, it conveys the sufferings of the people, something George W. Bush didn't seem to understand. It puts you in the shoes of those who paid the price for 9/11 and how he failed to respond or to really help those who were affected.
Rhetorical questions are another big poetic feature since every verse is made up of them. 'How do you sleep while the rest of us cry? How do you sleep at night? How do you walk with your head held high?' They signify all her feelings and that she doesn't want an answer. She doesn't want to know the answers to all the questions asked simply because she believes that as do most politicians, he is probably going to lie to her or twist the truth to suit his own purposes.
There are quite a number of messages in the poem with one of the stronger messages being, 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions.' This is best represented in her song through the policy of No Child Left Behind. The whole point of that motion was to increase the amount of children with access to education but it failed to continue through and was eventually forgotten about by the Bush administration. His intentions were noble but in her opinion, they were yet another change that he failed to pull through with and instead, caused more harm. 'They're all sitting in your cells,' is her stating the opinion that after the No Child Left Behind fell through, more children grew up to eventually end up in prison. It literally means that children were left behind and she blames him for that.
Another important message would be that he made a lot of mistakes due to his lack of empathy for the people. He simply couldn't connect with them and so she feels that everything that went wrong was his fault. Her anger seems to blind her and this shows in the tone of the song. It's bitter and seemingly biased as she almost refuses to consider his point of view but also upset at the lack of empathy he showed. He simply couldn't understand the people he governed and because of that, he failed.
Some poetic techniques used are repetition, imagery, rhetorical questions and sarcasm. Imagery is the technique used most often throughout the song with the likes of 'Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away. Building a bed out of a cardboard box' Through the use of this, it conveys the sufferings of the people, something George W. Bush didn't seem to understand. It puts you in the shoes of those who paid the price for 9/11 and how he failed to respond or to really help those who were affected.
Rhetorical questions are another big poetic feature since every verse is made up of them. 'How do you sleep while the rest of us cry? How do you sleep at night? How do you walk with your head held high?' They signify all her feelings and that she doesn't want an answer. She doesn't want to know the answers to all the questions asked simply because she believes that as do most politicians, he is probably going to lie to her or twist the truth to suit his own purposes.