"Beautiful Trauma" is a song by American singer

Pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

. She co-wrote the track with its producer

Jack Antonoff Jack Michael Antonoff (born March 31, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is the lead vocalist of the rock band Bleachers, and previously the guitarist and drummer for the pop band Fun and the lead vocalist of t ...

. It was released through RCA Records on September 28, 2017, as the first promotional single from Pink's seventh studio album, ''

Beautiful Trauma '' Beautiful Trauma'' is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Pink. It was released on October 13, 2017, by RCA Records. Following '' The Truth About Love'', Pink took a career hiatus to focus on her personal life and become ...

'' (2017). The song was released to American

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

as the second official single of the album on November 21, 2017. It has reached number one on Danish, German, and Polish radio.

Release

Alongside the announcement of the track on Twitter, Pink explained her reasoning for the title of the album: "life is fucking traumatic. But it's also incredibly beautiful, too. There's a lot of beauty still and beautiful souls." The song was released on September 28, 2017, as a promotional single for her album, ''

''. The song impacted

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

as an "A List" on November 10, 2017. The song released as the second official single of the album on November 21, 2017.

Composition

"Beautiful Trauma" is performed in the key of

G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...

with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 96 beats per minute in

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

. Pink's vocals span two octaves, from G₃ to G₅. It has been described as "oversized, emotional power-pop song".

Critical reception

Andrew Unterberger from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' described the song as "elegant and bloody, shimmering and grungy… its life affirming without being pandering", whilst also noting that it was the "perfect lead single" choice. Hayden Wright from Radio.com reviewed the song positively, stating, "it’s an epic, dramatic track with stylistic range and plenty of heart".

Music video

Two videos were released for the song. On October 12, 2017, a dance video featuring dancer and model Larsen Thompson and a company of male dancers was released, directed by Nick Florez and R. J. Durell, Pink's choreographers. On November 21, 2017, this was followed by an "official" music video featuring actor, producer, model, singer and dancer

Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his Breakthrough role, breakthrough with the sports comedy film ''She's the Man'' (2006) and t ...

. The video features Pink and Tatum as Fred and Ginger Hart. Throughout the video, Pink vacuums, irons a shirt and subsequently burns it, and burns a pie. The two then dance in drag, drink, and engage in role play with a second woman named Rhonda (portrayed by Nikki Tuazon). The music video was directed and choreographed by Florez and Durell. For the video, costume designer Kim Bowen won the Costume Designers Guild Award for Excellence in Short Form Design.

Live performances

Pink performed the song on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' on October 14, 2017, alongside "

What About Us What About Us may refer to: Music Albums * ''What About Us'' (Livin Out Loud album) or the title song, 2006 * ''What About Us?'', by Ruth-Ann Boyle, 2007 Songs * "What About Us?" (Brandy song), 2002 * "What About Us" (The Coasters song), 1959 * ...

". She also performed the track on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

''. On November 19, 2017, Pink performed "Beautiful Trauma" at the

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while suspended from a high wire off of a skyscraper. Pink also performed the song on the fourteenth series of ''

The X Factor UK ''The X Factor'' is a British reality television music competition, and part of the global ''X Factor'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Premiering on 4 September 2004, it was produced by Fremantle's British entertainment company, Thames (T ...

'' on December 3, 2017, alongside "What About Us".

Track listing

*Digital download – The Remixes #"Beautiful Trauma" (Kat Krazy Remix) – 3:13 #"Beautiful Trauma" (

MOTi Moti or MOTI may refer to: Names * Mordecai (disambiguation), a Hebrew given name, abbreviated Moti * Motilal (disambiguation), an Indian given name often abbreviated Moti People * Moti (DJ) (Timotheus "Timo" Romme, born 1987), Dutch DJ and ...

Remix) – 3:29 #"Beautiful Trauma" (Nathan Jain Remix) – 2:33 #"Beautiful Trauma" (E11even Remix) – 3:07

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2017 songs 2017 singles American power pop songs Songs about cross-dressing Number-one singles in Poland Pink (singer) songs Songs written by Pink (singer) Songs written by Jack Antonoff Song recordings produced by Jack Antonoff RCA Records singles