Pink - Family Portrait - Lyrics Meaning

Pink wrote this song based on a poem which she wrote when she was only nine years old which is when her father left her home due to the divorce of her parents. As pink states "I tend to hold on to things" this is why she waited until 12 years later at the age of 21 to release the single "Family Portrait" which represents how she was feeling during the divorce of her parents. Although Pink honestly reflects how many children feel during the divorce of their parents, she admits that it wasn't the best way to address her family problems.

The song hit home with both of her parents upon release and she states that they both cried when they first heard this song never knowing that this is how they made her feel. She says that her mom cried for four days after first hearing "Family Portrait" and that out of the few times she has ever seen her dad cry, listening to this song was one of them. Pink did not mean to hurt her parents by writing this song and even calls her mother a "lunatic" in the son which caused much tension between the singer and her mother after the release.