I Got Money Now is a really personal track for me. She literally describes my life, from the moments where I never really felt like I fit in and wanted to be liked by people, to the moment where I started earning a lot more than my peers and gradually became a loner who, on the surface, doesn’t need anyone’s validation and company.
But the crippling loneliness that accompanies this is difficult to put into words. The internal struggle with the fact that you’re supposed to feel better off because you’ve got it all, you’ve worked hard, made sacrifices, yet it was all supposed to be worth it. I can feel all of this in a simple 4 minute track.
The juxtaposition of emotional, melancholic delivery and the confident lyrics just adds another layer of complexity. If you just read the words it’s one thing, but pay attention to Alecia’s delivery and you suddenly get the real meaning. It’s almost like she’s not singing to us, but to herself. And that’s why I gave it my 11.
Aww... this is is so sad, yet true.
Actually, I can relate to the song in the context of being lonely (but not about having money). It's how vulnerable she sounds in songs that never fails to make me emotional.
You and
@Lost Boy described it perfectly, it's not all in the lyrics, but that emotional delivery is crucial for this song. She is convincing and comforting herself that everything is fine, yet you can hear in the delivery that it's not fine, after all. That is absolutely genius.
The feeling you get when hearing her voice just makes you believe she's singing from a dark and extremely lonely place. And when she sings in the final verse: "And that's fine with me, or so it seems..." that's the turning point which makes it quite obvious she is singing to herself.
Sonically, it's a one-off, too. That guitar riff is magnificent and immediatelly evokes sadness, it even sounds like a classic. And the looping beat is a little nod to her R&B days, which will make even more sense when you hear that part from the interview. Fun fact: P!nk actually plays the synths in "I Got Money Now".
Funny thing is that by reading its title, I was expecting a braggy anthem in the vein of "Cuz' I Can", so imagine my surprise when I first listened to the song!
And here's the interview:
She mentions that she loves "I Got Money Now" in the beginning, and around the 5:48 mark talks about it. I didn't even realize that she was talking about it when I first watched the interview, but you can hear the instrumental of "I Got Money Now" playing in the background.
It definitely made it sound like the song comes from the time before she was famous, and compares the value of money/friends (or anyone else who brings you comfort) depending on different points in her life. Brilliant.
Actually, I think "I Got Money Now" might be one of her personal favorite songs, because it ties her past and present in a way that any other song doesn't. She never performed it live, though... I would die if she did.