Lucy Davies of BBC Music went further, writing that the song "discusses the blackouts resulting from drinking to avoid becoming those she sneers at." Chris William, writing for Entertainment Weekly, commented that the song finds Pink "questioning her need to be numbed by booze and noise." Mark Blankenship of New Now Next analyzed the song, writing that it is "about a woman who only loves herself when she’s drunk, who wishes she could like herself this much when she’s sober, but who can’t seem to pull herself out of her spiral. Lyrically, the song speaks about the quiet sense of discomfort in being sober. In the song, Pink's vocals span from the low-note of D ♯ 3 to the high-note of B 5. It is written in the key of E minor (recorded in D ♯ minor) and set at a moderately slow tempo of 91 beats per minute, following a chord progression of D ♯ 5–B 5–F ♯. "Sober" is a power pop song, featuring heavy guitars and booming snare.
While announced its release on her official website, Pink claimed, "It’s just a really, really personal beautiful song, one of my favorites.” While reviewing the single, Alex Fletcher wrote for Digital Spy that the song is "a dramatic U-turn from the brash and ballsy single 'So What', but reiterated that "it's a better representation of her 'Funhouse' album" than its lead single." Slant's Jonathan Keefe disagreed, calling it an "oddly-chosen second single." Composition and lyrics
It was first released as a digital download on iTunes, on October 31, 2008, before being released to radio stations on December 1, 2008. It received airplay before release in Australia on Today Network's stations and the Hot 30 Countdown and was the number one most added song on Australian radio. "Sober" was selected to be " Funhouse"'s second single, after the huge success of " So What". Stevie Blacke arranged and performed all the strings, Jimmy Harry was also responsible for guitars and keyboards, while Tony Kanal provided bass. Araica, Harry and Jake Davis recorded the track at Sha Recording ( Malibu, California), 3:20 Studios ( Los Feliz, Los Angeles) and Henson Recording Studios ( Virginia Beach, Virginia). And it's a pretty telling song and then me and Tony Kanal and Jimmy Harry finished it, production-wise, threw some strings on it and made it a little bit darker and a little bit more rocky." Danja and Marcella Araica contributed to additional lyrics, with Danja, Kanal and Harry serving as the producers of the song. While working on the album, she penned a track called "Sober" with Kara DioGuardi, claiming it was "about the vices that we choose." She added, "I had this idea in my head, 'like how do I feel this good sober?' So I brought that idea to Danja and with this awesome girl Kara DioGuardi and we wrote this song, Sober. It was confirmed that she was working with many music producers such as Butch Walker, Billy Mann, Eg White and Danja. In February 2008, Pink announced that she and her husband Carey Hart had separated, which led the singer to write songs for a new album. A music video for the track was directed by Jonas Akerlund and it finds Pink at a party with her doppelgänger. Commercially, "Sober" attained success on the charts, reaching the top-ten in over thirteen countries, while reaching the top-twenty in the U.S., as well as the top of Billboard 's Adult Top 40 chart. Furthermore, the song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 2010.
However, few critics dismissed the track, calling it "more of the same" from her previous music.
The song received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who commended the track for being a heartfelt track, with some praising its lyrical content. The power pop song talks about the quiet sense of comfort in being sober, with the singer claiming it was about the vices that we choose. The song was released as the album's second single on October 31, 2008, firstly through digital download and later was added to U.S. It was written by Pink and Kara DioGuardi, with additional writing by Nate "Danja" Hills and Marcella Araica, while production was done by Danja, Tony Kanal and Jimmy Harry. " Sober" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Pink, taken from her fifth studio album, Funhouse (2008).