Pink smiles and digs into a plate of nachos not far from the Venice, California, studio where she recorded her sixth LP. The singer seems happy and relaxed; she and her husband, motocross star Carey Hart, are now the parents of an adorable one-year-old girl, Willow. So what's with the bile on her new single, "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)," where she vents, "You think I'm just too serious/I think you're full of shit"?

"It's very easy for me to tap into 'go fuck yourself,'" Pink says. "Maybe that's the only way I feel powerful. I'm in the best place I've ever been in my life, and I'd say it's 80 percent happiness and 20 percent sheer confusion and fear that I'll fuck it up somehow. I'm consumed by my emotions."

Among the standout tracks on The Truth About Love – made with producers including longtime collaborator Butch Walker – are "Beam Me Up," which Pink describes as "my acoustic song that I do on every record," and the ballad "The Great Escape," about how the whole world seems to be on antidepressants. Another highlight, "How Come You're Not Here," is full of revenge-minded lyrics about a dalliance Hart had when they were separated a few years back: "I heard she's cute, but she stores nuts like a squirrel." They've since mended their relationship, and Pink says that Hart's first response to the song was "Fuuuuuck. We can put that to bed now, right?" She said yes – after the world tour.

"My goal on this record was to incorporate a little more musicality," Pink adds. "Every album, I'm worried that I'm a dork and a fraud – what if I can't sing anymore? Then I stop thinking and start playing guitar, and I realize that it's OK to suck, and move forward. Then it clicks and I'm like, 'I'm fucking awesome!'"

This story is from the August 16th, 2012 issue of Rolling Stone.

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Trance' Is Intelligent, Multi-Layered
• 
  TV Don Draper Exposed
• 
  POLITICS The Shame of Three Strikes Laws

Song Stories