Pharrell Williams made millions from co-writing Robin Thicke’s controversial hit “Blurred Lines,” but he’s just crossed lines — to side with those who say the tune has a terrible message.
He tells GQ that he laughed off criticism at first, but then started to listen to the other side. Pharrell says, “I didn’t get it at first. There are women who really like the song…and I know you want it — women sing those kinds of lyrics all the time. So it’s like, What’s rapey about that?”
But fast forward a few years. “I realized that there are men who use that same language when taking advantage of a woman, and it doesn’t matter that that’s not my behavior. Or the way I think about things. It just matters how it affects women. And I was like, Got it. I get it. Cool. My mind opened up to what was actually being said in the song and how it could make someone feel.”
Hot Takes:
- Words do matter — the way they’re heard, as much as the way they’re intended.
- People evolve all the time. Good on Pharrell for coming clean.
- He could still be ticked off that he lost all those royalties for supposedly ripping off Marvin Gaye.