“Blurred Lines,” Harbinger of Doom
April 2, 2023 5:08 PM Subscribe
“Blurred Lines” wasn’t supposed to be a meaningful song. It was, by design, a trifle: Pharrell, in imperial-superstar mode, goofing off with the white soul singer and textbook sex idiot Robin Thicke and tossing in a tongue-twisting T.I. verse later for good measure. It’s safe to assume that no one involved in the making of “Blurred Lines” assumed anything legacy-defining was happening in the room where Pharrell wrote the lines “I feel so lucky/You want to hug me/What rhymes with hug me?” [Pitchfork]
“Blurred Lines” has left a complex legacy. Social media mean public scrutiny is inevitable, so pop musicians are thinking harder about their lyrics and sexual politics. On the legal side, though, there is a danger that more stringent applications of copyright law will dampen creativity. Musicians, like all artists, are inspired by other people’s creations. [The Economist]
The first time Louisiana-raised model Elle Evans heard "Blurred Lines" was on the set for its music video, for which she was cast alongside up-and-coming models Jessi M'Bengue and Emily Ratajkowski. "I didn't really know what it was for at the time, because they were keeping it really hush-hush," she says when we connect over the phone. "The direction we were given is that we were untouchable. You know, 'Every single guy in place wants you. They would do anything to get you, yet you're not giving it up.'" [Bustle]
“Blurred Lines” has left a complex legacy. Social media mean public scrutiny is inevitable, so pop musicians are thinking harder about their lyrics and sexual politics. On the legal side, though, there is a danger that more stringent applications of copyright law will dampen creativity. Musicians, like all artists, are inspired by other people’s creations. [The Economist]
The first time Louisiana-raised model Elle Evans heard "Blurred Lines" was on the set for its music video, for which she was cast alongside up-and-coming models Jessi M'Bengue and Emily Ratajkowski. "I didn't really know what it was for at the time, because they were keeping it really hush-hush," she says when we connect over the phone. "The direction we were given is that we were untouchable. You know, 'Every single guy in place wants you. They would do anything to get you, yet you're not giving it up.'" [Bustle]
textbook sex idiot
That song is outside my personal ballpark music-wise, and I don't know enough about it to comment on the topic. But that phrase gave me a solid laugh.
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:28 PM on April 2, 2023 [18 favorites]
That song is outside my personal ballpark music-wise, and I don't know enough about it to comment on the topic. But that phrase gave me a solid laugh.
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:28 PM on April 2, 2023 [18 favorites]
Interesting. I distinctly remember Blurred Lines and it being all YAY and then all BOO ICK, and I also distinctly remember Miley using the awards show as a major scandal springboard into the release of Wrecking Ball (a career move as entirely deft as anything Madonna ever engineered for herself), but I really had no idea how connected they were. They feel in my memory like two separate eras of pop music. Obviously I am wrong.
Thanks for posting this. It's such an amazing shitshow from a nepobaby if it were written as a book or movie plot it would be discarded as too over the top.
posted by hippybear at 5:48 PM on April 2, 2023 [6 favorites]
Thanks for posting this. It's such an amazing shitshow from a nepobaby if it were written as a book or movie plot it would be discarded as too over the top.
posted by hippybear at 5:48 PM on April 2, 2023 [6 favorites]
I always wondered how Pharrell Williams managed to escape Blurred Lines unscathed, but he really didn't, did he. He hasn't had a successful song in years; Happy was probably his last actual hit, and ever since then he's become the Guy Who Has To Atone For Making Blurred Lines.
posted by Merus at 5:52 PM on April 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Merus at 5:52 PM on April 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
I also distinctly remember Miley using the awards show as a major scandal springboard into the release of Wrecking Ball (a career move as entirely deft as anything Madonna ever engineered for herself)
I think, as the first article lays out, it wasn't as deft as Madonna; certainly she was trying to do a Madonna too-sexy-for-TV pivot and Wrecking Ball did well, but she was blindsided by accusations of cultural appropriation and people got sick of that Miley Cyrus really quickly. She ended up getting trapped by her pivot and left behind.
What I've heard of her 2010 album is actually pretty good, it's more rock with some new wave influence.
posted by Merus at 6:03 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
I think, as the first article lays out, it wasn't as deft as Madonna; certainly she was trying to do a Madonna too-sexy-for-TV pivot and Wrecking Ball did well, but she was blindsided by accusations of cultural appropriation and people got sick of that Miley Cyrus really quickly. She ended up getting trapped by her pivot and left behind.
What I've heard of her 2010 album is actually pretty good, it's more rock with some new wave influence.
posted by Merus at 6:03 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
Nitpick - I could’ve sworn ‘Low’ has transformed into an oldie people look upon affectionately
posted by Selena777 at 6:12 PM on April 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Selena777 at 6:12 PM on April 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
It's weird to me that anyone felt anything about this song, or Robin Thicke. It's just disposable pop music bullshit, something built to play at TGI Fridays, like Maroon 5 or any number of similar garbage bands of the early '10s. I can't imagine taking it seriously enough to get mad at it. It's junk. He really had five albums? That's astonishing to me. How could a man with so little to say say so much?
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:17 PM on April 2, 2023 [13 favorites]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:17 PM on April 2, 2023 [13 favorites]
Well, this is the best thing Miley Cyrus has done in years... (and the straighter cover)
(and for completeness, this, covering this.)
posted by kaibutsu at 6:19 PM on April 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
(and for completeness, this, covering this.)
posted by kaibutsu at 6:19 PM on April 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
The only thing I remember of this song is how obviously creepy it is, and how much it was criticized for being so. The song came out as the subject of sexual consent was reaching an unprecedented level of public discussion — criticism of the book 50 Shades of Grey and the song Baby, It's Cold Outside was pretty easy to come across in 2013. In that context, Blurred Lines read to me as an intentional rejection of the idea of consent. It's amazing to me it was ever seen as an innocently catchy tune without an agenda.
posted by skiles at 6:24 PM on April 2, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by skiles at 6:24 PM on April 2, 2023 [10 favorites]
Long before the Blurred Lines debacle, Robin Thicke had carved out a decent niche for himself as one of the few White artists you'd hear on Black FM stations during their late night "Quiet Storm" programs. That is where I first became aware of him, so when Blurred Lines came out I remember being somewhat disappointed he had decided to sell out with an obnoxiously cheap pop song. The music video was just icing on the crap cake.
posted by fuse theorem at 6:34 PM on April 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by fuse theorem at 6:34 PM on April 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
He hasn't had a successful song in years;
Lol. He had over 20 credits in just 2022. Same with 2021, same with 2020, same with…etc.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 6:41 PM on April 2, 2023 [18 favorites]
Lol. He had over 20 credits in just 2022. Same with 2021, same with 2020, same with…etc.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 6:41 PM on April 2, 2023 [18 favorites]
This song held such a fascination for the dude-broier people in my life. My bassist and my friend's DJ boyfriend (both of whom I like a lot and respect the opinions of) just went crazy for this song I just found lazy and leering. So I had to hear it played even in the places I'm usually safe in my insipid little anti-popdom. At least I feel a little vindicated.
posted by es_de_bah at 6:48 PM on April 2, 2023
posted by es_de_bah at 6:48 PM on April 2, 2023
Personally I dig the music on Blurred Lines, however gross the lyrics are. Someone should do a humming cover--I'd listen to that.
posted by zardoz at 6:57 PM on April 2, 2023
posted by zardoz at 6:57 PM on April 2, 2023
If you like Blurred Lines for the melody you’re going to love Curtis Mayfield
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 7:17 PM on April 2, 2023 [19 favorites]
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 7:17 PM on April 2, 2023 [19 favorites]
Personally I dig the music on Blurred Lines, however gross the lyrics are
I have great news on that front: Got to Give it Up
posted by BungaDunga at 7:24 PM on April 2, 2023 [25 favorites]
I have great news on that front: Got to Give it Up
posted by BungaDunga at 7:24 PM on April 2, 2023 [25 favorites]
The main thing I remember about "Blurred Lines" is how I first discovered it: I was on a vacation in Italy, and one night in Rome I had a MAJOR case of insomnia. Out of boredom and desperation I tried watching TV, and all that was on was late night talk shows with no subtitling - and MTV Italia. So I watched that for an hour and a half.
For that entire hour and a half they looped the videos for about five songs on repeat - Pink's "Give Me Just One Reason", Mackelmore's "Thrift Shop", a couple of videos for a couple of Italian songs (based strictly on the visuals, one of them was probably about a door-to-door Bible salesman), and "Blurred Lines".
I was way more impressed with "Thrift Shop", honestly. But the rest of those songs will forever remind me of lying in a Roman hotel at 3 am praying desperately for sleep.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:27 PM on April 2, 2023 [7 favorites]
For that entire hour and a half they looped the videos for about five songs on repeat - Pink's "Give Me Just One Reason", Mackelmore's "Thrift Shop", a couple of videos for a couple of Italian songs (based strictly on the visuals, one of them was probably about a door-to-door Bible salesman), and "Blurred Lines".
I was way more impressed with "Thrift Shop", honestly. But the rest of those songs will forever remind me of lying in a Roman hotel at 3 am praying desperately for sleep.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:27 PM on April 2, 2023 [7 favorites]
Well, and as was pointed out earlier, Weird Al did his own version and he's really good at recreating the instrumental bed of a song for his parodies.
I guess on some level this song felt to me when I first heard it to be a total cousin of Music To Watch The Girls Go By, from several decades previous, and not from the most sexually aggressive musical star of the time. We've changed a LOT as a society since that track was released and certainly even since the Thicke track. There are things from even 5 or 6 years ago that were quite popular and would be now unimaginable.
As far as the Miley "made a pivot, it blew up at her"... I'm thinking of Madonna's Erotica/Sex era. The difference there is Madonna had years of solid charting hits in her past, not Disney Chart hits, and Madonna did have to pay the piper for a while after that. Different sort of scandal -- maybe if Miley had only had sexual explicitness accusations leveled at her and not the race stuff, she would have survived.
posted by hippybear at 7:28 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
I guess on some level this song felt to me when I first heard it to be a total cousin of Music To Watch The Girls Go By, from several decades previous, and not from the most sexually aggressive musical star of the time. We've changed a LOT as a society since that track was released and certainly even since the Thicke track. There are things from even 5 or 6 years ago that were quite popular and would be now unimaginable.
As far as the Miley "made a pivot, it blew up at her"... I'm thinking of Madonna's Erotica/Sex era. The difference there is Madonna had years of solid charting hits in her past, not Disney Chart hits, and Madonna did have to pay the piper for a while after that. Different sort of scandal -- maybe if Miley had only had sexual explicitness accusations leveled at her and not the race stuff, she would have survived.
posted by hippybear at 7:28 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
I always wondered how Pharrell Williams managed to escape Blurred Lines unscathed, but he really didn't, did he. He hasn't had a successful song in years; Happy was probably his last actual hit, and ever since then he's become the Guy Who Has To Atone For Making Blurred Lines.
"Happy," "Get Lucky" (the other one that occurred to me when you introduced the topic of "his last big hit") and "Blurred Lines" were apparently all the same year.
It looks like his biggest hit since then was this Calvin Harris all-star cut (bigger outside the U.S. than in it). But I guess he's been doing more fashion and, uh, NFTs and stuff in the last few years.
posted by atoxyl at 7:42 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
"Happy," "Get Lucky" (the other one that occurred to me when you introduced the topic of "his last big hit") and "Blurred Lines" were apparently all the same year.
It looks like his biggest hit since then was this Calvin Harris all-star cut (bigger outside the U.S. than in it). But I guess he's been doing more fashion and, uh, NFTs and stuff in the last few years.
posted by atoxyl at 7:42 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
Music To Watch The Girls Go By...
okay I like the dancing in this...
posted by ovvl at 7:51 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
okay I like the dancing in this...
posted by ovvl at 7:51 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
I was lucky enough to be the guest of a college in India where the English Language Club sung an a capella version of Word Crimes. So it does have international staying power.
posted by Schmucko at 8:02 PM on April 2, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by Schmucko at 8:02 PM on April 2, 2023 [6 favorites]
Lol. He had over 20 credits in just 2022. Same with 2021, same with 2020, same with…etc.
He's clearly still working, but his Wikipedia page suggests that songs he's produced haven't charted or won awards since 2018.
posted by Merus at 8:05 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
He's clearly still working, but his Wikipedia page suggests that songs he's produced haven't charted or won awards since 2018.
posted by Merus at 8:05 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
"...I first heard it to be a total cousin of Music To Watch The Girls Go By..."
This is the twenty first century and we now listen to Music To Watch Space Girls By
posted by thatwhichfalls at 8:21 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
This is the twenty first century and we now listen to Music To Watch Space Girls By
posted by thatwhichfalls at 8:21 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
He's clearly still working, but his Wikipedia page suggests that songs he's produced haven't charted or won awards since 2018
Pretty sure that Beyoncé woman (guess who is a credited composer on RENNISSANCE?) sold a few records last year.
In just the last two years, his credits include: Calvin Harris, My Blood Valentine, the aforementioned Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion, J Balvin, Madonna, Beck, LL Cool J, Jack Harlowe, Kendrick Lamar, 40 other artists I’m not going to type out, and enough Kidz Bop releases that just them alone probably eclipse the lifetime earnings of most people reading this thread.
Robin Thicke is a tool, which is why people have retroactively decided his biggest hit is now bad. If he wasn’t a tool, no one would care about the lyrics of an empty pop song.
But to also think that Pharrell Williams is somehow getting punished is frankly ridiculous.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 9:04 PM on April 2, 2023 [14 favorites]
Pretty sure that Beyoncé woman (guess who is a credited composer on RENNISSANCE?) sold a few records last year.
In just the last two years, his credits include: Calvin Harris, My Blood Valentine, the aforementioned Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion, J Balvin, Madonna, Beck, LL Cool J, Jack Harlowe, Kendrick Lamar, 40 other artists I’m not going to type out, and enough Kidz Bop releases that just them alone probably eclipse the lifetime earnings of most people reading this thread.
Robin Thicke is a tool, which is why people have retroactively decided his biggest hit is now bad. If he wasn’t a tool, no one would care about the lyrics of an empty pop song.
But to also think that Pharrell Williams is somehow getting punished is frankly ridiculous.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 9:04 PM on April 2, 2023 [14 favorites]
He's clearly still working, but his Wikipedia page suggests that songs he's produced haven't charted or won awards since 2018.
Taking this at face value, Pharrell had five solid years of charting and award winning production after Blurred Lines, which sort of suggests maybe it hadn't killed his career. As the article mentioned, he was in an imperial superstar phase, where everything he touched turned to gold, and those rarely last more than a couple of years in the pop world, unless perhaps your name is Mariah or Beyoncé. Did Blurred Lines kill the careers of the other 2013 chart toppers like Katy Perry and Macklemore as well, or is pop superstardom something typically transitory?
Looking at his actual Wikipedia page, in 2022 Pharrell produced the title track on Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, Kendrick Lamar's last album, which won the Grammy for best rap album; about half of Pusha T's It's Almost Dry album, which debuted at #1, and three songs from Rosalía's (excellent) Motomami album, which won Album of the Year and several other awards at the Latin Grammys, and whose Pharrell-produced song "Hentai" was nominated for song of the year at same.
posted by Superilla at 9:07 PM on April 2, 2023 [15 favorites]
Taking this at face value, Pharrell had five solid years of charting and award winning production after Blurred Lines, which sort of suggests maybe it hadn't killed his career. As the article mentioned, he was in an imperial superstar phase, where everything he touched turned to gold, and those rarely last more than a couple of years in the pop world, unless perhaps your name is Mariah or Beyoncé. Did Blurred Lines kill the careers of the other 2013 chart toppers like Katy Perry and Macklemore as well, or is pop superstardom something typically transitory?
Looking at his actual Wikipedia page, in 2022 Pharrell produced the title track on Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, Kendrick Lamar's last album, which won the Grammy for best rap album; about half of Pusha T's It's Almost Dry album, which debuted at #1, and three songs from Rosalía's (excellent) Motomami album, which won Album of the Year and several other awards at the Latin Grammys, and whose Pharrell-produced song "Hentai" was nominated for song of the year at same.
posted by Superilla at 9:07 PM on April 2, 2023 [15 favorites]
I note that Robin Thicke is a judge on The Masked Singer, so that's his career right now.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:12 PM on April 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:12 PM on April 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
Meanwhile Miley Cyrus has a new album out and the lead single spent eight weeks at number one.
posted by mbrubeck at 9:19 PM on April 2, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by mbrubeck at 9:19 PM on April 2, 2023 [10 favorites]
So he's on national network television, still considered a major land for television appearances, and is available for free over the air in most of the country.
Yeah, his face is everywhere, he's a name being said multiple times a week on television... he's suffering in his career.
posted by hippybear at 9:19 PM on April 2, 2023 [5 favorites]
Yeah, his face is everywhere, he's a name being said multiple times a week on television... he's suffering in his career.
posted by hippybear at 9:19 PM on April 2, 2023 [5 favorites]
Especially since Thicke is paid handsomely for what amounts to maybe three weeks of work a year.
posted by jmauro at 9:41 PM on April 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by jmauro at 9:41 PM on April 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
After Blurred Lines, Robin Thicke released his album Paula, about his estranged wife. It was a critical and commercial failure. Todd in the Shadows did an episode about that wreck.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 9:54 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 9:54 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
I just wanted to share the bestest cover of Blurred Lines, which I believe I got from Metafilter eons ago. And was taken down for a minute for copyright, but looks to be back.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 10:37 PM on April 2, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by [insert clever name here] at 10:37 PM on April 2, 2023 [10 favorites]
fuse theorem: Long before the Blurred Lines debacle, Robin Thicke had carved out a decent niche for himself as one of the few White artists you'd hear on Black FM stations during their late night "Quiet Storm" programs.
The middle aged women I worked with when I lived in Providence (2005-10), and who had impeccable taste in music, rated Robin Thicke very highly, and he was pretty much the only contemporary white musician they listened to. Like the article mentioned, they were kind of rooting for him, asking me if any of my friends listened to them, and were a bit disappointed when I said no.
I’d picked up a bunch of brilliant music recommendations from them, so I gave one of his albums a spin but it just didn’t click with me. By the time Blurred Lines became a hit I had moved away from the US, and had largely lost touch with them, but I wondered what they thought of all that.
posted by Kattullus at 11:00 PM on April 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
The middle aged women I worked with when I lived in Providence (2005-10), and who had impeccable taste in music, rated Robin Thicke very highly, and he was pretty much the only contemporary white musician they listened to. Like the article mentioned, they were kind of rooting for him, asking me if any of my friends listened to them, and were a bit disappointed when I said no.
I’d picked up a bunch of brilliant music recommendations from them, so I gave one of his albums a spin but it just didn’t click with me. By the time Blurred Lines became a hit I had moved away from the US, and had largely lost touch with them, but I wondered what they thought of all that.
posted by Kattullus at 11:00 PM on April 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
I dunno, slug me? Hairplug me?
This is really gonna bug me.
posted by xigxag at 11:36 PM on April 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
This is really gonna bug me.
posted by xigxag at 11:36 PM on April 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
In just the last two years, his credits include: Calvin Harris, My Blood Valentine, the aforementioned Beyoncé,...
Did I... did I miss am mbv release somehow? An mbv release with Pharrell Williams? Because my googling for those two things together just brings me back here. If there was new mbv I'd like to know!
posted by Dysk at 12:17 AM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
Did I... did I miss am mbv release somehow? An mbv release with Pharrell Williams? Because my googling for those two things together just brings me back here. If there was new mbv I'd like to know!
posted by Dysk at 12:17 AM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
I don't know if the song was as big in the US, but Lily Allen's video riposte to the Blurred Lines balloons was pretty awesome.
posted by atlantica at 12:18 AM on April 3, 2023
posted by atlantica at 12:18 AM on April 3, 2023
The only thing I remember of this song is how obviously creepy it is
When this first became evident and the song started getting a lot of (entirely justified) criticism, I thought of a 1982 single by Rhoda Dakar and The Special AKA: The Boiler. Far from winking at rape, or using the subject gratuitously, it depicts the crime with simple, stark horror.
I think it's a remarkable record, though I should add that it's definitely a very harrowing listen. That little organ riff will stay in your head for days, though.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:18 AM on April 3, 2023 [7 favorites]
When this first became evident and the song started getting a lot of (entirely justified) criticism, I thought of a 1982 single by Rhoda Dakar and The Special AKA: The Boiler. Far from winking at rape, or using the subject gratuitously, it depicts the crime with simple, stark horror.
I think it's a remarkable record, though I should add that it's definitely a very harrowing listen. That little organ riff will stay in your head for days, though.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:18 AM on April 3, 2023 [7 favorites]
The legacy of "Blurred Lines" will be as a footnote to the creation of Weird Al's "Word Crimes"
Speaking of songs that aren't holding up, "Word Crimes" is also on the yay-to-boo trajectory. I loved it when it came out, but now the gatekeeping in that song makes makes me physically uncomfortable.
It's dripping with condescension for anyone who doesn't perform all the rules of grammar, going so far as to say they don't have a place in society. "Oh, you're a lost cause / Go back to preschool / Get out of the gene pool / Try your best to not drool." That's oppression for beginners: Attack the form of someone's complaint so you don't have to address the substance.
By the time Weird Al started writing a parody of "Blurred Lines", he didn't want to focus on the rapey nature of the original because it had been discussed so much it wasn't fresh anymore. So I think it's ironic — as a descriptivist, I'm proudly using that word the way Sheryl Crow did — that his attempt to avoid the conversation about rape ended up reinforcing rape culture. After all, we say "believe women" not "believe women who know when it's less or it's fewer."
posted by Banknote of the year at 12:27 AM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
Speaking of songs that aren't holding up, "Word Crimes" is also on the yay-to-boo trajectory. I loved it when it came out, but now the gatekeeping in that song makes makes me physically uncomfortable.
It's dripping with condescension for anyone who doesn't perform all the rules of grammar, going so far as to say they don't have a place in society. "Oh, you're a lost cause / Go back to preschool / Get out of the gene pool / Try your best to not drool." That's oppression for beginners: Attack the form of someone's complaint so you don't have to address the substance.
By the time Weird Al started writing a parody of "Blurred Lines", he didn't want to focus on the rapey nature of the original because it had been discussed so much it wasn't fresh anymore. So I think it's ironic — as a descriptivist, I'm proudly using that word the way Sheryl Crow did — that his attempt to avoid the conversation about rape ended up reinforcing rape culture. After all, we say "believe women" not "believe women who know when it's less or it's fewer."
posted by Banknote of the year at 12:27 AM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
Pretty sure that Beyoncé woman (guess who is a credited composer on RENNISSANCE?) sold a few records last year.
He is listed because he co-wrote a song over a decade ago that is briefly interpolated into some versions of one track on the latest Beyoncé album. Saying he contributed songwriting on Renaissance is like saying Louie Armstrong contributed to the development of Fallout 2.
posted by Dysk at 12:40 AM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
He is listed because he co-wrote a song over a decade ago that is briefly interpolated into some versions of one track on the latest Beyoncé album. Saying he contributed songwriting on Renaissance is like saying Louie Armstrong contributed to the development of Fallout 2.
posted by Dysk at 12:40 AM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
"Word Crimes" is also on the yay-to-boo trajectory. I loved it when it came out, but now the gatekeeping in that song makes makes me physically uncomfortable.
In many (most?) of Weird Al's songs, the character singing is the butt of the joke. I'm pretty sure "Word Crimes" is making fun of the kind of pedantic bozo who is always correcting everyone's grammar.
posted by straight at 1:26 AM on April 3, 2023 [27 favorites]
In many (most?) of Weird Al's songs, the character singing is the butt of the joke. I'm pretty sure "Word Crimes" is making fun of the kind of pedantic bozo who is always correcting everyone's grammar.
posted by straight at 1:26 AM on April 3, 2023 [27 favorites]
I'm pretty sure "Word Crimes" is making fun of the kind of pedantic bozo who is always correcting everyone's grammar.
This. See also White and Nerdy, which cleverly both sends up and celebrates obsessive fan culture. Fun for all the family.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 2:18 AM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
This. See also White and Nerdy, which cleverly both sends up and celebrates obsessive fan culture. Fun for all the family.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 2:18 AM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Lily Allen's video riposte to the Blurred Lines balloons was pretty awesome.
But has its own issues: Despite saying the twerk-filled video had “nothing to do with race, at all” in a follow-up blog post, Allen has now admitted she was guilty of cultural appropriation, the Guardian reports. “I was guilty of appropriating when I did a video called ‘Hard Out Here,’” she says in the video, in which she critiques X Factor’s rap parody act Honey G. “The intention behind it [was], I definitely wanted to make a feminist statement. But I was guilty of assuming that there was a one-size-fits-all where feminism is concerned.”
posted by Lanark at 2:49 AM on April 3, 2023
But has its own issues: Despite saying the twerk-filled video had “nothing to do with race, at all” in a follow-up blog post, Allen has now admitted she was guilty of cultural appropriation, the Guardian reports. “I was guilty of appropriating when I did a video called ‘Hard Out Here,’” she says in the video, in which she critiques X Factor’s rap parody act Honey G. “The intention behind it [was], I definitely wanted to make a feminist statement. But I was guilty of assuming that there was a one-size-fits-all where feminism is concerned.”
posted by Lanark at 2:49 AM on April 3, 2023
On Pharrell - I think the disconnect here may be because of a perceived ownership of a "hit" - there may be a whole team of songwriters and producers behind a hit song, but most people are going to attribute it to the singer. Like, we think of the song "Fuck You" as Cee-Lo Green's song, not Bruno Mars' song, even though Bruno's the one who wrote it. So Pharrell may have written or produced a whole load of things, but hasn't sung as much recently.
I also love that most of the conversation in here has been focusing on Pharrell instead of Robin Thicke.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:50 AM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
I also love that most of the conversation in here has been focusing on Pharrell instead of Robin Thicke.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:50 AM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Oh, and:
I just wanted to share the bestest cover of Blurred Lines , which I believe I got from Metafilter eons ago.
I was hoping you were talking about the Mod Carousel cover and I WAS RIGHT YAY
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:52 AM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
I just wanted to share the bestest cover of Blurred Lines , which I believe I got from Metafilter eons ago.
I was hoping you were talking about the Mod Carousel cover and I WAS RIGHT YAY
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:52 AM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
Weird Al discusses Word Crimes
That's kinda how I figured that he worked, but still, it was nice to see such a candid layout by Al and in his own words. Thanks
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 6:21 AM on April 3, 2023
That's kinda how I figured that he worked, but still, it was nice to see such a candid layout by Al and in his own words. Thanks
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 6:21 AM on April 3, 2023
The "you know you want it" line is forever associated in my brain with Vines; one of which used it with cookie-on-a-plate-in-front-of-a-dog or something like that.
posted by jquinby at 6:38 AM on April 3, 2023
posted by jquinby at 6:38 AM on April 3, 2023
By the time Weird Al started writing a parody of "Blurred Lines", he didn't want to focus on the rapey nature of the original because it had been discussed so much it wasn't fresh anymore.
This is the most Metafilter comment I've ever seen on Metafilter. Congratulations. Well done.
posted by bondcliff at 6:54 AM on April 3, 2023 [6 favorites]
This is the most Metafilter comment I've ever seen on Metafilter. Congratulations. Well done.
posted by bondcliff at 6:54 AM on April 3, 2023 [6 favorites]
Speaking of songs that aren't holding up, "Word Crimes" is also on the yay-to-boo trajectory.
Weird Al has written lots of songs worse than Blurred Lines, with racist lines, and he's still doing fine.
Blurred Lines is just a pop song, and in that it's fine. That it got caught up in a consent battle but tons of other songs sneak by is just one of those things from the past we should be vaguely embarrassed about.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:23 AM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Weird Al has written lots of songs worse than Blurred Lines, with racist lines, and he's still doing fine.
Blurred Lines is just a pop song, and in that it's fine. That it got caught up in a consent battle but tons of other songs sneak by is just one of those things from the past we should be vaguely embarrassed about.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:23 AM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
I don't get the love for Word Crimes - it contains an ableist slur. And not the related word Lizzo and Beyonce used, it's the the actual word.
But has its own issues: Despite saying the twerk-filled video had “nothing to do with race, at all” in a follow-up blog post, Allen has now admitted she was guilty of cultural appropriation, the Guardian reports. “I was guilty of appropriating when I did a video called ‘Hard Out Here,’” she says in the video, in which she critiques X Factor’s rap parody act Honey G. “The intention behind it [was], I definitely wanted to make a feminist statement. But I was guilty of assuming that there was a one-size-fits-all where feminism is concerned.”
Thank you Lanark, I wasn't aware of that.
posted by atlantica at 7:42 AM on April 3, 2023
But has its own issues: Despite saying the twerk-filled video had “nothing to do with race, at all” in a follow-up blog post, Allen has now admitted she was guilty of cultural appropriation, the Guardian reports. “I was guilty of appropriating when I did a video called ‘Hard Out Here,’” she says in the video, in which she critiques X Factor’s rap parody act Honey G. “The intention behind it [was], I definitely wanted to make a feminist statement. But I was guilty of assuming that there was a one-size-fits-all where feminism is concerned.”
Thank you Lanark, I wasn't aware of that.
posted by atlantica at 7:42 AM on April 3, 2023
I don't get the love for Word Crimes - it contains an ableist slur.
I vaguely remember someone calling Weird Al on that at the time, and he released a statement of apology (and a sincere one, not an "I'm sorry this bothers you" one).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:09 AM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
I vaguely remember someone calling Weird Al on that at the time, and he released a statement of apology (and a sincere one, not an "I'm sorry this bothers you" one).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:09 AM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
The Blurred Lines blow-up made everyone forget the eminently more funky, more dance-able track Give It 2 U from the same album -- this video has everything:
- a hot 2 Chains feature
- amazing college dance squads (the Alabama state Stingettes, Baker Girls, Albany Passionettes, etc.)
- Kendrick Lamar??!!!!
- a literal ass float
- some unfortunately un-funky models with bags of cotton candy stapled on top of their outfits
- a dancing bottle of champagne, a dancing roll of $100 bills and Robin's then-toddler son, Julian Fuego Thicke
I still can't resist watching this video from start to finish anytime I come across it, and kind of hate myself for how much I love this one tune.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 8:35 AM on April 3, 2023 [5 favorites]
- a hot 2 Chains feature
- amazing college dance squads (the Alabama state Stingettes, Baker Girls, Albany Passionettes, etc.)
- Kendrick Lamar??!!!!
- a literal ass float
- some unfortunately un-funky models with bags of cotton candy stapled on top of their outfits
- a dancing bottle of champagne, a dancing roll of $100 bills and Robin's then-toddler son, Julian Fuego Thicke
I still can't resist watching this video from start to finish anytime I come across it, and kind of hate myself for how much I love this one tune.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 8:35 AM on April 3, 2023 [5 favorites]
I think it's silly to suggest that culture has cursed its creators; Robin Thicke always had a whiff of one-hit-wonder about him, but Pharrell has been plenty successful. "Blurred Lines" is a catchy song, and also everyone said from the start that the lyrics were creepy? Popular music contains such hair-raising sentiments about women and sexuality that I'm pretty inured to it. As such, my only dealbreaker songs are the ones about how the singer is really, really proud of themselves for not cheating. (Somehow this genre of song respawns into a monster hit every 3-4 years, and I hate them all so much.)
posted by grandiloquiet at 9:17 AM on April 3, 2023
posted by grandiloquiet at 9:17 AM on April 3, 2023
The whole premise of the video gets a little weirder in the unrated version where all the women are topless in panties and all the men are dressed in suits. The women play with all the props, while also being the props.
Yeeeeeah, I can see why this was the wrong video at the very wrong time.
Also I can't look at Robin Thicke without getting the Growing Pains theme song stuck in my head.
posted by alex_skazat at 9:23 AM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yeeeeeah, I can see why this was the wrong video at the very wrong time.
Also I can't look at Robin Thicke without getting the Growing Pains theme song stuck in my head.
posted by alex_skazat at 9:23 AM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
A horrible video of Chicago's horrible then-mayor dancing to this horrible song.
posted by HeroZero at 10:05 AM on April 3, 2023
posted by HeroZero at 10:05 AM on April 3, 2023
I was just going to share the video, but then things took a REALLY interesting turn....
So, sometimes Jimmy Fallon does a thing on the TONIGHT show where he and The Roots hole up in a room with a bunch of kids' toy musical instruments, and play backup for some famous singer. (Here's another example, where they do this with Megan Trainor for "All About That Bass"; I've always loved it for how enthusiastically Questlove sings the line "that booty-booty!" on backup.). They teamed up with Robin Thicke for this on "Blurred Lines" as well.
However, this is the only full video I could find of it - something shot on a cameraphone being held up to a TV. This presumably means that Jimmy Fallon got wigged out enough by Thicke's reputation that he wanted to take it down. (Even in the video they also pull their punches; on the line "You the hottest b*tch in this place", none of the Roots sing the B word, and Fallon even puts his hand over Thicke's mouth.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:21 AM on April 3, 2023
So, sometimes Jimmy Fallon does a thing on the TONIGHT show where he and The Roots hole up in a room with a bunch of kids' toy musical instruments, and play backup for some famous singer. (Here's another example, where they do this with Megan Trainor for "All About That Bass"; I've always loved it for how enthusiastically Questlove sings the line "that booty-booty!" on backup.). They teamed up with Robin Thicke for this on "Blurred Lines" as well.
However, this is the only full video I could find of it - something shot on a cameraphone being held up to a TV. This presumably means that Jimmy Fallon got wigged out enough by Thicke's reputation that he wanted to take it down. (Even in the video they also pull their punches; on the line "You the hottest b*tch in this place", none of the Roots sing the B word, and Fallon even puts his hand over Thicke's mouth.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:21 AM on April 3, 2023
I am an old snob with very fixed ideas on what constitutes worthwhile music, and was therefore previously unaware of Robin Thicke.
Overwhelming impression: don't think I've ever seen anybody work so hard to come across as a dime-store Rick Astley wannabe. Why?
posted by flabdablet at 10:36 AM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
Overwhelming impression: don't think I've ever seen anybody work so hard to come across as a dime-store Rick Astley wannabe. Why?
posted by flabdablet at 10:36 AM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
The whole premise of the video gets a little weirder in the unrated version where all the women are topless in panties and all the men are dressed in suits. The women play with all the props, while also being the props.
Indeed.
Also... 55 comments in this thread so far and yet no one has mentioned the sexual assault allegation against Robin Thicke? A thing that took place during the making of this very video.
posted by Taro at 10:49 AM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
Indeed.
Also... 55 comments in this thread so far and yet no one has mentioned the sexual assault allegation against Robin Thicke? A thing that took place during the making of this very video.
posted by Taro at 10:49 AM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
Overwhelming impression: don't think I've ever seen anybody work so hard to come across as a dime-store Rick Astley wannabe. Why?
because he wanted people to buy his records
posted by Sebmojo at 2:53 PM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
because he wanted people to buy his records
posted by Sebmojo at 2:53 PM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
This mashup with Rape Me is worth a listen.
posted by Trifling at 3:43 PM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
"Also... 55 comments in this thread so far and yet no one has mentioned the sexual assault allegation against Robin Thicke? A thing that took place during the making of this very video."
it's also discussed in the op
posted by klangklangston at 6:51 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
it's also discussed in the op
posted by klangklangston at 6:51 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Just out of curiosity, I looked it up, and sexual assaults on music video shoots are not uncommon, which is frightening, and includes rocker Marilyn Manson, and multiple less famous rappers. Yikes!
posted by The_Vegetables at 1:59 PM on April 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by The_Vegetables at 1:59 PM on April 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
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