Music

Pharrell Williams admits overstepping the mark with lyrics after Blurred Lines controversy


Blurred Lines was a massive hit for Pharrell (Picture: Getty Images/Star Trak/LLC)

Pharrell Williams believes he overstepped the mark with his song lyrics following the release of his hit Blurred Lines, which he wrote and produced.

Blurred Lines, a collaboration with singer Robin Thicke and rapper T.I., became a massive success upon its release in 2013, hitting number one in over 25 countries, and becoming one of the biggest selling songs of all time.

However, the song was also plagued with controversy, as many criticised the song’s lyrics as misogynistic and promoting a culture of date rape.

Now, Pharrell has claimed that he was ‘born in a different era’, as he spoke about the controversial song and its impact on pop culture.

Speaking to GQ magazine, the 46-year-old said: ‘I was also born in a different era, where the rules of the matrix at that time allowed me a lot of things that would never fly today.

‘Advertisements that objectify women. Song content. Some of my old songs, I would never write or sing today. I get embarrassed by some of that stuff. It just took a lot of time and growth to get to that place.’

The Happy hitmaker later admitted that at first, he did not understand the ‘issue’ behind the song and its lyrics, as he witnessed women who enjoyed listening to it.

‘I didn’t get it at first,’ he continued. ‘So when there started to be an issue with it, lyrically, I was like, “What are you talking about?”

‘There are women who really like the song and connect to the energy that just gets you up.’

Pharrell also questioned what was so ‘rapey’ about the song, as he was used to seeing women singing the lyrics from it all the time.

However, he later realised why these lyrics had caused a problem, as he discovered that a lot of men would use this type of language to objectify women.

‘I realised 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 behaviour.

‘My mind opened up to what was actually being said in the song and how it could make someone feel. Even though it wasn’t the majority, it didn’t matter. I cared what they were feeling too.’



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