Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke feat. Pharrel Williams and T.I.
Quick warning, this song, as well as being awful, has an explicit video clip.
Blurred Lines is currently enjoying it's 10th week at the top of the billboard charts, a statistic which deadens ones faith in humanity as well as affirming the fact that large music corporations control the content which finds its way onto such charts.
The song borrows heavily from several songs by the late, great Marvin Gaye in a melodic and stylistic sense. There has in fact been a lawsuit launched by Thicke as a sort of preemptive strike against any copyright lawsuits which may be lodged against Blurred Lines by Mr Gaye's estate. While not a legal admission of plagiarism, this action is certainly an admission of plagiarism in every other sense. Lets hope for Mr Thicke's sake that the judge hearing the civil case is old and very hard of hearing, this would also benefit the judge as this song (as suggested by the fact that it is being reviewed on this blog) is awful.
"Blurred Lines" is the title track from Robin Thicke's 6th album. Thicke has experienced significant success as an R&B singer, but it certainly must be noted that his previous success are completely eclipsed by the popularity of "Blurred Lines".
Thicke has stated in interviews that the song was written in under an hour by himself and Pharrel Williams. Whether the swiftness of the creation of this track is attributable to the fact that Thicke and Williams stole the all the musical elements of the song is a question for fans, albeit a rhetorical one.
While the main crux of this review is yet to come, attention must be directed to a scene in the video clip where silver letter balloons spell out "Robin Thicke has a big dick". This is the music video equivalent of loudly announcing in a pharmacy that one is in need of a significant quantity of extra-large sized condoms. Not only is it highly unlikely that the individual does not require that particular size of condom, it's highly probable that the person does not require prophylactics at all. In fact, so ridiculous and unnecessary is this stunt (which is really saying something considering the tribute to misogyny that this song is), that it is fair to deduce, given the genetic nature of the size of the male genitalia, that the name "Thicke" was given to Robin's ancestors in a highly ironic fashion. Not unlike the character of "Little John" in robin hood.
There are two main interpretations of what this song is about. The first, which is purported by Thicke, is that it is about nothing in particular and is just silly and fun. The other popular interpretation is that this song is about rape, or at least sexual assault. The latter interpretation being held by individuals with IQ's approaching average and above.
Lines like "I know you want it", "the way you grab me, must wanna get nasty", "I hate those blurred lines" or "do it like it hurt, do it like it hurt, what you don't like to work?" trivialize sexual consent in a way not seen in music since Insane Clown Posse. The benefit of Insane Clown Posse of course being that they have not been anointed by Universal Music Group as the company's primary money making vehicle and therefore they are not on the radio. In effect, this song is doing for women what the Texan Republican party is doing with their anti-abortion legislation, or the Taliban is doing with their "lets shoot schoolgirls in the head in Pakistan" policy.
Of course Robin Thicke has brushed off the negative interpretations of his song sighting that all of the writers and performers are married with children. This of course is implying that no man who has ever been married has done anything disrespecting of women, which of course is good news for Ike Turner and yet another blow for common sense. Despite the fact that Thicke is married therefore making him an instant feminist, this reviewer could not help but notice how uncomfortable the women in the video looked whenever they were in scenes with him. Of course this may be due to their acting ability and the direction of the video, but is doubtful given how many great female actors have accepted parts being topless in a music video.
For it's trivialization of sexual consent, tainting of melodies by a deceased musical legend and a music video so misogynistic and uncomfortable it's like looking at a beautiful 19 year old woman with a decrepit billionaire, "Blurred Lines" gets 4 out of 5 songs of the summer.