Pharrell Williams Looks Back On ‘Blurred Lines:’ ‘I Get Embarrassed’
Pharrell Williams covers GQ‘s New Masculinity issue, and gets very candid when discussing the song “Blurred Lines,” and the idea that people have been referring to it as being “rapey.”
Pharrell explains, “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.”
Pharrell also adds, “I realized that we live in a chauvinist culture in our country. Hadn’t realized that. Didn’t realize that some of my songs catered to that.”
Pharrell also talks about how much he’s grown, musically. “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.”
On the topic of fashion, he discusses his style and how it has touches on being gender-fluid. “It started with the ‘I can pull that off’ thing. I wore a lot of Chanel, and I wore tons of Celine. Like, I got all the O.G. Celine. Because they were clothes I could fit in. When you listen to yourself and you’re comfortable in who you are, you wear what you feel like fits and looks right on you. And that’s it.”
