Fact #94340

Pharrell Williams (co-writer, Blurred Lines) : I think Blurred Lines opened me up. I didn't get it at first. Because there were older white women who, when that song came on, they would behave in some of the most surprising ways ever. And I would be like, 'Wow!' They would have me blushing. 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. And I know you want it - women sing those kinds of lyrics all the time'. So it's like, 'What's rapey about that?'"

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 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. Even though it wasn't the majority, it didn't matter. I cared what they were feeling too. I realised that we live in a chauvinist culture in our country. Hadn't realised that. Didn't realise that some of my songs catered to that. So that blew my mind.
(Source : interview, GQ Magazine, 2019)