Pharrell Williams is embarrassed by his old songs
Pharrell Williams is “embarrassed” by his
“chauvinist” old music.
The 46-year-old producer learned a lot from the backlash to
his and Robin Thicke’s 2013 collaboration Blurred Lines, as it
“blew [his] mind” that some of his lyrics could be regarded as
derogatory towards women. He said that the controversy completely changed his
attitude.
He said: “I was also born in a different era, where the
rules of the matrix at that time allowed 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.”
Asked if the #MeToo movement sparked his shift in attitude, he told the new issue of America’s GQ magazine: “No. I think Blurred Lines opened me up. I didn’t get it at first.”
He added: “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.”
