favorite song friday: pharrell and girl just want to have fun

Yes, I'm still on a Pharrell Williams kick, and you should be too. I just picked up his new CD, Girl, and am enjoying listening to it on repeat in the car. The über-infectious "Happy" is smack-dab in the middle of things. It is still a stand-out tune, but there are other treasures as well.

Pharrell was all over the charts this past year with collaborations with Daft Punk on "Get Lucky" and Robin Thicke on "Blurred Lines" — both huge hit records. He has proved himself as a performer and producer, working with everyone from Mariah Carey to Britney Spears to Jay Z. Girl has Pharrell playing to his strengths as both a producer and performer. He pulls in some great talent on a number of tracks, but also showcases his smooth falsetto, great phrasing, and love of all musical genres on many of the tracks.

This one goes out to all the lovers
What can we do? We're helpless romantics
We can not help who we're attracted to
So let's all dance, and elevate each other — "Marilyn Monroe"

Girl has a retro-feel, with Pharrell sharing his love of classic Motown, 70s disco, 80's pop, and just about anything and everything that has a great beat. But the record never seems dated or a pastiche. Pharrell loves beats and knows how to use them. Some of the stand-out tracks include:

"Marilyn Monroe," which starts off the album.

"Brand New," with Pharrell and Justin Timberlake evoking Stevie Wonder and The Jackson 5 while they trade verses in this upbeat jam.

Honey, you got me feelin' (brand new)
You got me feelin' (brand new)
Like the tag's still on me
Got the tags still on me
Jumpin' 'round in your bag
Jumpin' 'round in your bag
So good morning, ooh girl
You are the feeling I'm jammin' to (brand new)
You are the feeling I'm jammin' to (brand new)
Like the tag's still on me
Got the tags still on me — "Brand New"

The supremely silly but always fun"Hunter" is definitely a nod towards the '80s as well as an homage to bands like Duran Duran, Blondie, and the B52s. It also comes the closest to evoking last summer's smash, "Blurred Lines."

Miley Cyrus turns up for vocals on a bouncy track called "Come Get It Bae."

And Pharrell apparently can't get enough of Daft Punk (or vice-versa), who join him on the groovy "Gust of Wind".

Other featured artists include Alicia Keys who duets with Pharrell on "I Know Who You Are," Timbaland, and Kelly Osborne.

Although "Happy" is undoubtedly the sunniest song on the record, it is impossible to listen to the rest of Girl and not smile. Celebrating women and music and love, Pharrell and Girl just want to have fun.

favorite song friday: prince vs. bruno mars (and the rest of the world)

Prince, Prince Prince. He's once of those artists that I love, but ... I have to admit that sometimes he is just a bit too much. He recently released a sneak peek at his new song/video, "Breakfast Can Wait." Talk about a hit or miss. The hit part is Prince showing his sense of humor by having Dave Chappelle impersonate his tiny purple majesty on the cover art:

The song, unfortunately, was not quite so impressive. Much has been made of the video for the song being directed by 18 year-old Danielle Curiel, who also impersonates the singer. But unfortunately the rest of the video's visuals — synchronized dancing in '80s-era black spandex, a strangely sexist interaction between a couple "the morning after," — leaves more than a little bit to be desired. Plus, the song sounds a little dated and strange. Prince's falsetto sounds practically helium-enhanced near the end of the song.

Prince isn't the only one trying to recapture the magic of Prince these days. Robin Thicke tries to channel early Prince in his blatantly Prince-like "Give it 2 U". He even rips off Prince's spelling technique, which the Minneapolis musician perfected long before we all started texting. It's O.K. ... but for something fun and sexy I much prefer the real heir to Prince's throne, Prince-ier than Prince himself these days, the über-talented Bruno Mars and his latest song, "Gorilla."

All three videos are on the lame side, but the sexiness and catchiness of "Gorilla" is not to be denied. It's a great song. Check it out, Prince.

the subversive stylings of bruno mars

Although everyone was up in arms last week about Miley Cyrus pole-dance-twerking on Robin Thicke, no one seemed to notice who was the truly subversive (and truly talented) musical artist in the room ... Bruno Mars. Mars has been quietly turning out hit after hit, for himself and other artists for the past few years. And while Robin Thicke may smarmily wink and croon about "Blurred Lines," Bruno doesn't need to be coy or pull any punches. His songs embody a true rock and roll spirit, many of them frankly sexual. Most importantly, they are consistently catchy as hell.

Born in Hawaii, from a musical family ("Everybody in my family sings, everyone plays instruments ... I've just been surrounded by it"), Mars has been performing since he was three years old. He made a splash in 2010 with his first album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, which featured the chart-topping "Just the Way You Are" and "Grenade," and followed that up in 2012 with Unorthodox Jukebox, which has already spawned three hits — "Locked Out of Heaven", "When I Was Your Man," and "Treasure." Besides his two hit albums, Mars has also sang on and/or co-wrote many other recent radio hits, including "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy, (featuring guest vocals from Mars) and "Fuck You!" by Cee Lo Green (co-written by Mars).

What Mars really brings to the table is his wanting to keep his love songs sexy. His lyrics don't just want to make one dance, but dim the lights. His love songs can be full of elation:

Never had much faith in love or miracles
Never wanna put my heart on the line.
But swimming in your world is something spiritual
I'm born again every time you spend the night 

Cause your sex takes me to paradise
Yeah your sex takes me to paradise
And it shows, yeah, yeah, yeah
Cause you make feel like, I've been locked out of heaven
For too long, for too long
Yeah you make feel like, I've been locked out of heaven
For too long, for too long — "Locked Out of Heaven"

Or despair:

If my body was on fire
Ooh, you'd watch me burn down in flames
You said you loved me, you're a liar
'Cause you never, ever, ever did, baby 

But darling, I'd still catch a grenade for ya
Throw my hand on a blade for ya
I'd jump in front of a train for ya
You know I'd do anything for ya 

I would go through all this pain
Take a bullet straight through my brain
Yes, I would die for you, baby
But you won't do the same — "Grenade"

Bruno Mars and Cee Lo Green, from BrunoMars.com

Sometimes he's just a posturing guy, bragging and trying to impress a girl (or anyone who will listen):

Ah yeah
Well, let me think, let me think
Ah, what should I do?
So many eager young bunnies
That I'd like to pursue 

Now even now they eating out
The palm of my hand
There's only one carrot
And they all gotta share it — "Runaway Baby"

Sometimes he's just a guy trying to be himself:

Today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don't feel like picking up my phone, so leave a message at the tone
'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything
Nothing at all, nothing at all 

Tomorrow I'll wake up, do some P90X
Find a really nice girl, have some really nice sex
And she's gonna scream out
This is great
(Oh my god, this is great)

I'll just strut in my birthday suit
And let everything hang loose ... — "The Lazy Song"

Sometimes he's just damned funny:

I see you drivin' 'round town with the girl I love
And I'm like, "F**k you!"
I guess the change in my pocket wasn't enough
I'm like, "F**k you and f**k her, too!" 

Said if I was richer, I'd still be with you
Hah, now ain't that some sh*t?
(Ain't that some sh*t?)
And although there's pain in my chest, I still wish you the best
With a f**k you — "F**k you," Cee Lo Green

Smart, funny, always profane.

Pundits can keep dredging up the Miley Cyrus/Robin Thicke number from the recent MTV Video Music Awards, but Bruno Mars kicked real ass, by performing the latest song from Unorthodox Jukebox, "Gorilla." I guess no one was listening too closely to the lyrics ...

Get More: 

2013 VMA, Artists.MTV, Music, Bruno Mars

Ooh I got a body full of liquor with a cocaine kicker and I'm feeling like I'm thirty feet tall
So lay it down, lay it down
You got your legs up in the sky with the devil in your eyes
Let me hear you say you want it all
Say it now, say it now 

Look what you doing, look what you done
But in this jungle you can't run
Cause what I got for you
I promise is a killer, you'll be banging on my chest
Bang bang, gorilla — "Gorilla"

these lines really aren't so blurry ...

Robin Thicke's latest song, "Blurred Lines," a No. 1 hit, has raised some controversy, but is it the song, or the video, or both that offend? Thicke has been compared to Justin Timberlake, but Timberlake's latest singles are much more romantic than the blatant come-hithering of Thicke's song, where he is abetted in his attempted seduction by Pharrell Williams and T.I.

The song is undeniably catchy, a perfect summer radio hit. But when you are stopped in traffic, some of the more questionable lyrics may sneak through the bouncy grooves:

"You the hottest bitch in this place
I feel so lucky
Hey, hey, hey
You wanna hug me
Hey, hey, hey
What rhymes with hug me?
Hey, hey, hey"

and

"... I'll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two ..."

Nothing blurry about those lines, or the blow-up silver letters in the video taped to a wall that proclaim, "Robin Thicke has a big dick." Subtle.


I didn't find the video particularly seductive or shocking, just kinda dumb. It actually works against the song, which is hard not to like. But the three lovely topless ladies featured in the video just seem bored or embarrassed — they keep trying to cover their breasts, with their hands or other incongruous objects. They look more comfortable, even more sexy, in the shots when they are clothed. The three dudes, predictably, look like they are having the time of their lives. Watching three gorgeous, bored, mostly naked models. Rock and roll.

The real question about Blurred Lines is not whether the lyrics or the video is offensive, but if this sort of "romantic" approach really works in the real world. And why did Williams and Thicke feel the need to push the envelope? The song starts out maybe not innocently, but typically enough, with Thicke trying to convince a girl in a club to drop her guy for him:

"OK now he was close, tried to domesticate you
But you're an animal, baby, it's in your nature
Just let me liberate you
Hey, hey, hey
You don't need no papers
Hey, hey, hey
That man is not your maker"

A guy on the make, for sure, but not threatening. Pop music is, frequently, one long seduction or persuasion. Madonna could be just as demanding a potential lover as Thicke & Co.:

Open your heart
I'll make you love me (come on baby)
It's not that hard
If you just turn the key (I'm gonna get to you)

Where feminists start to get uncomfortable with "Blurred Lines" is the "I know you want it," chorus, which directly references rape scenarios — "She was asking for it." Maybe not the artists' intentions, but maybe ... We talk about consensual sex being the ideal situation, but there is always a give-and-take. There are countless (beloved) art and pop culture examples of men trying to "break down" a girl's resistance and give in to his charms.

"And that's why I'm gon' take a good girl
I know you want it
I know you want it
I know you want it
You're a good girl
Can't let it get past me
You're far from plastic
Talk about getting blasted
I hate these blurred lines"

Maybe that is what is most disturbing about "Blurred Lines." The battle of the sexes is frequently a true battle. And for many, sex, even romance, is not complete unless someone gives in and lets the other person be the victor. Not exactly blurred lines, but lines drawn in the sand.