# Meaning of "Blurred Lines" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2013, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987 "2013-09-30T07:58:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/41 "2013-09-30T18:13:18Z")
> [@Karrius](#): > > You _did_ read upthread where I quoted how Thicke specifically sought to degrade women with the song and video and thought it was fun, right? Yeah, it’s kinda weird how you took that out of context and said it should “stand on its own”. [From GQ](http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-feed/2013/05/robin-thicke-interview-blurred-lines-music-video-collaborating-with-2-chainz-and-kendrick-lamar-mercy.html#ixzz2gOu0tPjC): > [@](#): > > GQ: Some animals also made it into the video… > > Robin Thicke: We tried to do everything that was taboo. Bestiality, drug injections, and everything that is completely derogatory towards women. Because all three of us are happily married with children, we were like, “We’re the perfect guys to make fun of this.” People say, “Hey, do you think this is degrading to women?” I’m like, “Of course it is. What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. I’ve never gotten to do that before. I’ve always respected women.” So we just wanted to turn it over on its head and make people go, “Women and their bodies are beautiful. Men are always gonna want to follow them around.” After the video got banned on YouTube, my wife tweeted, “Violence is ugly. Nudity is beautiful. And the ‘Blurred Lines’ video makes me wanna…” You know. And that’s the truth. Right now, with terrorism and poverty and Wall Street and Social Security having problems, nudity should not be the issue. He’s talking about how the video was intentionally over the top in every way because it was fun to break loose and do something ridiculous like that. His comment isn’t even explicitly about the song (much less the lyrics), it’s about the music video and having topless models cavorting with lambs, a stuffed dog, a giant syringe, etc. Nothing in his comment comes close to implying the crux of the OP though, whether the song is condoning rape. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/42 "2013-09-30T18:14:05Z")
It’s simply a catchy song with extremely mild ambiguous innuendo with an edgy controversial video to push conversation back onto the song, which would otherwise be completely without conversation without the video. I don’t see a controversy beyond the producers grinning at the concerned-public fish they’ve hooked. See the repetition of song vs video publicity with respect to _Devo, “Whip It”, 1981_ Now I’m going to go listen to _Brown Sugar_, because it makes me dance so good. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/43 "2013-09-30T18:15:50Z")
Here’s more from Thicke from a GMA interview: > [@](#): > > “I made a bad joke early on [fun to degrade women, etc.] and sometimes a bad joke goes a long way,” Thicke explained to Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie on the “Today” show stage. “The idea was when we made this song, we had nothing but the most respect for women. I mean, I’ve been with the same woman since I was a teenager. For us, we were just trying to make a funny song and sometimes the lyrics can get misconstrued when you’re just trying to put people on the dance floor and have a good time. We had no idea that it would stir this much controversy. We only had the best intentions.” > > “I think that’s what great art does – it’s supposed to stir conversation, it’s supposed to make us talk about what’s important and what the relationships between men and women are,” Thicke added. “If you listen to the lyrics, it says, ‘That man is not your maker.’ It’s actually a feminist movement within itself. It’s saying that women and men are equals as animals and as power. It doesn’t matter if you’re a good girl or a bad girl, you can still have a good time.” Maybe not the smartest guy in the world, but he’s certainly not an anti-woman satan. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/44 "2013-09-30T18:17:17Z")
I think the lyrics are gross and yes, rapey, as well as being sex negative. Good girls don’t want sex. Only nasty girls want sex. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/45 "2013-09-30T18:25:16Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I think the lyrics are gross and yes, rapey, as well as being sex negative. Good girls don’t want sex. Only nasty girls want sex. Sex negative? He’s telling her that she doesn’t have to conform to what society says good girls should be. If she wants to have passionate, hair pulling, ass slapping sex, go ahead. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/46 "2013-09-30T18:25:30Z")
Wow! All these years a good portion of songs I’ve enjoyed are rape songs! Me, I always called them begging songs. Men begging the women of their desires to have sex with them. Little did I know that Marvin Gaye, Extreme, Sam Cooke — all them guys were really singing about raping women. Thanks super feminists for telling me how rapey music is. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/47 "2013-09-30T18:30:39Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Sex negative? He’s telling her that she doesn’t have to conform to what society says good girls should be. If she wants to have passionate, hair pulling, ass slapping sex, go ahead. “I know you want it But you’re a good girl” I don’t see anything in there about what society says good girls should be. Or is this the sex positive thing? “Yeah, I had a bitch, but she ain’t bad as you So hit me up when you passing through I’ll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two” That sounds pretty positive, for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/48 "2013-09-30T18:58:01Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > “I know you want it > But you’re a good girl” > > I don’t see anything in there about what society says good girls should be. She wants nasty sex BUT she’s a good girl. She needs to be “liberated” so she can go after what she wants. 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 ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/49 "2013-09-30T19:07:42Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Wow! All these years a good portion of songs I’ve enjoyed are rape songs! Me, I always called them begging songs. Men begging the women of their desires to have sex with them. Little did I know that Marvin Gaye, Extreme, Sam Cooke — all them guys were really singing about raping women. > > Thanks super feminists for telling me how rapey music is. Way to go, Rapey McRaperson… ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/50 "2013-09-30T19:14:03Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > She wants nasty sex BUT she’s a good girl. She needs to be “liberated” so she can go after what she wants. I read it as she needs to give up being a good girl. And also to get her ass split in two, because that sounds super. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/51 "2013-09-30T19:23:43Z")
I have now heard the song. I don’t think it’s all that good, but it’s not objectionable. > [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > It’s kinda like, “Hey baby, I know you got a man but he ain’t here, and ol’ Robin just wants to fool around with a good girl who obviously has a nasty side and I get it that you don’t want to be unfaithful…but hey there’s a lot we can do that ain’t “cheatin,” ifyaknowwhatimeanandithinkthatyoudo. There’s a fuzzy line between faithfulness and full-on cheating. Let’s straddle that blurred line. Whadya say, baby… hey, hey, hey?” I think it’s the opposite. He’s saying he hates the blurred lines, after all. He keeps going on about how she keeps grabbing him: The way you grab me Must wanna get nasty and how she wants it and so on, but she won’t accept her own desires because she’s been trained to think that’s bad. Opposite of sex-negative. ---
**Author:** ![AnthonyElite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@AnthonyElite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnthonyElite)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/52 "2013-09-30T19:52:09Z")
Wait a second…this song has a point? I thought it was just trying to hypnotize me into having a vocabularly consisting of merely "Hey Hey Hey Hey’ “Blurred lines”. There was more too it? I mean, actually…is there? It’s a terrible pop song, not near worth even thinking about. That’s how it reads and how it sounds. I had to go read the lyrics to get a true impression of it. The song is innocent of being sexist, but guilty of being terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/53 "2013-09-30T19:53:19Z")
> [@AnthonyElite](#): > > Wait a second…this song has a point? I thought it was just trying to hypnotize me into having a vocabularly consisting of merely "Hey Hey Hey Hey’ “Blurred lines”. > > There was more too it? > > I mean, actually…is there? It’s a terrible pop song, not near worth even thinking about. That’s how it reads and how it sounds. > > I had to go read the lyrics to get a true impression of it. The song is innocent of being sexist, but guilty of being terrible. Well the important thing is you got to feel smug. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/54 "2013-09-30T19:57:15Z")
> [@bump](#): > > That’s not a huge gap at all- not objecting is effectively consenting to what’s happening. Surely if someone walked up to you, said “Is it ok if I take money from your wallet?” and then when you didn’t say “no” > > And the situations you describe are straight-up rape regardless of when the victim finds out. What I meant was that if someone doesn’t object, or even consents, and regrets it later, it isn’t rape. So when a bully tells a smaller kid to give up his lunch money, if he gives up without arguing or fighting, it isn’t theft? See, this is an old, old issue. She didn’t say no, so it must have been ok. She didn’t scream or fight so it must have been ok. The idea that women must resist in just the right way, no matter the circumstances or what might happen to her if she does. > [@](#): > > [Deuteronomy 22:23-24 ESV](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+22%3A23-24&version=ESV) > > “If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/55 "2013-09-30T19:59:29Z")
> [@AnthonyElite](#): > > Wait a second…this song has a point? I thought it was just trying to hypnotize me into having a vocabularly consisting of merely "Hey Hey Hey Hey’ “Blurred lines”. > > There was more too it? > > I mean, actually…is there? It’s a terrible pop song, not near worth even thinking about. That’s how it reads and how it sounds. > > I had to go read the lyrics to get a true impression of it. The song is innocent of being sexist, but guilty of being terrible. Nah, it’s a fantastic song, as long as you ignore the dumb lyrics (like most pop songs). But, man, whenever I hear it, it makes me wanna get up and dance, and I’m not a get up and dance kinda guy, so it’s doing something right. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/56 "2013-09-30T20:01:32Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I thought the blurred lines were between staying faithful to a partner and cheating while out clubbing. > > My evidence: > > It’s kinda like, “Hey baby, I know you got a man but he ain’t here, and ol’ Robin just wants to fool around with a good girl who obviously has a nasty side and I get it that you don’t want to be unfaithful…but hey there’s a lot we can do that ain’t “cheatin,” ifyaknowwhatimeanandithinkthatyoudo. There’s a fuzzy line between faithfulness and full-on cheating. Let’s straddle that blurred line. Whadya say, baby… hey, hey, hey?” > > Adult? Yes. Sleazy? Yes. Rapey? Maybe if things get out of hand at the end of the night, but that’s not actually what’s in the song. That’s my interpretation as well. the “that man is not your mate” line is what makes the blurred line. Are we just flirting or are we going to fuck? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/57 "2013-09-30T20:20:14Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > I have now heard the song. I don’t think it’s all that good, but it’s not objectionable. > > I think it’s the opposite. He’s saying he hates the blurred lines, after all. He keeps going on about how she keeps grabbing him: > > The way you grab me > Must wanna get nasty > > and how she wants it and so on, but she won’t accept her own desires because she’s been trained to think that’s bad. Opposite of sex-negative. Well love 'em or hate 'em, it’s about cheating, or ‘cheating.’ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/58 "2013-09-30T21:15:31Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I thought the blurred lines were between staying faithful to a partner and cheating while out clubbing. > > My evidence: > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by Robin Thicke > > 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. > > It’s kinda like, “Hey baby, I know you got a man but he ain’t here, and ol’ Robin just wants to fool around with a good girl who obviously has a nasty side and I get it that you don’t want to be unfaithful…but hey there’s a lot we can do that ain’t “cheatin,” ifyaknowwhatimeanandithinkthatyoudo. There’s a fuzzy line between faithfulness and full-on cheating. Let’s straddle that blurred line. Whadya say, baby… hey, hey, hey?” I don’t think he’s talking about some absent husband or boyfriend. I think the guy he’s talking about is some other guy in the club. He tried to talk up the woman and she shot him down. So now the singer is saying “Hey, I’m better than that guy.” ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/59 "2013-09-30T22:18:42Z")
“Hey baby, you’re the hottest bitch in this place, let me guess, you’re a good girl who wants to get nasty”. Eh, crass and juvenile, but “rapey”? Hmm… not\*\*\* as long as the other party in the story is playing the same game\*\*\*, which seemed to me to be the song’s presumption. Now, IRL you take a risk presuming that, but a lot of pop/rap lyrics do tend to take place in the Universe of Stupid (or the Universe of Porn) rather than ours. I’ll take the author’s word at it that they were just up to doing a deliberately stupid/tasteless song (considering it was what Robin was singing while grinding groins with Miley, I suppose mission accomplished, Good Taste succesfully avoided). It may have blurred “that fine line between stupid and clever” but the _bottom line_ was only blurry because of how fast the money poured in. It’s a catchy trashy track. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I don’t think he’s talking about some absent husband or boyfriend. I think the guy he’s talking about is some other guy in the club. He tried to talk up the woman and she shot him down. So now the singer is saying “Hey, I’m better than that guy.” So the song character is engaging in PUA “game”…? I’ll buy that. I suppose douchey’s somewhat better than rapey. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987/60 "2013-09-30T22:41:42Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > So when a bully tells a smaller kid to give up his lunch money, if he gives up without arguing or fighting, it isn’t theft? Depends on the situation, but I don’t have much sympathy for someone who wouldn’t protest at all, especially if there hasn’t been any prior bullying. Being a timorous wimp isn’t really an excuse for consenting to things you don’t want to happen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-blurred-lines/669987.md?page=4)