Robin Thicke Was High in Studio, Lied About Writing "Blurred Lines"
Want to hate Robin Thicke even more than you already do? OK, here you go: The Hollywood Reporter got its hands on transcripts of his and Pharrell Williams from their preemptive lawsuit against Marvin Gaye's children, who threatened to sue over the sonic similarities between Thicke and Williams "Blurred Lines" and Gaye's "Got To Give It Up." In his testimony, Thicke admits that he was "high on Vicodin and alcohol" during the creation of the song, and that he received undue credit (he's listed ahead of Williams as a songwriter).
From the Hollywood Reporter's piece:
The singer says under oath that after writing and producing six albums himself, "I was jealous and I wanted some of the credit... I tried to take credit for it later because (Williams) wrote the whole thing pretty much by himself and I was envious of that."
Thicke soon gets more specific:
"Q: Were you present during the creation of 'Blurred Lines'?
Thicke: I was present. Obviously, I sang it. I had to be there.
Q: When the rhythm track was being created, were you there with Pharrell?
Thicke: To be honest, that's the only part where — I was high on vicodin and alcohol when I showed up at the studio. So my recollection is when we made the song, I thought I wanted — I — I wanted to be more involved than I actually was by the time, nine months later, it became a huge hit and I wanted credit. So I started kind of convincing myself that I was a little more part of it than I was and I — because I didn't want him — I wanted some credit for this big hit. But the reality is, is that Pharrell had the beat and he wrote almost every single part of the song."
Thicke says he was just "lucky enough to be in the room" when Williams wrote the song.
Thicke previously characterized the song's origin story to GQ like this:
Pharrell and I were in the studio and I told him that one of my favorite songs of all time was Marvin Gaye's 'Got to Give It Up.' I was like, 'Damn, we should make something like that, something with that groove.' Then he started playing a little something and we literally wrote the song in about a half hour and recorded it.
As to why Williams let Thicke take the credit, it's just business as usual according to his testimony:
"This is what happens every day in our industry," said Williams during his own deposition. "You know, people are made to look like they have much more authorship in the situation than they actually do. So that's where the embellishment comes in."
I always wonder, too, just how much of a song was actually written by the superstar who's credited as its writer. Now we know.
There are tons of amazing tidbits from the transcripts. Thicke says he "didn't do a sober interview" in 2013. When asked if Gaye was an influence, Williams replied, "He's an Aries. I respect him."
The case is set to go to trial in February 2015. Say the Gayes:
Thicke, for his part, now claims he made all of his statements while drunk or on drugs, none of them true, and he mentioned Marvin Gaye only to sell records. He also actually testified that he is not an honest person. This complete contempt for the judicial system, and their obligations to tell the truth, can best be summed up by Thicke's ultimate admission, while under oath, that he "[does not] give a fuck" about this litigation.
[ Image via Getty]