Everyone interprets music differently. And just because one receives a certain message out of certain lyrics, doesn't necessarily mean that what that person interpreted from the lyrics is exactly what the artist was saying.
Recently I posted a post about sexism in the Robin Thicke "Blurred Lines" music video.
I shared it on my Tumblr and Facebook accounts, and was surprised by some of the reactions.
It got good reception on Facebook. No negativity whatsoever.
Not sure if all of the people who hit the "like" button necessarily LIKED my blog post (they could have just liked the pictures,) however, contrary to what I said in a previous post about assuming, we're going to assume that they liked the post itself.
The people on Tumblr on the other hand? Did not like the post too much. I got about 3 or 4 unfollows after posting the link, adn some feedback from people obviously angered by the song and video, and now, my post.
First and foremost, an artist can write a song, and the listeners can all have a different interpretation of the words. Some totally different than the artist themselves.
Does that necessarily make the listeners wrong?
It can. But in many ways, NO.
As an artist myself, I believe it's the listener's choice to hear what they want from it. Unless of course the lyrics are straight up blatant with their message to the point where we cannot assume that they're saying anything OTHER than what we're hearing.
However, some of the feedback about my post contained examples of lyrics which the person responding found unacceptable.
- Exhibit A: "Yeah there's that. Personally I feel it's redundant to use [naked women] in order to sell a product. Plus that line about domesticating a girl smacks of men saying 'a women's place is in the kitchen.' There's no need for that in the 21st century,"
To be completely honest, I am NOT sure what that person was trying to tell me, but I gathered that they were not agreeing with me, right? (I could be wrong.)
My personal interpretation of the domesticating line in Blurred Lines is nothing negative at all. If anything it's POSITIVE. Some man is trying to "domesticate" this woman, and either she doesn't want to be (as she shouldn't HAVE to be) or Robin doesn't want her to be (so he can sleep with her, big deal) or BOTH. But I didn't gather that Robin was the one who wanted to "domesticate" her.
Also, women themselves use such imagery to sell products. It's the oldest saying in the business industry: SEX SELLS.
The video honestly looked like an American Apparel ad, really.
- Exhibit B: "Except for the repeated 'I know you want it' followed by 'Here, breathe this 'Jamaican wind' it always works for me' implying that he's gonna have to drug her up to get her to do it, but he 'knows she wants it.' "
This, mes amis, is a prime example of what I'm getting at with this post.
- I know PLENTY of men who have told a girl "I know you want it." When a guy is ready and trying to get a girl in bed (especially if he knows she's not a prude if you gather my meaning.) And a man trying to get in a girl's pants is the oldest game in humanity!!
- "Jamaican wind." Hmmmmm, does anyone else think of marijuana when they hear that? What exactly is he going to do with weed? Make her trip out on his body parts?
"Jamaican wind" typically isn't a date rape drug, nor is it a drug where you lose ALL control to the point where you have sex with someone you didn't want to.
If it is for you, no offense, but you have a problem and should stop smoking immediately.
So, you see, my interpretations of the song are totally different than just these two individuals. There are billions of people in this world.
Am I wrong? Who knows?
Are they? Who knows?
But people shouldn't immediately jump to conclusions (or in this case, interpretations.)
And let's just be honest, are we REALLY surprised at what we hear in music nowadays? After the rap genre, Prince, Vanity 6, Peaches, GG Allen, etc. why do people continue to act shocked about this stuff?
I mean, there are artists rapping about eating baby's for crying out loud.
And has anyone stopped and asked, "Hey, what if this is what Robin Thicke wanted all along? Now his song and video are getting WAY more promotions."
Hmmmmm.
And lucky for me, I was able to find yet another blog post that agrees that Robin is not being a rapist.
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