Robin Thicke: Blurred Lines and Body Switches

Robin Thicke: Blurred Lines and Body Switches

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All body switch movies follow the same arc.  Two people make a foolish comment about how they would gladly be the other person and either in some whirlwind or the next morning, or by holding an old artifact, they switch bodies.  Usually in the beginning when they’re just realizing what’s going on, one party will handle the switch a little better.  The grownup will start to ace the exams and become the cool kid at school or something like that.  The other will begin to create a series of mess ups that will bring their pals life who they now control near a very bad cliff.  Usually it involves possibly getting fired or something to that effect.  Well neither of these guys are wishing to switch places, but somehow it feels like Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake must’ve said the wrong phrase 3 times and actually did switch bodies or at least music styles.  The comparisons of Justin Timberlake’s 20/20 Experience to Robin Thicke’s style of music that he’s been honing his whole career have been unavoidable.  And with those comparisons came a bit of disappointment too.  While he did show progression in his music, Justin was, in some people’s mind, doing another mans routine, and not doing it nearly as well. Well, keeping with the theme Robin Thicke’s new album ‘Blurred Lines’, named after the infectious single that in no way caught my attention because of the absolutely perfect model dancing around topless, seems to have a bit more J.T. in it than J.T. does.  I don’t wish to give either the doom of forever comparing them, so I’ll stop after this one point:  Robin Thicke is having fun and not overly concerned with “growing up”.  Let me explain further, we all have those friends that start to stay home, and do nothing, all the while proclaiming, “I’m getting older, need to start acting more mature.”  Yea those friends.  The same friends who probably at some point drank you under the table.  And then there’s the few of us that never really have to drastically change our ways cause we were never too “young” and now we’re never acting too “old”.

I guess that’s a long-winded anecdote to tell you that Robin Thicke didn’t need to mature his music.  While J.T. is most definitely a great pop artist, his sound (so far that is) definitely represented the time it came out.  Robin Thicke has been doing this before you even knew he was doing this.  ‘When I Get You Alone’, his first hit single could fit right on this album (and I guess with trying to get a woman alone you could also spur some controversy as to whether its a sexist song like his current single)  and wouldn’t be an ear sore.  The only change is that Robin Thicke seems more comfortable.  Which I think is the underlying message for that Blurred Lines video.  So comfortable, that you’re just having fun.  This album isn’t perfect, but it is all those things I mentioned.  It’s comfortable, and fun, and at time down right great.  Even though the album is named after the heavily publicized single, the song that best embodies where Robin Thicke and his music might be at, is “The Good Life”.  The song opens with him proclaiming how things are unchanged in his home town and the thought is closed with him mention how he made it with you (one can only assume he’s singing to Paula Patton, isn’t he always).  Robin Thicke seems to be at that point we all get to when things are going well.  You realize all the heavy-handed, and slightly melodramatic issues (on his first album his song ‘A Beautiful World’ while being rather beautiful is a bit dramatic) aren’t that big of a deal.  If you have fun, love, and happiness it all seems to shed away. And he’s definitely having fun as seen by the video below from Jimmy Fallon, he’s definitely in love and has been forever with the beautiful Paula Patton (he put a beautiful shot of her on his first album titled ‘A Beautiful World’ and sang the most loving song ever, ‘Lost Without You’), and he’s obviously happy.   If you’re in this same mind-set this album is great.  If not it’s probably only good.  Either way it’s worth the listen.  I’m a huge Robin Thicke fan and this only furthers it.  As for Justin, I think he’ll be fine.

Score: 8/10

Oh and for my two cents, are you really going to accuse the man who asked his wife’s permission to make the Blurred Lines video, and sang the following song to be doing anything sexist or misogynistic? Come on. Let’s leave that talk for Chris Brown:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCEDuAQq6XA

 

Robin Thicke on Jimmy Fallon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YOZjaqHioro

 

Matt Cargile

About Matt Cargile

Matt Cargile is the Editor in Chief of rookerville.com. He also works in finance, but refuses to read any news printed on pink paper. He is a child at heart with adult means. His childhood dream was to either become a magician or the leader of the next great empire and somehow both these things make complete sense. He's contradictory in nature, but is always consistent.

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