Who knew that you could take a song as synthy and dance-floor ready as Icona Pop‘s breakup anthem and transform it into a soulful ballad full of longing and passion? Well, crooner Robin Thicke, that’s who.
During a recent appearance on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge, the VMA-nominated singer decided to put his R&B spin on the Swedish duo’s breakout hit, slowing it down, adding his signature falsetto and making some key lyrical edits along the way — for instance, “I’m from the ’70s, but you’re a ’90s chick.”
While the track might seem like an unusual choice for the “Blurred Lines” singer to tackle, he told MTV News that after an initial listen, he found he could relate to what the ladies have to say on the jam. “The funny thing is, I heard the song a week earlier, before the Icona Pop cover. And they ask you when you do this show … to do a song that’s within the Top 40 at the moment. And I thought, ‘What about that song?’ ‘Cause I thought the lyrics were very fitting to my relationship,” recalled Thicke, who is married to actress Paula Patton.
He continued, with a laugh, ” ‘Crash my car into a bridge,’ it’s a metaphor. I’ve been there many times in my relationship, so I felt like burning clothes and throwing things down stairs, crashing into a bridge — that’s all me, very me — and still loving it.”
While Thicke is a bit regretful he didn’t get the chance to record it before Icona Pop, he admits that his version wouldn’t have the same spunk. “Right from the first line, I was like, ‘I totally connect with that, sounds like I wrote it.’ It wouldn’t have been as much fun if I sang it,” he explained. “As you can tell, I always got to take it down the brown liquor path. It ended up being a nice song to do.”
In addition to continuing to heat up the summer with his and Icona Pop cover, he’ll next shoot his video for “Give It 2 U,” featuring 2 Chainz, Kendrick Lamar and maybe, just maybe, President Obama. Thicke’s Blurred Lines album will drop July 30.
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