By Maurice Bobb
Robin Thicke’s apology album, Paula, which is dedicated to his estranged wife, Paula Patton, was officially released for public consumption Tuesday (July 1), but there were still a lot of unanswered questions, the most important of which being why?
“The album is what happens when you lose the love of your life and you try to figure out in your head like, ‘How am I gonna move on?’” Thicke told Hot 97’s “Ebro in the Morning” show. “Because we weren’t together anymore, I had so much that I still wanted to apologize for and take responsibility for and that’s what the album is about.”
It was all good just a year ago, when Thicke’s single, “Blurred Lines,” rocketed to the top of the Billboard charts to No. 1. Unfortunately, the trappings of superstardom sometimes come with an exorbitant price tag.
“Last year was really just kind of a blur in many ways, no pun intended,” he said. “Everything happened so fast and you don’t realize all the things that come with it. I changed and I got a little too selfish and a little too greedy and a little to full of myself. At this point in our relationship, the only reason we’re not together is because of the choices I made.”
Those choices led to the dissolution of his nine-year marriage to his highschool sweetheart. It also led to an apology tour of sorts, with the lovelorn singer offering up songs like “Get Her Back” at awards shows and concert stops to win back the love of his life. The question remains, though: has Paula actually heard Paula?
“She hasn’t heard it,” Thicke admitted. “She’s only heard a few songs. And I don’t think she wants to hear it right now. I can’t speak for her, but I think space is an important part of any healing process.”
Part of Thicke’s healing process, then, is releasing this album and owning up to his missteps.
“I’m a man,” he said, when prompted about the meaning of the song, “Opposite of Me.” “I messed up and had to lie for a while and then I stopped lying and that was actually good for me because I was tired of lying. So this whole album is me revealing everything.”
One of the big revelations to come from his candid interview is that he and Paula really do live separate lives at this point.
“I try to keep most of that private, but I haven’t seen her for four months,” he said with remorse. “And you know, we cool, she’s the best girl in the world, a great mother and still a good friend. But I also want to wish her well and let her know that she’s a great person and she deserves to have a good life.”
Although visibly heartbroken from the breakup, Thicke admitted that the experience has been a learning lesson that has completely humbled him.
“When you lose your family, that’ll slow you down,” he said. “We’re apart because we just couldn’t be together anymore for awhile there’s a hundred different reasons, there isn’t just one. There’s a long list. Sometimes if you’ve been together that long, you kinda became adults together instead of being adults and then meeting. So maybe a year or two off, maybe we’ll become our own people without each other and then it will be meant to be.”
Until that fateful day, Thicke will continue to focus on setting things right, especially himself.
“My music is my therapy,” he said. “When I make these songs and I listen back to them, they make me feel good about myself because at least I’m admitting my faults, I’m trying to become a better man and better person, better father. This album is dedicated to her, but half of it is about my problems and me getting certain things together so I can be the kind of man that I wanted to be.”
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