Banning the lines of music lyrics

Blurred Lines began as the party track of the summer — but soon became one of the most controversial songs of the decade. From Miley to Sinead, and now Lily, Suzanne Harrington looks at pop music’s latest brawl.

HERE’S a pop quiz for you. Is Robin Thicke’s song ‘Blurred Lines’ advocating non-consensual sex, or rape, as it is better known? Is Miley Cyrus empowered, or exploited? Should Sinead O’Connor have kept her mouth shut? And is Lily Allen’s new feminist video racist?

Let’s start with the first one. How bad does a song have to be to get banned by students unions? The answer seems a bit, well, blurred. In case you’ve missed the ongoing kerfuffle around ‘rapey’ R&B song ‘Blurred Lines’, released last July by non-household name Robin Thicke, here’s a catch up. The lyrics contain the phrase “You know you want it”, which some online commentators — specifically Tricia Romano of the Daily Beast — have interpreted as being very dodgy indeed around the area of sexual consent. Now around 20 students unions in the UK, including Edinburgh and University College London, have decided they don’t want it on their playlist.