"Six million people... that is a lot. To put that number in perspective, that's like if you took all of the people who bought a copy of Robin Thicke's divorce opera Paula and then added nearly six million more people." -John Oliver
I take a lot of Rolling Stone articles with a grain of salt now anyway, ever since they did that Elon Musk interview that painted him as a sad awkward little underdog who just wanted to help the whole wide world, gosh darn it. In retrospective, they kinda missed the mark on that one.
@@naranciagaming. Not _just_ subways; specifically one that exchanges the trains with a single lane of road where you can’t possibly overtake another car, meaning that not only does it cost a prohibitive amount of money to build, but it also removes the passenger throughput that justifies building such an expensive system in the first place. Truly a genius of our times!
Oh, so what they were actually saying is "Well at least he's not a wife beater, so in this industry that makes him a saint" Either the writer of this article pulled a Todd-stradamus or he called it.
Using little kids for a music video in an album all about trying to convince your ex-spouse to come back to you via emotional groveling is a special kind of slimy
Erica Joy Yup, although, I think she’s his current fiancé/baby mama to two of his kids. Who’s 18 years his junior. 😖 Dude really is just...ick, yet somehow, also extremely fucking cliché.
I remember when he did a Twitter AMA for this album. And someone asked him "Do you gel your hair with the grease from your own personality?" I've never seen a harsher burn.
What was Thicke's reaction to that burn? I can't think of a much harsher burn than that, other than the tons of comments people have made about the guy, saying that the views from this video have more views than this album had sales, and that's AFTER taking in ALL the sales that Todd showed this album sold in. Wow. Robin Thicke has been burned so badly, he's going to need the ENTIRE fire department to douse these flames, if they even can, that is. Don't even hate the guy, but holy shit, he's been burned BADLY, and also, I've NEVER seen someone's career come crashing down so damn fast before, dude/lady. It crashed at Super Sonic speeds. He crashed and burned so hard, even Sonic The Hedgehog is jealous, and asking him how he did it. But, to be fair, Sonic at least had a great movie. Don't think anyone cares about Robin Thicke...
Does anyone remember when Millhouse's parents divorced and the dad tries to win back his wife by producing a bad album? This album by Robin Thicke was that irl.
Damn! That sums up this whole album, "Paula", in 10 words: "I wrote a whole album about you". "I don't care". Damn! That's a savage rejection, if I've ever heard one. Especially from someone who he's been with since high school, and the main focus of said album!! Jeez, now that is so cold, I'm shivering from here!!!!! Holy Shit! Must've felt like a savage punch and kick combo to the face and balls at the same damn time! OUCH.
Robin Thicke is super easy to explain. If that's a cool, single, coked-out 19 year old guy, he's good. He'd be disliked by some, but by and large he'd skate through the controversy around the song. Probably have a career. Robin Thicke was 36 and married. Seeing a guy burst on the scene behaving that way at his age is off-putting on an instinctual level. He shouldn't be acting like that.
@@2-Way_Intersectionbingo! Another comment said that Robin Thicke gives off peaked in high-school energy and I think you pinpointed why that is the case.
Nah not really; as if a playboy edgy persona (on a celebrity actor or musician, or even a character in a movie) only works for a teenager? HELL NO. Plenty of dudes in their 50s and more were able to pull it off. It's just that no matter what HE does, he would never be able to pull it off.
My current theory is that Robin Thicke found a genie bottle and ask for a world smashing hit to make him famous, but it was one of those genies that works by Monkey Paw rules and that’s how he ended up with Blurred Lines.
I have never seen someone's stardom start and end as fast as Robin Thicke's. Blurred Lines simultaneously jumpstarted and _killed_ his career. That has to be a record of some kind.
In retrospect, "Blurred Lines" provided the most career benefit not to the man who sang it, but to Emily Ratajkowski, one of the topless models he danced with in the music video.
@@queenemma5823 Honestly if I was that hot I'd probably find it hard to be anything but being fake as hell, especially if you grow up like that (she was the popular hot girl in iCarly after all). People so clearly treat you differently and I feel like you'd have to be an incredibly naturally grounded person for it to not completely go to your head. Especially as a woman who are often owned and defined by their sexuality, rather than as a man who can sort of turn it on/off when needed
I saw Al this summer and it's in the setlist, got a pretty big response too. Bizarre how the parody outlives the original in terms of fondness/staying power
Reminds me of that "romantic" news story about the dude who brought a piano to a college campus to constantly serenade his ex. Dedication does not make his efforts un-creepy.
"Look at this piano, look at how hard I'm trying to be YOUR man baby..." "I said no, stop it mike! I dont feel the same, and Ive told you over and over-" Yeah I can totally see it. Yeah, that sounds a like a bad idea. Clingy and ignoring her feelings, trying to make a romance happen while shes standing there fuming. Almost as creepy as this Album...
@@contactfront5212 Yup the lyrics are kinda creepy if you look into them. Imagine an ex saying he would die for you over and over and how he loves you because he's willing to die for you. Even Bruno Mars couldn't save that fire
Given Robin Thicke has been outed as a wife abuser and possibly someone who beat his own son AND he's also had sexual assault allegations filed against him since this video was released (with the excuse "I was drunk", bc of course that's his excuse) this video is, somehow, nicer than Robin deserved, even as it cuts him to pieces.
Knowing that, it turns this from a massive pity party album to borderline psychotic. Like if this was a fictional, it would've been seen as a psychological thriller concept album. I can just imagine how disturbing this album must've been for Paula Patton.
@@Ukraineaissance2014this joke does not work with someone who has actual, serious things against them. this would work on someone who's generally a dick like bieber, not an abuser like thicke.
This is the kind of dislike/negativity I like on youtube. None of that overexaggerated "DRAMA ALERT LMAOOOO" shit you see on other channels. Instead it's just clearly Todd's utter disgust for this bizzare human being.
I don't know him personally but that's what comes out of it. The fact that he expand publicly his downfall so much is not a sign of mental stability or honesty and I am a divorce kid i know what I'm talking about.
Robin Thicke's behaviour all throughout this album and around how he promoted it becomes even slimier when you take into account that in 2017, Paul Patton was granted a restraining order from Thicke, along with sole custody of their child after she accused him of domestic violence and child abuse on top of the already pre-established infidelity. She's quoted as saying, "Given Robin's history of hitting me with a closed fist, pushing me onto the ground and kicking me, I had no doubt he was capable of hitting Julian (Their son), particularly after having used cocaine, alcohol or whatever other substances with which he is presently involved." Absolutely vile.
When I heard of that, the first thing I thought of was Ike Turner and how he acted towards Tina. And even Ike didn’t release an album asking for Tina to come back to him after they divorced!
@@pretorious700 There’s two sides to an argument? Huh, who’d have thought. Thanks for spending time in your day to tell me this, I’ll be sure to be even more skeptical next time, especially if a woman is involved
@@pretorious700 So the guy who's clearly obsessed with his ex-wife, enough to write a whole album about it, is universally considered a weird creepy guy and has a history of drug and alcohol problems... We should trust more? No I think I'll trust Paula more.
The fact that Paula ha not said anything about it, proves that she was the grown-up of the relationship, and is obviously the smart one, she's playing it shrewdly, by joining the rest of the world by ignoring his passive/aggressive, soft fart of a record.
And I don’t think she WILL say anything about this album, considering she filed a restraining order against Robin for herself along with her son and mother. And some of the causes include child abuse, domestic abuse, infidelity, and addiction. I looked into it, and if what I’ve heard about this is true, this is bordering on Ike Turner-levels of drug-fueled abuse towards her. And even Ike didn’t make an album begging Tina to come back to him after she divorced him and his abusive behavior came out.
putting your ex's name on the "break-up serenade" album is not a passive/aggressive move at all. It's the record equivalent of dancing while carrying boombox in the middle of rain at your ex's front house.
To be fair he was on Percocets at the time. Idk if anyone has experience with opiate addiction, but I can personally tell you, you don’t think straight and you do wild shit like make album named after the wife that is divorcing you because your a pos, and now your panicking needing your wife back because your an addict and you need that love so your doing more pills to cope with it and it’s just a mess. Have you ever seen Facebook posts from addicts who’s girl is leaving them or is out sleeping around? It’s the wildest posts you will ever see. That’s this album. A desperate embarrassing Facebook post
And here's the billion and first reason: the dark haired girl to the left at 0:13, Emily Ratajkowski, says he publicly groped her during the shooting of Blurred Lines. The director of the video confirms what she says.
I showed my dad this video because he loves Trainwreckords, One Hit Wonderland, and thinks Todd's a talented piano player (he also only knows Robin Thicke from The Masked Singer) and halfway through the video he said “I’m getting a headache, not from Todd, but because of Robin.” Which really, me too.
Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Thicke the unwise? I thought not. It's not a story being around past 2015 would tell you. It's an R&B legend. Darth Thicke was a Dark Lord of the Soul, so powerful and so wise he could use the jamz to influence the pop industry to create success... He had such a knowledge of the correct level of "controversial" that he could even keep the careers of the ones he cared about from dying. The dark side of the Soul is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural. He became so powerful... the only thing he was afraid of was losing his fame and notoriety, which eventually, of course, he did. Fortunately, his wife learned nothing he knew, and she divorced him, supported by TMZ. It's ironic he could save others from falling out of the public eye, but not himself.
I read somewhere, "If a man writes three poems about you, he loves you. If he writes thirty poems about you, he loves poetry." I think Thicke just loves attention.
Pharrell is half of a production duo that basically dominated the 2000s. Robin Thicke had one year end hit before Blurred Lines and nobody liked it anyway.
_Blurred Lines_ is permanently, irrevocably tied to a godawful point in my life. I work at a nightclub, where they play _Blurred Lines_ almost all the fucking time, to the point where I have to remove myself from the room until it's finished. So to have this video in my subs box, just as I'm about to quit the nightclub (I'm also doing a master's degree and need to focus on that), is not only poetic, but incredibly cathartic. Thank you.
I was working at a failing newspaper right after graduating from university and my career was already crashing and burning when this song got big so I feel this. It's a shit song attatched to a shit time which compounds the shittiness exponentially.
@@dcbandnerd I had just flunked out of college and had been forced to get a minimum wage fast food job (which played this song constantly as part of its "ambiance music") since no one would hire a college dropout with no work experience while being saddled with thousands of dollars of debt so yeah I feel ya. Felt like Robin Thicke's success was directly paralleling my own failures.
So the music video for that second single is forcing a bunch of children to awkwardly sing apologies on the same white screen where he was dancing with topless models a few years back?
When Todd said he just straight hates looking at Robin Thicke's face, my mother pointed at the screen and shouted, "YES! Exactly what I was thinking!" She never knew any Thicke man before this video.
"I'm poison. I come from poison, I have poison inside me, and i destroy everything i touch. That's my legacy. I have nothing to show for the life that I've lived, and i have nobody in my life who's better off for having known me."
The sax player at 12:02 killed me. Robin: "I'm livin in New York City!" Band: "Yeah!" Robin: "I'm livin in New York" Band: *knows to stay silent* Sax Player: "Y-" We've all been there.
Just did some quick googling and apparently Robin met his current fiancee (whom he has two children with) in the same year he released Paula (the album) and was separated from Paula (his ex wife). I guess he moved on fast😐
@@kimbooley90 Yeah, I read that she was 18 years his junior but I didn't know his age, so I couldn't guess her exact age, but I reckoned she must be in her twenties. If the picture Todd showed in the video is anything to go by, Robin seems to like his women young which is indeed a bad cliche. I wonder if he drives a red sports car too lol.
@ThatOneAsianBroChick Many people get into new relationships not long after ending a previous one. There's nothing unusual about that in of itself. It's the fact that Thicke, only a few months prior to meeting his current fiancee, released fremdschämen in music album form in an attempt to get Paula back that makes it a bit comical.
I work in a Target, where there's a generally solid cycle of music playing in the background I have gotten used to. The other day, I was astonished to hear "Living In New York" playing, which I wouldn't have recognized if it weren't for this video. I cheekily told my co-workers "Hey, did you know this is the Blurred Lines guy?" When the store plays songs with quiet, spoken-word openings, they usually go unheard. I've been wanting to hold a keen ear in case "New York" ever plays again, to see if we kept in Paula's awkward announcement of separation at the very beginning.
Living In New York City appears to have had some minor staying power for some reason. The footage of the song used in this video was from four years after Paula came out.
"Here, My Dear" was made to be a shit album. Marvin was COURT ORDERED to release an album and give his wife all the proceeds. There is no way it COULDN'T sound like that. You're literally listening to someone fulfill a legal obligation.
Wikipedia doesn't quite agree with this story and even though Wikipedia is not very reliable I'm inclined to believe them. This has always sounded like a myth to me. It is true that Marvin Gaye agreed to give up proceeds from his next album. But according to Wikipedia he did put in an effort to make a good album and was angry at it's lack of success. There would be easier ways to tank an album if that was all he wanted to do. I don't think he wanted it to fail to keep her from getting money (though that is what happened). I think it was more like "you'll get your money but I'm going to be as cruel as possible about it and air our dirty laundry for everyone."
@@warron24 I think it’s at least partly true, but probably exaggerated by the marketing department. Look at Got To Give It Up, that was a song deliberately written to be a shitty meaningless disco track, and it is glorious. I think it’s something he would say to tone the element of self-competition down like “Yes, it’s not gonna be What’s Goin’ On.”.
It just occurred to me that Paula says "I'm moving to New York." Like, to get away from him. Then Robin sings a song where he says "I'm living in New York City!" Don't follow her there you creep.
The Jumbotron thing is accurate. My dad proposed to my mom that way, and she hates being the center of attention. They divorced after over 15 years since he was a total dick to her, and to me and my brother.
It's the type of situation that really shows someone who will ignore boundaries and use manipulation to get others to do what they want. It's a really big red flag that shouldn't be ignored. Sorry you all went through that. I'm glad you all got out.
I can’t be the only one who finds it extra creepy that there’s a recording of his wife saying “I’m leaving for New York” immediately followed by a song called “I’m moving to New York” Stalk Much?
Black people knew him well before Blurred Lines and knew he was married to Paula. So the BET Awards performance was well contextualize for us. Hence, the laughing.
The thing that makes this album hilarious is that its allegedly about getting his woman back, but its all about him. He talks constantly about himself. Bad angle to take dude.
Plus he met his current fiancee the same year he released said album, who is nearly 20 years his junior and he now has 2 children with...dude moved on damn fast for someone who wanted his ex wife back that much
I'm surprised you didn't mention the domestic abuse allegations that Paula Patton made during child custody negotiations which resulted in the judge granting her family a restraining order.
Kinda guessed it when he says "I shouldn't have raised my voice" in the clip of that song, it's usual with abusers who 'admit' to the lesser behaviours. If he admits of having 'raised his voice' he probably has done worse.
@Frank Rauen it really depends on the kind of social work to determine how much weight it would have and it cant be taken up in court as evidence, plus every country is different, but lots of social sciences fields use cues like that to build on or for security data and what have you. a field you would see it in more is police interrogation
Paula failed because Robin Thicke learned exactly nothing from what happened to him. Usher realized that 'oh hey I messed up' and he owns it and apologizes and basically goes 'I was wrong please forgive me.' Robin Thicke meanwhile, makes it all about him, like it's his choice whether or not they get back together. It's all about him 'fixing the problem' like he's in control of the situation, like he can fix her being mad at him. Robin Thicke has always been self obsessive, but that's a really huge difference. Usher puts everything in his former lover's court because he realizes it's her choice over him. Robin can't seem to grasp that whether or not his lover gets back with him isn't his choice, and every song is about him getting her 'back.' That's not how it works. It's not all about your needs, Robin. In that context, a song like Blurred Lines reads more like Robin not understanding that women can make choices themselves.
It’s also telling that, in a lot of the songs on PAULA, at least many of the actual “romantic” ones, Thicke doesn’t even have it in him to say the words “I’m Sorry”. You know, the most basic thing you’d want to include in a song that’s meant to be apologizing to someone. I mean, if you’re THAT desperate to get her back, maybe saying “I’m Sorry” could at least help rather than just saying “Come Back”.
@@heymistercarter. Like someone else said, it's Emotional Blackmail: The Album. He's not apologising, he's trying to make Paula feel bad for leaving him.
14:43 the line "yelling and screaming and smacking me, 'how can you do this, you spoiled little rich kid'" goes hard ngl On one hand I wish it came out of literally anyone else's mouth but on the other hand I get so much schadenfreude hearing it come from him
530 copies of this sold in the first week in the UK. I feel immensely proud of my country men and women. Then I remember that they also gave Lil Dicky a number one hit and my pride disappears.
Really I just find this album extremely disturbing, emotionally manipulative and gross. Especially “Get Her Back”. If my ex did that after I left, I’d be nervous
@Frankie K Yeah, esp with the whole 'This is only the beginning' message at the end of the video, which sounds kinda threatening. Luckily it's a threat that backfired big time for Robin :P
@@mish375 Nah he would. He has talent. He likely wouldn't be a star, but he absolutely has the talent to be a songwriter. At least when he isn't high off his ass, and has his head on straight.
Great point. "Get Lucky" was an amazing song. Blurred Lines should've just been forgotten, like Robin Thicke's career. Thicke should've just been a one hit wonder with Blurred Lines, and nobody should've EVER talked about the guy again, outside of this episode of "TrainWreckords", obviously. But, think of it like this, people, if we didn't have Blurred Lines, we may never have gotten the amazing parody version of this song, by Weird Al, which was known as "Word Crimes", aka, the GOOD version of Blurred Lines.
Freaky Mutant Man I just dropped in and turned up the sound and you are correct. Someone does say “oh, please.” When you just click the link it queues in within 10ths of a second after the sighing. Man, this gets worse with each viewing.
Because it's not about her. Robin wasn't doing this because he was trying to earnestly repair their relationship, he was trying to publicly air out their issues (while sanitizing just how bad he really was) to pressure her to come back to him. Again, it's like Todd mentioned about proposing to someone on a Jumbotron, it's being played off as romantic but there's an undercurrent of "she won't reject me because then she'll be the bad guy in front of everyone." Joke's on him, no one bought either his album or his act.
His ex-wife is mixed race (partially Black for that matter)... so that’s super unfortunate. Why did he think it was an amazing idea to sing Jungle Fever to her, why Robin, why?
Yep; you're right; as It actually makes that song sound EVEN MORE DISTURBING than it already was! And/or; like the "Kidz Bop" version of ITSELF. It's THAT creepy, and blindsides you, even when you know Todd's going to bring it up in this video; because of how creepy and legitimately disturbing the whole thing is; the choir of kids singing actually makes that song sound even MORE disturbing; and Robin Thicke just plain sounds drunk as all hell singing it too, also not good. A 0/5 from me for the song; and like; a 1/5 for the entirety of "Paula". Yeah, the whole thing is just creepy; would've made a great soundtrack for a horror movie, or horror game though...don't you think?
Other S-Tier Todd vids: - "Someone You Loved": This is him tearing into a song at his best, picking apart everything wrong with the song systematically and accompanying it with his best zingers yet. - "Scatman": Admittedly a lot of the credit goes to Scatman himself for being the coolest thing that's ever existed, but still. A brilliant musician and man, given the love he deserves from a normally pretty jaded critic. - "Be Here Now": The video is ok as a whole, but that ending... that ending. - "Best Song Ever": It's funny that he says he blew it, when the best thing a critic can do is admit that they're wrong. And hell, he did the impossible of making me appreciate a One Direction Song.
@@brifox So many excellent ones. I think virtually every Trainwreckords episode qualifies except maybe the Cher and Allman and the Hootie ones. And those are still great.
21:24 Jesus Christ, Robin’s FROM Canada...that means even with the infamous Canadian broadcasting laws to support local talent, which I’m assuming means big acts that crossed over are even more eponymous there (Drake, Weeknd, Bieber, Shawn Mendes, etc), they STILL wouldn’t touch this one.
Robin Thicke decided it was a good idea to do a Twitter #AskThicke Q&A after releasing this POS, and it went just as well as you expected. He was pounded into oblivion with questions like: * On a scale of R. Kelly to Phil Spector, how do you intend to get her back? * If one of your songs played in a forest and no one was around to hear it would it still be sexist and gross? * Can blurred lines apply to other scenarios, or is it used just to force women into bed because that's all they're good for? * Do you know the line you'll have to sign on the divorce papers won't be blurred? * What form of sexual or emotional abuse will you be normalising in your next jaunty hit? I'm so glad Paula left his sorry douchebag ass.
Thicke definitely comes across as a narcissist though. Not only did he think it was a great idea to make a public album to emotionally blackmail Paula into getting back together with him, the lyrics show no vulnerability or understanding of his wrongs the same way Usher's Confessions did. It rings hollow and cheap.
In the three days that this video has been out, I have re-watched it countless times. This is not only one of the best Trainwreckords episodes you've done so far, but one of the best videos you've made, period. The gravity and disgust in your voice through the intro, the struggle between you genuinely being unsure if the album is good or really terrible, the sources you quote from and the links you make to Usher and Marvin Gaye's albums, all culminates in a video that is enthralling and worth multiple views. As a fellow music geek, this honestly makes me want to try my hand at making something like this someday. This is incredible and I think this episode proves how great a concept the Trainwreckords show really is. Please keep making these, because I think music criticism depends on a voice like yours. Thanks for the awesome episode.
@@RiffChris Definitely in my list of the "Top 10 BEST Trainwreckords Episodes". And pretty much every Trainwreckords episode is amazing; and always has at least ONE actually; good song worth listening to, even this one; despite how awful Robin Thicke is as a person and as a musician.
Perform a song about infidelity. Commit infidelity. Release an "I'm sorry album" to win back his wife. Disappear from the limelight when it doesn't work. Sounds like a plan.
@@LukeLeonettiRUclips the THICKE system T - take the hand and the heart of a beautiful girl in marriage, make her fall in love with you H - harbour and cultivate dirty thoughts of cheating on your wife I - infedelity. Go he an asshole and cheat on your loving wife C - come to jesus moment. Realise you're an asshole and write a whole pathetic album trying to win your wife back K - kill your career with that terrible album and kill your reputation permanently E - exit quietly to never be seen again, nobody noticing because nobody cares about you anymore.
Honestly if he called this album Stages of Grief and rebranded it as a breakup album maybe it would have done better. He could have grouped the songs together based on the stage they represented because listening to the songs they do clearly represent the stages of grief.
@@Flowtail thanx. in all the coverage media has done on that moment with Robin & Miley, its all i could ever stare at. dont kno why but its funny to me😃
What I really appreciate about Todd, is that most people (myself included) would've been perfectly content with him just mercilessly ripping Thicke apart, but not only do we get some historical perspective here (on Thicke's own career, but also "Confessions" and "Here, My Dear"), but Todd even admits some of Thicke's songs here are pretty good! Todd really insightfully articulates how a multitude of factors, partially Thicke's own persona, the lack of appeal to old and new fans, and the overall mixed tone of the album, led to its decline. Anyway, I've been watching Todd for years now (since before the original "Blurred Lines" review in fact) and just wanted to speak up about my admiration.
Not helping Robin's case is what happened on July 15. "Weird Al" Yankovic releases "Mandatory Fun," his fourteenth and final album. Slotted on track five is "Word Crimes," a parody of "Blurred Lines." This same song was also second up in his "8 Videos in 8 Days" campaign. And if given a choice between Robin Thicke and Weird Al, no prizes for guessing who loses. Just like the point in the "Zingalamaduni" episode about how "if people are forced to choose between Snoop Dogg and you, you lose. Every single time!"
EXACTLY. This didn't seem like he was trying to repair his broken relationship, but a publicity stunt to sell more copies of his failed album. Which, no matter how you look at it, it just straight up failed. Granted, some of these songs don't sound that bad, you know, as far as the beats themselves go, it's composed ok, I guess. Nothing special, but nothing worth listening to either. It all sounds kinda samey really. I mean some of these songs would sound better if they weren't performed by a coked off his ass moron like Thicke in the first place though...
Dude, I noticed that during that pause during the BET awards, some people laughed. Like "wait, is he seriously failing to look sad this badly?" kind of laughter.
I always heard about this album bombing, but I never knew that the sale numbers were that painfully bad. The emotional manipulation of his songs and promotions most likely didn't help. I really love your Trainwreckords series. It's such an interesting way to provide full attention on specific artists' careers and histories.
“I’m living in New York City” has EVERYTHING to do with the break up, he legit included a quote from her that said she was moving to New York! HE FOLLOWED HER TO NEW YORK!!
Oh, that's creepy. He clearly was NOT over the breakup, if he straight up FOLLOWED his ex to NY! Dude, what the serious FUCK?! That's what that song's about!? Shit, it sounded kind of catchy too. A shame it had to come from a creepy, scummy piece of shit stalker like Robin Thicke-Head. If that album had come from someone who wasn't a complete piece of shit of a human being, maybe I would've bought it. That is NOT how you sell your grief or misery, dude!!!! Not at all!!! Completely missed the point there, Robin Thick-Head!! Is that even the creepiest song, relationship-wise, off the album? Or are they all that creepy? I mean, "Get Her Back", at least almost sounded convincing, but was very creepy too. I guess "Forever Love" comes the closest to being called a "good" song? If it weren't being performed by someone who wasn't trying to emotionally manipulate people, I think it may have been something good, but probably not. You can polish a turd until it shines, but then, all you got is a shiny turd.
I think Todd meant that purely in terms of lyrical content, it doesn’t have much to do with his divorce. And when you compare it side-by-side with songs like “Get Her Back” or “The Opposite of Me,” then yeah, “Living in New York” doesn’t have much to do with the breakup. It’s just your bog-standard “New York is the coolest place ever and I love it here (despite it being expensive and crowded)” and out of context, it just sounds like he saw some hot chick at the club and was like “hey, you’re hot, I’m hot, let’s go be hot around town together” and I think he briefly mentions first responders for some reason?? Like with many of the songs on the album, though, it’s creepy as fuck in context.
@@dontbefatuousjeffrey2494 I think maybe that was the original name of the song, before realizing that "I'm Livin In New York City" sounded better to the audience there, who knows? I mean, he did LOOK like he was emotionally manipulating people with his performance of the closer song of his album, "Paula". That, "Forever Love" song. Which, if it weren't performed by a scummy asshole, could've been a pretty good, heartbreaking song to end on. Musically, or visually, it looks nice, I guess? Not the worst fond goodbye song I've ever heard. But, not much really. Maybe worth like, a 3 out of 5, at best.
I swear man, I have watched through every episode of One Hit Wonderland & Trainwreckords so many times, & hearing you say "People did NOT like to see this guy happy" I audibly laugh out loud. This episode, the Edgar Winters episode, & the Oasis episode are by far my favorites of Trainwreckords. Absolute classics.
i'm _obsessed_ with this video i just love watching robin thicke (and people like him) fail the only reason this album exists is to try to publicly manipulate paula patton into returning to him while simultaneously downplaying his own physical and emotional abuse and making her look like the bad actor in the relationship (by ignoring his public advances, by shaming her for a suicide attempt in "black tar", and my guess is the texts in the "get her back" video are almost certainly real) all it did was cement himself as an abuser and make everyone realize what paula did - that she deserves better this video is not just about a bad album, it is something that everyone should watch because it is a way to understand the hallmarks of an abusive person through the context of music
It is so surreal watching Todd critique something he already reviewed back in the day, yet so satisfying, especially with the added context of hindsight. Great work!
Paula not acknowledging the album at all speaks volumes in way a scathing public shutdown never could. The best revenge is to pretend it doesn’t even exist
"I'm moving to New York" and immediately starting being a completely dance song with no relation to that sample or the context of the album is so funny
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
>obliterate my longtime relationship
>dance on my tippy toes
>my tippy toes
>refuse to elaborate
>leave
>for New York
>be the opposite of me
>refuse to be relevant
>Leave
Hahaha!
This is the best xoneent
>be horrible person
>guess she wants not this
>you took a bunch of pills but its cool
>leave
"Six million people... that is a lot. To put that number in perspective, that's like if you took all of the people who bought a copy of Robin Thicke's divorce opera Paula and then added nearly six million more people."
-John Oliver
Goddamn savage
If this was said on Last Week Tonight, I don't remember it but that absolutely sounds like something John Oliver would say :)
Link please?
John Oliver, always there when you need a good quote.
@@Sheepy007 My thanks, Sheepy.
The article that called him "gentlemanly" also contains the words "In an era when Chris Brown remains a sex symbol..." so make of that what you will
Oh lord
I take a lot of Rolling Stone articles with a grain of salt now anyway, ever since they did that Elon Musk interview that painted him as a sad awkward little underdog who just wanted to help the whole wide world, gosh darn it. In retrospective, they kinda missed the mark on that one.
@@jbwarner8626 but he invented subways 😰
@@naranciagaming.
Not _just_ subways; specifically one that exchanges the trains with a single lane of road where you can’t possibly overtake another car, meaning that not only does it cost a prohibitive amount of money to build, but it also removes the passenger throughput that justifies building such an expensive system in the first place.
Truly a genius of our times!
Oh, so what they were actually saying is "Well at least he's not a wife beater, so in this industry that makes him a saint"
Either the writer of this article pulled a Todd-stradamus or he called it.
This album feels like hearing someone talk about their custody battle at the grocery store
And you’re the cashier.
Because you can’t walk away, and that makes it WORSE.
Omg i did notice that one time, it was indeed awkward and influenced a lot of my view of people.
Using little kids for a music video in an album all about trying to convince your ex-spouse to come back to you via emotional groveling is a special kind of slimy
Did... Did the crowd laugh at him when he pretended to get emotional at the BET Awards?? Lmao
I thought I heard one very loud cackle.
@@ezwriter5589 it was great
RIGHT? I NOTICED THAT TOO..I bet even they realized this was some phony bullshit
I heard the sound of multiple people laughing. They know it and they're loving how terrible it is.
Oh my God! I didn't even notice that until you mentioned it. 😂
"I wrote this album to convince my wife to come back to me. Now watch as another woman sensually strokes my bare chest in this music video!"
Yes! I was thinking the exact same thing. 'Dude, what are you doing?'
Lol what a scumbag
If it weren't fer bad ideas, he'd have no ideas at all.
Perfectly worded Hieronymus!
Erica Joy Yup, although, I think she’s his current fiancé/baby mama to two of his kids. Who’s 18 years his junior. 😖 Dude really is just...ick, yet somehow, also extremely fucking cliché.
How do you end up married to a Goddamn supermodel who also happens to be your high school sweetheart and you’re STILL not satisfied?!
Could’ve been a bitch, who knows
Cocaine is a hell of a drug.
Well he’s now with a chick that’s 18 years younger than him, got her to have 3 kids and still hasn’t married her 🤨
@@laughingwarlock Don't do drugs, kids, lest you end up a fucking loser like Robin Thicke.
@@laughingwarlockamen
Shoutout to that person that laughed IMMEDIATELY AFTER Robin Thicke did his little pause while playing the piano.
You can hear a “please!” in the crowd too, they were not buying it lmao
I remember when he did a Twitter AMA for this album. And someone asked him "Do you gel your hair with the grease from your own personality?" I've never seen a harsher burn.
What was Thicke's reaction to that burn? I can't think of a much harsher burn than that, other than the tons of comments people have made about the guy, saying that the views from this video have more views than this album had sales, and that's AFTER taking in ALL the sales that Todd showed this album sold in. Wow. Robin Thicke has been burned so badly, he's going to need the ENTIRE fire department to douse these flames, if they even can, that is. Don't even hate the guy, but holy shit, he's been burned BADLY, and also, I've NEVER seen someone's career come crashing down so damn fast before, dude/lady. It crashed at Super Sonic speeds. He crashed and burned so hard, even Sonic The Hedgehog is jealous, and asking him how he did it. But, to be fair, Sonic at least had a great movie. Don't think anyone cares about Robin Thicke...
Holy fuck.
No one can come back from something that harsh
😳😳😳😳
@@singulartrout I agree, dude.
Love at the BET awards how you can plainly hear a woman go. "Oh please!" when he does that little fingers-to-the-lips pause.
I love it, she’s not buying his shit, possibly from previous experiences.
@Psy Duck
Go to 17:12 to experience the (non) magic!
And a couple of laughs!
@@davidwoods8181 I was just about to say! That’s pretty bad, when he’s trying to give off how sad he is, and people respond by chuckling a bit.
Also the laughter lmfao - it killed me
This video has more views than the number of copies Paula sold.
That is funny to imagine. Especially since he beat those numbers in less than one day.
😂 damn
Pretty sure it now has more views than the number of copies Paula sold to date
This comment has more likes than the number of copies Paula sold in the UK first week
This video has had more likes than the number of copies "Paula" sold in the UK, Canada and Australia combined
Does anyone remember when Millhouse's parents divorced and the dad tries to win back his wife by producing a bad album?
This album by Robin Thicke was that irl.
Can I borrow a feeling?
Goddamn, another thing The Simpsons predicted
"Simpsons Did It!"
I sleep in a big bed with my wife.
Oh.
Can I borrow a feeling lol
"I wrote a whole album about you"
"I don't care"
THERE WE HAVE IT FOLKS
Damn! That sums up this whole album, "Paula", in 10 words: "I wrote a whole album about you". "I don't care". Damn! That's a savage rejection, if I've ever heard one. Especially from someone who he's been with since high school, and the main focus of said album!! Jeez, now that is so cold, I'm shivering from here!!!!! Holy Shit! Must've felt like a savage punch and kick combo to the face and balls at the same damn time! OUCH.
"I wrote a whole album about Paula"
"We don't care"
THAT'S ALL FOLKS
@@kevinwillems8720 🐰
*Loony Tunes end theme*
Robin Thicke is super easy to explain. If that's a cool, single, coked-out 19 year old guy, he's good. He'd be disliked by some, but by and large he'd skate through the controversy around the song. Probably have a career. Robin Thicke was 36 and married. Seeing a guy burst on the scene behaving that way at his age is off-putting on an instinctual level. He shouldn't be acting like that.
I don’t even remember writing this, but yeah pretty much
exactly, like, a 19 year old soundcloud rapper could make it work. they have time to grow out of it.
thicke was a grown ass man
not only are you completely correct but you also have a great username
@@2-Way_Intersectionbingo! Another comment said that Robin Thicke gives off peaked in high-school energy and I think you pinpointed why that is the case.
Nah not really; as if a playboy edgy persona (on a celebrity actor or musician, or even a character in a movie) only works for a teenager? HELL NO. Plenty of dudes in their 50s and more were able to pull it off.
It's just that no matter what HE does, he would never be able to pull it off.
My current theory is that Robin Thicke found a genie bottle and ask for a world smashing hit to make him famous, but it was one of those genies that works by Monkey Paw rules and that’s how he ended up with Blurred Lines.
This comment is amazing 😂😂
Asshole genie, cursed monkey paw, or extremely picky demonic lawyers have got to be the top 3 most likely possibilities for sure!
@Artemis Wolf Granted, though, Robin messed up his own life by cheating on Paula, not through some insidious curse. His bad fortune was his own doing.
Why don’t you just say he found a monkey paw? Instead of a genie that works by monkey paw rules lol
Maronator K Why did you feel the need to correct a RUclips comment making a joke just because it wasn’t structured to your liking?
.... Idk preference
"Too handsome and charming enough to relate to, but not really handsome or charming enough to admire." I am totally going to steal that.
So fucking brutal lmao
@@player6769 Brutal, but ultimately the truth.
It's an effective way to sum certain people up. Sometimes people fall in the bad spots between categories.
Me too
He really should’ve been comparing Thicke to DeCaprio
I have never seen someone's stardom start and end as fast as Robin Thicke's.
Blurred Lines simultaneously jumpstarted and _killed_ his career.
That has to be a record of some kind.
Yeah, this could just as easily have been a One-Hit Wonderland episode.
If that isn't a record, then the low sales of this record certainly are.
What about Cobra Starship?
@@adriandanrico3535
'Send My Love To The Dancefloor.' was their best song. Even had a theme for a movie that was literally made from a meme.
@@adriandanrico3535 What happened with Cobra Starship? I just thought they were a simple one hit wonder.
Fun Fact: The video has more views than 9 of the songs from this album on Spotify.
I wonder how many of the Spotify listens came from people watching this video and liking one of the songs they heard.
OOF.
@@sagecolvard9644 What if the boost in numbers also boosts Robin's confidence, causing him to make a comeback sparked by Todd
That's honestly sad...
@@isetmfriendsofire Toddstradamus strikes again lmao
"He just _seemed_ like a douchebag" is probably the best first line of any Todd review to date. It really does sum up the whole story.
He just smelled like my €#%^##%€
It's an absolutely fire opening line.
In retrospect, "Blurred Lines" provided the most career benefit not to the man who sang it, but to Emily Ratajkowski, one of the topless models he danced with in the music video.
Colonel Green true, but she’s insufferable and fake as hell imo
@@queenemma5823 also fyre fest
Also the other girl in the music video married Matt Bellamy of Muse this year.
@@queenemma5823 Honestly if I was that hot I'd probably find it hard to be anything but being fake as hell, especially if you grow up like that (she was the popular hot girl in iCarly after all). People so clearly treat you differently and I feel like you'd have to be an incredibly naturally grounded person for it to not completely go to your head.
Especially as a woman who are often owned and defined by their sexuality, rather than as a man who can sort of turn it on/off when needed
@@MikoyanGurevichMiG21 So she traded one bad singer for another...
Its bizarre to see Todd doing a historical retrospective on something that happened after he started reviewing
Oh shit....
It’s kinda like Internet Historian with The Fall Of 76
@@ehmwhy Or like matt with his wha happun of anthem
He's been doing it for awhile now lol
@@ehmwhy No, it's not. The Fall of 76 was a concurrent event.
At least we got Weird Al's "Word Crimes" because of "Blurred Lines"
David Leary Weird Al can resurrect even the worst song.
Dude that whole album is excellent!
I saw Al this summer and it's in the setlist, got a pretty big response too. Bizarre how the parody outlives the original in terms of fondness/staying power
Mandatory Fun is such a good album. I honestly wish he released more full length albums, pop music demands to be parodied by Al. Ol' Town Road?
@@Becka_Harper Todd claims in the "Gangnam Style" review that he did not successfully revive "You Got It (The Right Stuff)".
Reminds me of that "romantic" news story about the dude who brought a piano to a college campus to constantly serenade his ex. Dedication does not make his efforts un-creepy.
"Look at this piano, look at how hard I'm trying to be YOUR man baby..."
"I said no, stop it mike! I dont feel the same, and Ive told you over and over-"
Yeah I can totally see it. Yeah, that sounds a like a bad idea. Clingy and ignoring her feelings, trying to make a romance happen while shes standing there fuming. Almost as creepy as this Album...
@@nomobobby not only that but he did this at college. Girl needs to focus on exams and now shes got someone who clearly cant take no for an answer
Sooooo, basically the music video for Bruno Mars’ Grenade? God if that’s not fitting...
@@contactfront5212 Yup the lyrics are kinda creepy if you look into them. Imagine an ex saying he would die for you over and over and how he loves you because he's willing to die for you. Even Bruno Mars couldn't save that fire
@@klear19634 bruh exams and college lol
Given Robin Thicke has been outed as a wife abuser and possibly someone who beat his own son AND he's also had sexual assault allegations filed against him since this video was released (with the excuse "I was drunk", bc of course that's his excuse) this video is, somehow, nicer than Robin deserved, even as it cuts him to pieces.
Knowing that, it turns this from a massive pity party album to borderline psychotic. Like if this was a fictional, it would've been seen as a psychological thriller concept album. I can just imagine how disturbing this album must've been for Paula Patton.
Hes Also been outed as Canadian
@@Ukraineaissance2014this joke does not work with someone who has actual, serious things against them.
this would work on someone who's generally a dick like bieber, not an abuser like thicke.
@@Ukraineaissance2014wow. You never truly know what evil lurks amongst us.
@@Ukraineaissance2014 CANADIAN?!?!?! 🤢🤮🤮🤮
Todds slow calm sentences just dripping with disgust give me life.
I'm glad I wasn't the only one who didn't notice that
This is the kind of dislike/negativity I like on youtube. None of that overexaggerated "DRAMA ALERT LMAOOOO" shit you see on other channels. Instead it's just clearly Todd's utter disgust for this bizzare human being.
same hahaha
Facts lol
he got venommm
You know perhaps the single most disgusting thing about this record?
It absolutely *STINKS* of someone only apologising because they were caught.
You captured in one line exactly why I hate it.
@Sidharth Rao Maybe Paula should make a cover of Take A Bow in retaliation
I don't know him personally but that's what comes out of it. The fact that he expand publicly his downfall so much is not a sign of mental stability or honesty and I am a divorce kid i know what I'm talking about.
To quote Rihannia from her 2008 song Take A Bow:
"Dont tell me sorry when you're not"
"You're only sorry you got caught"
its so obvious too that this album was made for that exact reason. max cringe lol
Robin Thicke singing jungle fever to his biracial black wife should have been Paula’s first red flag
Oh God-
He was 14... I can't entirely give him a pass, but I was initially afraid that he did it when they were in their 20s or something.
I think that’s too far - it was sung by a black man like?
@@sorryaboutmypfp6067yeha but when its sung by a white man it gets a different vibe lol
@@cadavercounty yh it’s a different vibe but it’s not like he wrote the song and then sung it for her.
17:11 you can hear someone laugh out loud and a woman say: "Oh, please!" among the light audience murmur.
😖😬
She knew it was contrived
More like shouted.
Was looking for this comment tbh
I didn't hear that until now oh my god!
Robin Thicke's behaviour all throughout this album and around how he promoted it becomes even slimier when you take into account that in 2017, Paul Patton was granted a restraining order from Thicke, along with sole custody of their child after she accused him of domestic violence and child abuse on top of the already pre-established infidelity.
She's quoted as saying, "Given Robin's history of hitting me with a closed fist, pushing me onto the ground and kicking me, I had no doubt he was capable of hitting Julian (Their son), particularly after having used cocaine, alcohol or whatever other substances with which he is presently involved."
Absolutely vile.
When I heard of that, the first thing I thought of was Ike Turner and how he acted towards Tina. And even Ike didn’t release an album asking for Tina to come back to him after they divorced!
@@pretorious700 There’s two sides to an argument? Huh, who’d have thought. Thanks for spending time in your day to tell me this, I’ll be sure to be even more skeptical next time, especially if a woman is involved
@@pretorious700 So the guy who's clearly obsessed with his ex-wife, enough to write a whole album about it, is universally considered a weird creepy guy and has a history of drug and alcohol problems... We should trust more? No I think I'll trust Paula more.
@@pretorious700 Hi Robin
@@Skrogansauce that's fallacious, an accusation as series as that needs serious substantiation!
The fact that Paula ha not said anything about it, proves that she was the grown-up of the relationship, and is obviously the smart one, she's playing it shrewdly, by joining the rest of the world by ignoring his passive/aggressive, soft fart of a record.
LOL. Ironically, I farted softly after reading this...
And I don’t think she WILL say anything about this album, considering she filed a restraining order against Robin for herself along with her son and mother. And some of the causes include child abuse, domestic abuse, infidelity, and addiction. I looked into it, and if what I’ve heard about this is true, this is bordering on Ike Turner-levels of drug-fueled abuse towards her. And even Ike didn’t make an album begging Tina to come back to him after she divorced him and his abusive behavior came out.
putting your ex's name on the "break-up serenade" album is not a passive/aggressive move at all. It's the record equivalent of dancing while carrying boombox in the middle of rain at your ex's front house.
To be fair he was on Percocets at the time. Idk if anyone has experience with opiate addiction, but I can personally tell you, you don’t think straight and you do wild shit like make album named after the wife that is divorcing you because your a pos, and now your panicking needing your wife back because your an addict and you need that love so your doing more pills to cope with it and it’s just a mess. Have you ever seen Facebook posts from addicts who’s girl is leaving them or is out sleeping around? It’s the wildest posts you will ever see. That’s this album. A desperate embarrassing Facebook post
@@blissfulinsomniac5711 That's not irony. That just coincidental.
And here's the billion and first reason: the dark haired girl to the left at 0:13, Emily Ratajkowski, says he publicly groped her during the shooting of Blurred Lines. The director of the video confirms what she says.
Wait, he did that?
@@Genma618 Doesn’t really surprise me if he did.
@Chunkietaprofessionals
decent people @Chunkieta
I showed my dad this video because he loves Trainwreckords, One Hit Wonderland, and thinks Todd's a talented piano player (he also only knows Robin Thicke from The Masked Singer) and halfway through the video he said “I’m getting a headache, not from Todd, but because of Robin.”
Which really, me too.
also, 550 for Robin Thicke in Canada is a fucking death sentence considering his Dad was one of Canada's BIGGEST ICONS
“I wrote a whole album about you”
“I don’t care”
The only appropriate response.
That's really should've been the thing to make him go "Maybe I SHOULDN'T do this"
Robin Thicke... Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time
Ikr
Robin Thicc
I always read his name as Robin Thickle.
Ciara I forgot he existed tbh
Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Thicke the unwise? I thought not. It's not a story being around past 2015 would tell you. It's an R&B legend. Darth Thicke was a Dark Lord of the Soul, so powerful and so wise he could use the jamz to influence the pop industry to create success... He had such a knowledge of the correct level of "controversial" that he could even keep the careers of the ones he cared about from dying. The dark side of the Soul is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural. He became so powerful... the only thing he was afraid of was losing his fame and notoriety, which eventually, of course, he did. Fortunately, his wife learned nothing he knew, and she divorced him, supported by TMZ. It's ironic he could save others from falling out of the public eye, but not himself.
Ironically, Robin should've taken the advice of Usher's ex: don't go chasing waterfalls, just stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to.
Ironically, Chilli also broke up with Usher because he cheated on her. Yeesh...
ohhh now I finally understand that lyric! Thank you Raymond Fagan
Sounds like he tried to have it his way and, judging by the album sales, got *nothing* at all.
@@dcbandnerd I guess he was just moving too fast...
@@nut311aman Snorting copious amounts of booger sugar will do that.
I read somewhere, "If a man writes three poems about you, he loves you. If he writes thirty poems about you, he loves poetry."
I think Thicke just loves attention.
I love this quote SO MUCH. Thank you.
damn. i gotta keep that noted.
And you know what kind of man loves poetry.
Poets.
Love this
That’s such a cool quote! Do you know who said it?
I stan whoever scoffed “oh please!” at 17:19
I still don't understand how Pharrell walked out of the Blurred Lines fiasco unharmed.
Pharrell is half of a production duo that basically dominated the 2000s. Robin Thicke had one year end hit before Blurred Lines and nobody liked it anyway.
"No thoughts head empty I'm just a silly little guy." -Pharrell circa 2014
"So true!!!" -America
Pharrell went "whoo!" and made the new "If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands." guy has that much charisma.
Talent
By making better songs maybe?
This feels like a true crime documentary, holy shit
Yay! A fellow true crime fan. 😃😊
Well he murdered his career.
_Blurred Lines_ is permanently, irrevocably tied to a godawful point in my life. I work at a nightclub, where they play _Blurred Lines_ almost all the fucking time, to the point where I have to remove myself from the room until it's finished. So to have this video in my subs box, just as I'm about to quit the nightclub (I'm also doing a master's degree and need to focus on that), is not only poetic, but incredibly cathartic. Thank you.
I was working at a failing newspaper right after graduating from university and my career was already crashing and burning when this song got big so I feel this. It's a shit song attatched to a shit time which compounds the shittiness exponentially.
Gawd, I hate that song!
I can’t stand Blurred Lines. Reeks of assholish-ness.
@@dcbandnerd I had just flunked out of college and had been forced to get a minimum wage fast food job (which played this song constantly as part of its "ambiance music") since no one would hire a college dropout with no work experience while being saddled with thousands of dollars of debt so yeah I feel ya. Felt like Robin Thicke's success was directly paralleling my own failures.
I worked in a shitty kitchen in 2013 and had to walk out of the room every time it came on the radio
So the music video for that second single is forcing a bunch of children to awkwardly sing apologies on the same white screen where he was dancing with topless models a few years back?
Big ol' yikes
the guy has balls honestly
@@mrboerger1620Too bad his balls are where his brain should be.
When Todd said he just straight hates looking at Robin Thicke's face, my mother pointed at the screen and shouted, "YES! Exactly what I was thinking!" She never knew any Thicke man before this video.
the way you described ben affleck in the beginning of this video is so accurate, he was basically the real life version of bojack horseman
Rina profile!!!
@@DeadpoolX9 idk much about his image back then but like he’s batman now so maybe his public image has changed a bit
@@MyChannel773 Eh
@@Materminds187 ?
"I'm poison. I come from poison, I have poison inside me, and i destroy everything i touch. That's my legacy. I have nothing to show for the life that I've lived, and i have nobody in my life who's better off for having known me."
The sax player at 12:02 killed me.
Robin: "I'm livin in New York City!"
Band: "Yeah!"
Robin: "I'm livin in New York"
Band: *knows to stay silent*
Sax Player: "Y-"
We've all been there.
Evan Reza I just noticed that and it’s amazing
That was his "Fugazi moment"
Mono-Doh!
You can even see his eyes widen towards the end of the shot, like "oh shit😳"
Left Shark Syndrome
Emotional Blackmail: The Album
Just did some quick googling and apparently Robin met his current fiancee (whom he has two children with) in the same year he released Paula (the album) and was separated from Paula (his ex wife).
I guess he moved on fast😐
Not only that, but she was only 20 at the time and he was 38. Now they have two kids together. Dude is such a bad cliche.
@@kimbooley90 Yeah, I read that she was 18 years his junior but I didn't know his age, so I couldn't guess her exact age, but I reckoned she must be in her twenties. If the picture Todd showed in the video is anything to go by, Robin seems to like his women young which is indeed a bad cliche. I wonder if he drives a red sports car too lol.
@ThatOneAsianBroChick Many people get into new relationships not long after ending a previous one. There's nothing unusual about that in of itself.
It's the fact that Thicke, only a few months prior to meeting his current fiancee, released fremdschämen in music album form in an attempt to get Paula back that makes it a bit comical.
ThatOneAsianBroChick “Allegedly” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there
ThatOneAsianBroChick wow!!! You found out about her sex drive on the internet 🤣.so, tell us more
I work in a Target, where there's a generally solid cycle of music playing in the background I have gotten used to. The other day, I was astonished to hear "Living In New York" playing, which I wouldn't have recognized if it weren't for this video. I cheekily told my co-workers "Hey, did you know this is the Blurred Lines guy?" When the store plays songs with quiet, spoken-word openings, they usually go unheard. I've been wanting to hold a keen ear in case "New York" ever plays again, to see if we kept in Paula's awkward announcement of separation at the very beginning.
Living In New York City appears to have had some minor staying power for some reason. The footage of the song used in this video was from four years after Paula came out.
... this exact thing happened to me at a target I went to within the past month.
I've got so many questions.
@@someguy3752 It's funky - like Todd said, it's a James Brown pastiche. A good funk jam will always appeal.
"Here, My Dear" was made to be a shit album. Marvin was COURT ORDERED to release an album and give his wife all the proceeds. There is no way it COULDN'T sound like that. You're literally listening to someone fulfill a legal obligation.
That's what my dad told me back in the day but I never fact checked it
Hence why it's called Here, My Dear lmao
That makes sense then why it would be bitter and spiteful. If it was a forced recording I can't see happy and well adjusted songs to come from that
Wikipedia doesn't quite agree with this story and even though Wikipedia is not very reliable I'm inclined to believe them. This has always sounded like a myth to me. It is true that Marvin Gaye agreed to give up proceeds from his next album. But according to Wikipedia he did put in an effort to make a good album and was angry at it's lack of success.
There would be easier ways to tank an album if that was all he wanted to do. I don't think he wanted it to fail to keep her from getting money (though that is what happened). I think it was more like "you'll get your money but I'm going to be as cruel as possible about it and air our dirty laundry for everyone."
@@warron24 I think it’s at least partly true, but probably exaggerated by the marketing department. Look at Got To Give It Up, that was a song deliberately written to be a shitty meaningless disco track, and it is glorious. I think it’s something he would say to tone the element of self-competition down like “Yes, it’s not gonna be What’s Goin’ On.”.
It just occurred to me that Paula says "I'm moving to New York." Like, to get away from him. Then Robin sings a song where he says "I'm living in New York City!" Don't follow her there you creep.
Yeah, im surprised Todd didn't noticed that, she moves away then the next song is about the place she moves into, like that is kinda effed.
The Jumbotron thing is accurate. My dad proposed to my mom that way, and she hates being the center of attention. They divorced after over 15 years since he was a total dick to her, and to me and my brother.
It's the type of situation that really shows someone who will ignore boundaries and use manipulation to get others to do what they want. It's a really big red flag that shouldn't be ignored. Sorry you all went through that. I'm glad you all got out.
Thank you for that Jungle Fever citation. That gave me a laugh when I needed one most.
I can forgive a lot from a 14-year-old kid tho
@@dwc1964 I think you misunderstood why that was funny. It's funny cause Robin is an idiot.
That was absolutely hilarious. Didn't even know that song existed..
I can’t be the only one who finds it extra creepy that there’s a recording of his wife saying “I’m leaving for New York” immediately followed by a song called “I’m moving to New York” Stalk Much?
Damn yes.
Eee noooo
ohhhh my god
Black people knew him well before Blurred Lines and knew he was married to Paula. So the BET Awards performance was well contextualize for us. Hence, the laughing.
The thing that makes this album hilarious is that its allegedly about getting his woman back, but its all about him. He talks constantly about himself. Bad angle to take dude.
Plus he met his current fiancee the same year he released said album, who is nearly 20 years his junior and he now has 2 children with...dude moved on damn fast for someone who wanted his ex wife back that much
@@gRinchY-op5vr 😬 holy fuck.
@@gRinchY-op5vr There is something odd about how fast he moved on. I bet he cheated on Paula with her.
@@Beaglegirl19 would not be shocked
Narcissism 100000 percent
I'm surprised you didn't mention the domestic abuse allegations that Paula Patton made during child custody negotiations which resulted in the judge granting her family a restraining order.
Heavens! I didn't hear about that!
Kinda guessed it when he says "I shouldn't have raised my voice" in the clip of that song, it's usual with abusers who 'admit' to the lesser behaviours. If he admits of having 'raised his voice' he probably has done worse.
@Frank Rauen lmao I'm not a social worker, of course they don't do it solely based on that. It's just a coherent sign, it makes sense.
@Frank Rauen cool
@Frank Rauen it really depends on the kind of social work to determine how much weight it would have and it cant be taken up in court as evidence, plus every country is different, but lots of social sciences fields use cues like that to build on or for security data and what have you. a field you would see it in more is police interrogation
Paula failed because Robin Thicke learned exactly nothing from what happened to him. Usher realized that 'oh hey I messed up' and he owns it and apologizes and basically goes 'I was wrong please forgive me.' Robin Thicke meanwhile, makes it all about him, like it's his choice whether or not they get back together. It's all about him 'fixing the problem' like he's in control of the situation, like he can fix her being mad at him. Robin Thicke has always been self obsessive, but that's a really huge difference. Usher puts everything in his former lover's court because he realizes it's her choice over him. Robin can't seem to grasp that whether or not his lover gets back with him isn't his choice, and every song is about him getting her 'back.' That's not how it works. It's not all about your needs, Robin. In that context, a song like Blurred Lines reads more like Robin not understanding that women can make choices themselves.
It’s also telling that, in a lot of the songs on PAULA, at least many of the actual “romantic” ones, Thicke doesn’t even have it in him to say the words “I’m Sorry”. You know, the most basic thing you’d want to include in a song that’s meant to be apologizing to someone. I mean, if you’re THAT desperate to get her back, maybe saying “I’m Sorry” could at least help rather than just saying “Come Back”.
@@heymistercarter. Like someone else said, it's Emotional Blackmail: The Album. He's not apologising, he's trying to make Paula feel bad for leaving him.
14:43 the line "yelling and screaming and smacking me, 'how can you do this, you spoiled little rich kid'" goes hard ngl
On one hand I wish it came out of literally anyone else's mouth but on the other hand I get so much schadenfreude hearing it come from him
Makes me feel bad for Paula though, knowing the shit she had to endure
530 copies of this sold in the first week in the UK. I feel immensely proud of my country men and women. Then I remember that they also gave Lil Dicky a number one hit and my pride disappears.
The album reached the dizzying heights of #200 (literally the lowest possible number as best as I can tell) in the UK Album Charts.
Australian here. The fact Thicke sold 158 copies here… what can I say but lol 😂
Really I just find this album extremely disturbing, emotionally manipulative and gross. Especially “Get Her Back”. If my ex did that after I left, I’d be nervous
nervous would be a pretty big understatement tbh
I would keep a weapon on standby if I was the ex.
rue and her kazoo tru. I’d be scared shitless
@Frankie K Yeah, esp with the whole 'This is only the beginning' message at the end of the video, which sounds kinda threatening. Luckily it's a threat that backfired big time for Robin :P
Luna Paper yea that message freaked me out
Robin Thicke has such a massive "I peaked in high school" vibe to him, although he obviously would have success after high school.
Remember, Thicke''s only famous because his father was in the entertainment industry. If he didn't have nepotism, I doubt he'd have a career.
@@mish375 Nah he would. He has talent. He likely wouldn't be a star, but he absolutely has the talent to be a songwriter. At least when he isn't high off his ass, and has his head on straight.
@@Poshnoodles Yeah ghostwriter/songwriter vs being a chart topper is my guess.
Yeah, he'll tell you all about how back in high school he scored four touchdowns in one game!
@@Xarfax321 Robin Thicke technically had his first hit in 2007 called Lost Without You which became a year end hit 6 years before Blurted Lines did.
Payback for causing "Get Lucky" to stall at #2, I'd say.
BlueFox94 karma’s a bee
Both Daft Punk and Pharrell got their revenge in later years don’t worry
Great point. "Get Lucky" was an amazing song. Blurred Lines should've just been forgotten, like Robin Thicke's career. Thicke should've just been a one hit wonder with Blurred Lines, and nobody should've EVER talked about the guy again, outside of this episode of "TrainWreckords", obviously. But, think of it like this, people, if we didn't have Blurred Lines, we may never have gotten the amazing parody version of this song, by Weird Al, which was known as "Word Crimes", aka, the GOOD version of Blurred Lines.
Amir how?
@@samkodsi4458 pharrel got his first number with happy and Daft Punk got their first number one with starboy
"He wasn't always known as a douchebag. Rolling Stone called him 'gentlemanly'" - it's gotta be one of the best Todd's quote.
With the !?!!, LOL
I love how when he's singing to her that he wants her back, he has all these random women touching him in the video
Omg, somebody laughed during that awkward pause in Forever Love at the BET Awards. It starts about 17:11. Too much.
It just shows how manipulative it felt in the moment that someone had to laugh to cope with it!
I *swear* I can also hear someone saying something like "oh, please!" Not sure if I'm just imagining that.
Freaky Mutant Man I just dropped in and turned up the sound and you are correct. Someone does say “oh, please.” When you just click the link it queues in within 10ths of a second after the sighing. Man, this gets worse with each viewing.
@@EggmanDrCuckooMan Nope, I heard it too.
You could say he laid it on too *Thicke*
Robin Thicke must really hate Blurred Lines. The song that made him the most money, also ended his career and marriage.
He hates it all the way to the bank with how much it's still being played and used
How many of the royalties does he get after the lawsuit?
Didn't he ruin them himself ?
It ended his career, but he ended his marriage.
@@Ali_Rhodes oof
remind me again why this had to be a public album when his wife obviously wanted to keep their divorce private
Because Robin's just that arrogant. Robin Thicke has a big d...amn ego.
Maybe more Marvin Gaye copying. Gaye wrote Here, My Dear album about his divorce.
Because it's not about her. Robin wasn't doing this because he was trying to earnestly repair their relationship, he was trying to publicly air out their issues (while sanitizing just how bad he really was) to pressure her to come back to him. Again, it's like Todd mentioned about proposing to someone on a Jumbotron, it's being played off as romantic but there's an undercurrent of "she won't reject me because then she'll be the bad guy in front of everyone."
Joke's on him, no one bought either his album or his act.
Control. Robbie wanted control over the situation.
Jungle Fever is actually a really interesting composition from a harmonic perspective but uh
god don't serenade girls with that lol
Don't tell me what to do.
Especially not if the girl in question is a person of color. Like...ouch.
His ex-wife is mixed race (partially Black for that matter)... so that’s super unfortunate.
Why did he think it was an amazing idea to sing Jungle Fever to her, why Robin, why?
Not unless you happen to be Carlton Banks
"My Cherie Amor" was right there, too! That's a far better song to serenade girls with.
"Still Madly Crazy" should still not be sung by a choir of children.
Yep; you're right; as It actually makes that song sound EVEN MORE DISTURBING than it already was! And/or; like the "Kidz Bop" version of ITSELF. It's THAT creepy, and blindsides you, even when you know Todd's going to bring it up in this video; because of how creepy and legitimately disturbing the whole thing is; the choir of kids singing actually makes that song sound even MORE disturbing; and Robin Thicke just plain sounds drunk as all hell singing it too, also not good. A 0/5 from me for the song; and like; a 1/5 for the entirety of "Paula". Yeah, the whole thing is just creepy; would've made a great soundtrack for a horror movie, or horror game though...don't you think?
Personal opinion, this is Todd’s best video.
That closing line was deadly. Lol
Other S-Tier Todd vids:
- "Someone You Loved": This is him tearing into a song at his best, picking apart everything wrong with the song systematically and accompanying it with his best zingers yet.
- "Scatman": Admittedly a lot of the credit goes to Scatman himself for being the coolest thing that's ever existed, but still. A brilliant musician and man, given the love he deserves from a normally pretty jaded critic.
- "Be Here Now": The video is ok as a whole, but that ending... that ending.
- "Best Song Ever": It's funny that he says he blew it, when the best thing a critic can do is admit that they're wrong. And hell, he did the impossible of making me appreciate a One Direction Song.
@@brifox So many excellent ones. I think virtually every Trainwreckords episode qualifies except maybe the Cher and Allman and the Hootie ones. And those are still great.
It is definitely my most watched Todd video, and I've been watching him since 2014.
@@BonJoviBeatlesLedZep yeah all the trainwreckords are pretty great
21:24 Jesus Christ, Robin’s FROM Canada...that means even with the infamous Canadian broadcasting laws to support local talent, which I’m assuming means big acts that crossed over are even more eponymous there (Drake, Weeknd, Bieber, Shawn Mendes, etc), they STILL wouldn’t touch this one.
Robin Thicke decided it was a good idea to do a Twitter #AskThicke Q&A after releasing this POS, and it went just as well as you expected. He was pounded into oblivion with questions like:
* On a scale of R. Kelly to Phil Spector, how do you intend to get her back?
* If one of your songs played in a forest and no one was around to hear it would it still be sexist and gross?
* Can blurred lines apply to other scenarios, or is it used just to force women into bed because that's all they're good for?
* Do you know the line you'll have to sign on the divorce papers won't be blurred?
* What form of sexual or emotional abuse will you be normalising in your next jaunty hit?
I'm so glad Paula left his sorry douchebag ass.
What the actual f are these questions? Though, maybe it's best if I don't know now that I think about it.
mixed bag they’re the beatings upon an already dead horse
Ppl ruthless for this 😂 They whooped his ass as hard as they could 🔥💀🔥
Thicke definitely comes across as a narcissist though. Not only did he think it was a great idea to make a public album to emotionally blackmail Paula into getting back together with him, the lyrics show no vulnerability or understanding of his wrongs the same way Usher's Confessions did. It rings hollow and cheap.
did they get gordon ramsey to write these roasts for them? because there is no fucking way that twitter users came up with these all by themselves
What this album needed was Lars Ulrich's StAnger snare.
EVERY album needs St. Anger snare
@@miguelpereira9859 *every trainwreckords. imagine greg allman & cher album but with St. Anger snare
or madonnas american life rap
@@miguelpereira9859 DOMO ARIGATO MR. ROBOTO
(Domo!)
DONK DONK DONK
@@musyarofah1 I'd pay good money to hear that remix
In the three days that this video has been out, I have re-watched it countless times. This is not only one of the best Trainwreckords episodes you've done so far, but one of the best videos you've made, period. The gravity and disgust in your voice through the intro, the struggle between you genuinely being unsure if the album is good or really terrible, the sources you quote from and the links you make to Usher and Marvin Gaye's albums, all culminates in a video that is enthralling and worth multiple views. As a fellow music geek, this honestly makes me want to try my hand at making something like this someday. This is incredible and I think this episode proves how great a concept the Trainwreckords show really is. Please keep making these, because I think music criticism depends on a voice like yours. Thanks for the awesome episode.
Idk man.. I mean it was good but like.. it waa just "good"
@@sirdouglas.2870 nah this is one of his best videos.
Totally agree. One of Todd's best videos, and one that I keep rewatching!
@@RiffChris Definitely in my list of the "Top 10 BEST Trainwreckords Episodes". And pretty much every Trainwreckords episode is amazing; and always has at least ONE actually; good song worth listening to, even this one; despite how awful Robin Thicke is as a person and as a musician.
I hope you go into it soon!
Perform a song about infidelity.
Commit infidelity.
Release an "I'm sorry album" to win back his wife.
Disappear from the limelight when it doesn't work.
Sounds like a plan.
The DENNIS system
Plan failed! Retreat retreat!
Don't forget about losing a copyright lawsuit against him.
It's certainly not a great plan, but it's definitely A plan. :p
@@LukeLeonettiRUclips the THICKE system
T - take the hand and the heart of a beautiful girl in marriage, make her fall in love with you
H - harbour and cultivate dirty thoughts of cheating on your wife
I - infedelity. Go he an asshole and cheat on your loving wife
C - come to jesus moment. Realise you're an asshole and write a whole pathetic album trying to win your wife back
K - kill your career with that terrible album and kill your reputation permanently
E - exit quietly to never be seen again, nobody noticing because nobody cares about you anymore.
That intro was maybe one of the most somber things Todd has ever done. Not even a single joke.
4:16
Love this shot of Todd.
Like we get the what the shadow is emoting.
“👤”
5:21 a picture of Robin Thicke and his wife with PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale in the background is the funniest thing I've seen all day
Honestly if he called this album Stages of Grief and rebranded it as a breakup album maybe it would have done better. He could have grouped the songs together based on the stage they represented because listening to the songs they do clearly represent the stages of grief.
Maybe spend more than a month on it as well and make it more tonally consistent
Why was Robin Thicke dressed like Beetlejuice at the VMAs?
There are many mysteries that humans may never fully grasp
stripes hide the gut. notice the outfit is jus about one inch to tight just about everywhere. like a beer chugger who wears skinny jeans...
@@michaeliniga7958 oh
OH
that's good
@@Flowtail thanx. in all the coverage media has done on that moment with Robin & Miley, its all i could ever stare at. dont kno why but its funny to me😃
Right! Certainly didn’t help the cringe he gave everyone by dancing behind...whatever miley cyrus thought she was doing
What I really appreciate about Todd, is that most people (myself included) would've been perfectly content with him just mercilessly ripping Thicke apart, but not only do we get some historical perspective here (on Thicke's own career, but also "Confessions" and "Here, My Dear"), but Todd even admits some of Thicke's songs here are pretty good! Todd really insightfully articulates how a multitude of factors, partially Thicke's own persona, the lack of appeal to old and new fans, and the overall mixed tone of the album, led to its decline. Anyway, I've been watching Todd for years now (since before the original "Blurred Lines" review in fact) and just wanted to speak up about my admiration.
*sees Todd uploaded a Trainwreckords about Robin Thicke's Paula album* Oh man, dis gon b gud...
Not helping Robin's case is what happened on July 15. "Weird Al" Yankovic releases "Mandatory Fun," his fourteenth and final album. Slotted on track five is "Word Crimes," a parody of "Blurred Lines."
This same song was also second up in his "8 Videos in 8 Days" campaign.
And if given a choice between Robin Thicke and Weird Al, no prizes for guessing who loses. Just like the point in the "Zingalamaduni" episode about how "if people are forced to choose between Snoop Dogg and you, you lose. Every single time!"
If you want repair your relationship, you do it privately, you don’t release an album
EXACTLY. This didn't seem like he was trying to repair his broken relationship, but a publicity stunt to sell more copies of his failed album. Which, no matter how you look at it, it just straight up failed. Granted, some of these songs don't sound that bad, you know, as far as the beats themselves go, it's composed ok, I guess. Nothing special, but nothing worth listening to either. It all sounds kinda samey really. I mean some of these songs would sound better if they weren't performed by a coked off his ass moron like Thicke in the first place though...
"I just bought the album too"
- good to know that radio show host is one of the three people who bought the record
Dude, I noticed that during that pause during the BET awards, some people laughed. Like "wait, is he seriously failing to look sad this badly?" kind of laughter.
I always heard about this album bombing, but I never knew that the sale numbers were that painfully bad. The emotional manipulation of his songs and promotions most likely didn't help. I really love your Trainwreckords series. It's such an interesting way to provide full attention on specific artists' careers and histories.
Robin Thicke is like Justin Timberlake if he was your least favorite cousin's long term boyfriend.
Such a bizarrely specific image. And very accurate.
This is so fucking funny
Robin Thicke is like Justin Timberlake if he was your got-a-crush private tutor's BF/fiancee
Robin thicke is like if a guy SUCKED
17:12 u can hear the audience laugh and a woman say “pls no” 😂
Because Todd refuses to market himself, I will say that he has an exellent podcast called Song vs Song that I suggest you check out.
What?! THANK YOU!
Huh. I shouldn't have to find out about it this way.
Thanks! Just subbed there!
“I’m living in New York City” has EVERYTHING to do with the break up, he legit included a quote from her that said she was moving to New York! HE FOLLOWED HER TO NEW YORK!!
Oh, that's creepy. He clearly was NOT over the breakup, if he straight up FOLLOWED his ex to NY! Dude, what the serious FUCK?! That's what that song's about!? Shit, it sounded kind of catchy too. A shame it had to come from a creepy, scummy piece of shit stalker like Robin Thicke-Head. If that album had come from someone who wasn't a complete piece of shit of a human being, maybe I would've bought it. That is NOT how you sell your grief or misery, dude!!!! Not at all!!! Completely missed the point there, Robin Thick-Head!! Is that even the creepiest song, relationship-wise, off the album? Or are they all that creepy? I mean, "Get Her Back", at least almost sounded convincing, but was very creepy too. I guess "Forever Love" comes the closest to being called a "good" song? If it weren't being performed by someone who wasn't trying to emotionally manipulate people, I think it may have been something good, but probably not. You can polish a turd until it shines, but then, all you got is a shiny turd.
Well now I feel guilty for actually liking the song with how creepy that makes it sound
I think Todd meant that purely in terms of lyrical content, it doesn’t have much to do with his divorce. And when you compare it side-by-side with songs like “Get Her Back” or “The Opposite of Me,” then yeah, “Living in New York” doesn’t have much to do with the breakup. It’s just your bog-standard “New York is the coolest place ever and I love it here (despite it being expensive and crowded)” and out of context, it just sounds like he saw some hot chick at the club and was like “hey, you’re hot, I’m hot, let’s go be hot around town together” and I think he briefly mentions first responders for some reason??
Like with many of the songs on the album, though, it’s creepy as fuck in context.
Yeah, I thought of that too
I think that's just him lazily connecting this single to the albums themes.
Starting a song about living in NY with his ex wife saying she's moving to NY
Did he follow her there?!
He might as well have just called it "I'm a Total Stalker"
@@dontbefatuousjeffrey2494 I think maybe that was the original name of the song, before realizing that "I'm Livin In New York City" sounded better to the audience there, who knows? I mean, he did LOOK like he was emotionally manipulating people with his performance of the closer song of his album, "Paula". That, "Forever Love" song. Which, if it weren't performed by a scummy asshole, could've been a pretty good, heartbreaking song to end on. Musically, or visually, it looks nice, I guess? Not the worst fond goodbye song I've ever heard. But, not much really. Maybe worth like, a 3 out of 5, at best.
Didn’t think of that and that was the only song I actually liked in the album
I swear man, I have watched through every episode of One Hit Wonderland & Trainwreckords so many times, & hearing you say "People did NOT like to see this guy happy" I audibly laugh out loud. This episode, the Edgar Winters episode, & the Oasis episode are by far my favorites of Trainwreckords. Absolute classics.
i'm _obsessed_ with this video
i just love watching robin thicke (and people like him) fail
the only reason this album exists is to try to publicly manipulate paula patton into returning to him while simultaneously downplaying his own physical and emotional abuse and making her look like the bad actor in the relationship (by ignoring his public advances, by shaming her for a suicide attempt in "black tar", and my guess is the texts in the "get her back" video are almost certainly real)
all it did was cement himself as an abuser and make everyone realize what paula did - that she deserves better
this video is not just about a bad album, it is something that everyone should watch because it is a way to understand the hallmarks of an abusive person through the context of music
It is so surreal watching Todd critique something he already reviewed back in the day, yet so satisfying, especially with the added context of hindsight. Great work!
Paula not acknowledging the album at all speaks volumes in way a scathing public shutdown never could. The best revenge is to pretend it doesn’t even exist
Also, Confessions is a tour de force of talent tackling his shortcomings. Paula is some drugged out guy just wailing.
How do you make a soul album about your failing marriage so devoid of soul? It's almost impressive in it's ineptitude.
"I'm moving to New York" and immediately starting being a completely dance song with no relation to that sample or the context of the album is so funny