Pharrell says ‘Blurred Lines’ ‘different’ from Marvin Gaye song

Does Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” sound too much like one of its disco-funk ancestors?

No way, says Pharrell Williams, who co-wrote and produced the Thicke hit.

Though it recently finished a 12-week run atop Billboard’s Hot 100, “Blurred Lines” has created plenty of controversy with its racy music video and lyrics that some observers have called “rapey.”

It’s also under fire from listeners who say the song rips off “Got to Give It Up,” the 1977 R&B jam by Marvin Gaye that, like “Blurred Lines,” prominently features a slinky bass line and the clang of a cowbell.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, Thicke disagrees.

PHOTOS: Unexpected musical collaborations

Last month, he, Pharrell and the song’s other creator, rapper T.I., filed a lawsuit asking a judge to determine that their song doesn’t copy “Got to Give It Up.”

“It was a preemptive strike against future claims from Gaye’s heirs that the song takes from Gaye’s composition without credit,” according to the Associated Press.

Now Pharrell has spoken about the perceived similarities between the two tracks.

“If you read music, all you have to do is read the sheet music,” he told the AP in an interview Thursday night. “It’s completely different.”

Gaye, he went on, “is the king of all kings, so let’s be clear about that.” (Pharrell also called the late R&B star “a genius” and “the patriarch.”) “And we take our hats off to him.

“But anybody that plays music and reads music, just simply go to the piano and play the two. One’s minor and one’s major. And not even in the same key.”

ALSO:

2 Chainz has a cookbook, and it’s brilliant

Review: George Benson toasts Nat King Cole at Hollywood Bowl

Watch the video for “Melodies” by Justin Bieber protegee Madison Beer

Twitter: @mikaelwood