"Marilyn Monroe" is a song written, produced, and performed by American musician

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

. It features additional spoken vocals from British TV personality

Kelly Osbourne Kelly Michelle Lee Osbourne (born 27 October 1984) is an English television personality, singer, actress, model, and fashion designer. The daughter of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, she appeared on the reality show ''The Osbournes'' (2002–2005) w ...

. The song was released on March 10, 2014 as the second single from Williams' second studio album ''

Girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary ...

'' (2014). The song's intro was written by American violinist

Ann Marie Calhoun Ann Marie Calhoun ( Simpson; born May 26, 1979) is an American classically trained violinist who has performed as a bluegrass and rock musician in a number of prominent acts, including Jethro Tull, Steve Vai, Widespread Panic, Dave Matthews Ba ...

, and it takes its name from the deceased Hollywood actress of the same name.

Composition

The opening track on Williams' second studio album, ''

'' (2014), "Marilyn Monroe" begins with an orchestral string introduction. The song's production is characterized by Williams' signature "skittering" beat and "bumping"

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line, and its lyrics discuss "helpless romantics and the perfect lady." Its chorus contains references to several female historical figures, including actress

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

, Egyptian queen

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

, and French heroine

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

. In the song's lyrics, Williams dismisses all three as " eaningnothing to im and laments that he "just

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a different girl."

provides spoken backing vocals on the song.

Release

In an interview with New York radio station

Power 105.1 WWPR-FM (105.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is an urban contemporary music radio station city of license, licensed to New York City. WWPR-FM is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts from studios in the former 32 Avenue of the Americas, AT&T Building in t ...

, Williams revealed that "Marilyn Monroe" would be released as the second single from ''G I R L''. On March 10, 2014, the single was added to the playlist of British

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...

radio station

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been cod ...

along with the Williams song "Brand New". Prior to its single release, the song had debuted at number 52 on the Dutch

Single Top 100 The Dutch Single Top 100 or Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales, legal downloads and since July 2013 streaming and composed by Dutch Charts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Du ...

chart. Professional dancer Khadija Nicholas was hired by Pharrell to pose for the single's cover.

Track listing

* CD single (Germany) # "Marilyn Monroe" # "Marilyn Monroe" (instrumental)

Music video

The music video for the song, directed by Luis Cerveró, was released on April 23, 2014.

Credits and personnel

* Pharrell Williams – lead vocals, songwriting, all instrumentation, production, executive production *

– songwriting *

– background vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{authority control 2014 singles 2014 songs Pharrell Williams songs Song recordings produced by Pharrell Williams Songs written by Pharrell Williams Columbia Records singles Songs about Marilyn Monroe American funk songs