Pharrell Williams sat down with Interview Magazine for their most recent issue and got really really deep with writer Dmitri Ehrlich and acclaimed professor of psychology and neuroscience to talk music and science, including Ramachandran’s explanation of why the N.E.R.D. album title Seeing Sounds can be more literal than most folks want to take it.
We thought you might get a kick of hearing Pharrell explain his reasoning behind the name of his group N.E.R.D. :
EHRLICH: Pharrell, your group, N.E.R.D, is an acronym for “No one ever really dies.” The Buddha, who was, in a way, also a neuroscientist, said that matter can never come from non-matter, and consciousness can never come from non-consciousness—meaning he felt there was a scientific basis for the principle of rebirth, because in the material world, everything we can observe transforms. Trees die and they turn into soil, the soil might run into the sea, the sea could evaporate into clouds, et cetera. So nothing really disappears. Is that what you meant when you said “No one ever really dies?”
WILLIAMS: That is what I meant, for sure, one hundred percent. I’m not sure what happens before you get here or when you leave, but I know that while we are here, we are these animate, mobile beings, and there’s certainly electricity flowing through our bodies. Interestingly, I’ll add, our bodies are about 75 percent water—much like the planet. There’s electricity that comes from us, hence dragging your feet across carpet and touching the doorknob, you know what happens?
EHRLICH: You get shocked.
WILLIAMS: Yeah, that’s right. And that’s energy! So there is proof. If you had to run a simple test, that’s the easiest one to do. There is electricity going through us. That is an example of one facet of the energy that we harness as beings.
When I was coming up with that name, I wanted to celebritize being smart, because I noticed that being a nerd when I was in high school was the corniest thing you could ever do. But for me, I was like, “Those are the guys that grow up and drive BMWs! I don’t get it!”
So I was like, “You know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna take my music and I’m going to slowly but surely punch away at that notion that being a nerd is not cool.” Being smart? I want to work that up, and that’s what our aim was, and I couldn’t find a better acronym.
Einstein said energy can’t be destroyed, it can only be conjured and spread—I’m not even sure if you can create it—and so therefore, if we know that our bodies are filled with energy, when the flesh dies, what happens to the soul? It’s gotta go somewhere. I don’t know where it goes, I don’t have the proof to speak blindly on the phone in this interview, but that’s it. That part I’m sure of: No one ever really dies.
We think it’s dope that Pharrell is promoting being a nerd, but do you agree with him that “No One Ever Really Dies”?
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nettie 7/29/10, 06:52:PM
I so love him!! He will forever be my crush!!!
James 7/29/10, 07:20:PM
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GUCCIFRAMES 7/29/10, 07:30:PM
@NETTIE
DONT COME FOR MY MAN! LLS
CAUSE IVE ALWAYS LOVED HIM!
AND THIS INTERVIEW CLEARLY SHOWS HES INTELLIGENT, AND YES I DO BELIVE NO ONE REALLY DIES WE JUST MOVE ON TO THE NEXT THING…FOR SOME WHO CHOOSE NEGATIVE AND EVIL THINGS LIKE THAT THAN YOU AFTERLIFE WILL REFLECT THAT.
therodt 7/29/10, 07:38:PM
He is correct. I don’t get why Bossip as a website you revel in the degradation and ignorance of black culture it is almost a caricature sometimes. This is enlightenment for a people who have been stuck in the dark cave. He is right.
STUPIDITY IS A DISEASE 7/29/10, 09:36:PM
uh was up with my comment not on post!?
I love Pharrell and his music.
Very talented and sexy n.e.r.d. I love his thoughts and yes, I do believe he is correct, except the percentage of water in our bodies. We actually have over 90% water, he didn’t count the brain!
I think he is sexy as heck and promoting the positive outlook that he has is what we as a black people NEED.
JUS SAYIN
Nina22 7/29/10, 10:54:PM
Wow pharrell how deep and profound. I’m so tired of this guy and his bullish. Does anyone even care or buy his albums
enlight 7/29/10, 11:08:PM
love skateboard p & glad that he’s willing to show that he can be intellectual. if i had the chance to talk to him, i would say that i DONT believe that we are automatically filled with energy or that energy naturally comes from us. However, we are conductors of energy, which is why it can seem as though we give it off. Because if you never drag your feet on the carpet & simply touch the doorknob, there is no shock. If your hand touches a power line but your feet arent touching anything grounded, nothing happens (i.e. birds)…because we are not the energy itself, but mere conductors. Just my two cents.
sholla21 7/30/10, 12:09:AM
Love Pharell. Cute, smart, talented fellow (minus the shaky falsetto, lol).
And I like N.E.R.D’s new song.
sunshynest8tdiva 7/30/10, 01:56:AM
He is right. We are all sources of energy. When our physical bodies die, I believe that our souls, or the core of who we really are, live on and eventually reincarnate. For more clarity on this subject read “Journey of Souls” by Michael Newton. Peace.
Dennisha 7/30/10, 07:07:AM
Umm.. He didn’t mean reincarnation– he means that we remain here in a variation of physical states, for ex: our bodies become part of the dirt when we die, which dirt is the medium for plants and some lifeforms to live, thus, we never really “die”…smh.. This has nothing to do with religion, it’s science
juliemango 7/30/10, 10:18:AM
Love the pic./I believe in transformation!!!
Hofstra 7/30/10, 10:32:AM
Love P , he is so calculated with his career that why he is still around !!
sunshynest8tdiva 7/30/10, 11:21:AM
Dennisha, I perfectly understand what Pharrell was saying…If you read my post, I prefaced by stating what I believe, and reincarnation doesn’t necessarily have to do with religion.
MISS ALL THAT (IS IN THE BUILDING) 7/30/10, 09:11:PM
WELL DAMN SINCE WE ARE ALL ELECTRICITY HOW ABOUT WE STOP PAYING OUR ELECTRIC BILLS AND JUST USE OURSELVES AS A DAMN GENERATOR.. PHARRELL LEAVE THE DRUGS AND BROWN EYE ALONE DARLIN..
MISS ALL THAT (IS IN THE BUILDING) 7/30/10, 09:14:PM
DON’T BELIEVE THIS CRAZY SHIZ ABOUT ENERGY CAN’T BE DESTROYED!! DONT PAY YOUR ELECTRIC BILL AND WATCH THE ELECTRIC COMPANY MAN COME TO YOUR HOUSE AND DESTROY YOUR ENERGY IN ABOUT 2 MINUTES!!! OKAY LOL