Decoding ‘Friday’ by Rebecca Black

by iconmatthew1

It seems everyone under the age of 30 is talking about the music video to the song “Friday” by Rebecca Black that went viral earlier this week due to its absolutely atrocious lyrics, auto-tune sound and just plain strange video cues. So I’ve decided to break down the music video that I have watched over and over again for anybody out there who wants to know the truth about this video. Which has become an instant internet meme. But first if you haven’t watched it here is your chance…

Oh good, you survived watching that video. Actually I don’t find the song to be torture at all, it is easily one of the funniest things ever created, and apparently it is not a joke. Now when I write this article Rebecca has yet to appear on “Good Morning America” and explain to the country why this song exists, so I will say now even if she says it was a big joke we all know it wasn’t. There is a difference between something that is bad that is trying to be good and something that is bad but trying to have some fun with it.

Like most Americans this girl loves her some Friday.

“Friday” is trying hard, way too hard to be a good song, and it just isn’t. So let’s break it down:

Friday starts out innocently enough with Rebecca waking up in her Suburban home and being excited that its Friday! Honestly this is the only thing the music video got right, she wakes up hair is a mess but she has a smile on her face because well…its Friday! Then the song just goes downhill, first off its auto-tuned and while auto-tune has its place in the music industry even auto tune can’t hide bad singing and this wasn’t good singing. I’m not saying Ms. Black is a bad singer she just didn’t do well in this song, and maybe that was the transformer she was trying to hide in her vocal chords who knows? So then the music video shows its true colors, you know its going to be bad. She is standing singing and then out of nowhere she drops this set: Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal Seein’ everything, the time is goin’ Tickin’ on and on, everybody’s rushin’
Gotta get down to the bus….. stop.

And this is where the decoding begins and this innocent little song becomes more than that. “Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal.” There is a comma there, obviously a new thought has been created. Is there a subliminal message in here about toking it up before school? She never said she was putting the cereal in that bowl, she’s gotta have MY bowl. Even though I’m in college now and have my own set of dishes I never refer to them as my bowl. Food for thought people. Oh and that mentioning of the Bus stop? Well here is the next bit of lines: “Gotta catch my bus, I see my friends (My friends) Kickin’ in the front seat Sittin’ in the back seat Gotta make my mind up Which seat can I take?”

 

So I guess she won’t be taking the bus to school then? Her friends just pull up and offer her a ride, which is nice but then something really strange happens we just cut to night and she and her friends are driving around. I think the message Rebecca is trying to convey here is to skip school on Friday. I mean why even go when your stoned and are still munching on cereal. I’m not even sure if that car belongs to the driver none of these kids look old enough to be driving. Has the makings of a joy ride all over it. And why is Rebecca so concerned with what seat to take, she is the last one in the car and probably the smallest. I know what that means; you gotta ride the middle seat dear. But she really seems fixated on the seat to take. Is there a deeper philosophical meaning behind all of this? Perhaps her seat in the car represents where she is in life right now, or how she relates to her friends. It’s important to note all of her friends are white. It would have been interesting if they had thrown a black or Asian kid into the mix. Maybe she doesn’t want to sit in the back seat with the Latino kid? We’ll never know, socially conscious opportunity missed there. It could mean a lot of things, Rebecca is a deep woman we as people aren’t giving her enough credit. The more I analyze “Friday” the more deep I realize it truly is. Did I mention it gets deeper? “It’s Friday, Friday Gotta get down on Friday
Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend, weekend Friday, Friday Gettin’ down on Friday Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah) Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah) Fun, fun, fun, fun Lookin’ forward to the weekend!” You just read the chorus for this song. Do you feel confused? Maybe upset? Its okay just breathe deeply, because its going to only get worse from here.

So Rebecca and her friends are driving around and Rebecca is still obsessed with which seat to take. Is it really that important? Its not like she ever had a true opportunity to call shotgun. Rebecca and her friends are just driving around after skipping school jamming to music and standing up without their seat belts on. Rebecca doesn’t follow safety laws, ’cause she’s a thug! Just listen to her flow: “7:45, we’re drivin’ on the highway Cruisin’ so fast, I want time to fly Fun, fun, think about fun You know what it is I got this, you got this My friend is by my rightI got this, you got this Now you know it Kickin’ in the front seat Sittin’ in the back seat Gotta make my mind up Which seat can I take?” Wait a minute why does she keep saying that she’s got this? And that I’ve got it? Got what? Then it hit me, she is obviously hitting us with some subtle hints here about her Illuminati past. I’m sure the secret society had some weird correlation to the day of Friday and if they don’t some paranoid dude in his basement will make something up to connect them. I think she may be planning to pick off her friends one by one until she either is riding shotgun or is driving the car itself. She is just biding her time, waiting to strike.

Then the most disturbing and baffling thing in the entire song takes place. I wouldn’t believe it was true unless I heard it myself. “Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday
Today i-is Friday, Friday (Partyin’) We-we-we so excited We so excited We gonna have a ball today Tomorrow is Saturday And Sunday comes after…wards I don’t want this weekend to end.” Did that just happen? Did she just break down half the week for me? Its like I’m watching a very bad episode of “Sesame Street”. Is it really necessary to let me know that the day before Friday is Thursday? Then she goes further and says the next day is Saturday and that Sunday comes after. Yeah no crap Sherlock! I’ve lived through a week before, I know how it works. Is this girl serious? We we we we so excited? Whose excited? I’m so confused! Its obvious this girl skips school, we we we so excited that’s such bad English it wouldn’t be featured in a rap video. Speaking of which… as Rebecca Black and her friends reach a party of other 13 year olds with zero adult supervision the music video takes a turn from the worse to the down right creepy. Suddenly this random 30 something black rapper comes onto the screen driving in his car and he starts rapping: “R-B, Rebecca Black So chillin’ in the front seat (In the front seat) In the back seat (In the back seat) I’m drivin’, cruisin’ (Yeah, yeah) Fast lanes, switchin’ lanes Wit’ a car up on my side (Woo!) (C’mon) Passin’ by is a school bus in front of me Makes tick tock, tick tock, wanna scream Check my time, it’s Friday, it’s a weekend We gonna have fun, c’mon, c’mon, y’all!”

 

Who is this dude? He just appears out of nowhere, I’ve never seen him before is he serious? Why is a 30 year old black man in this video? I guess Rebecca has a black friend after all! And he can drive! Obviously this man knows Rebecca well enough to have a cute nickname for her, and it appears he’s coming to her party. That is beyond creepy, he is way too old to be hanging out at this party unless he is there to chaperon them. He is just so out of place in this white bread music video and yet it doesn’t surprise me. “Friday” pulled out all the stops to make the song as much of a hit as possible, and what better way than doing a collab with two unknowns? Its awful, but I’ll remember this man’s face for the rest of my life. Anytime he tries to do serious rap I’ll just be sure to point out that he was the guy who appeared in the Rebecca Black music vid. Was it really worth the paycheck dude? I hope so.

I feel a little bad making fun of this young woman, hey she’s just trying to make a living. But that’s also why I don’t feel too bad for her. People are downloading this song, people are sharing it, people are watching it. Sure its mainly because they find it ridiculous but honestly she is on the lips of so many people now and she will be making a pretty penny from this. Don’t feel too bad for her, now obviously some people have taken making fun of her too far, but I think I kept this well in the realm of fair game. Can Rebecca have a future in the music industry? Who knows, I feel she should could make a mark if she kept churning out songs like this. In the end we we we so excited for Friday too Rebecca, your video reminds us of that. Friday is a good day, Saturday is too. I’m so proud that you feel obligated to educate Americans on days of the week. So I salute you Rebecca do your thing even if we all just stand by scratching our heads and continue to wonder why you will get more press that a million great indie bands.

You can also watch a hilarious spoof video I was in of Rebecca Black’s “Friday” by clicking here.