Friday

Rebecca Black's song "Friday is a work of unparalleled genius.

Of course you retards don't see it you may never see it but I'm telling the truth. This is not a troll or whatever the kick you think it is. No. This song and its accompanying video represent one of the greatest works musical art I've ever seen. ranking right alongside anything Radiohead. Neutral Milk Hotel etc has ever done.

Why do I say this? Because underneath its bubbly. faux-happy surface is a seething cauldron of existential dread and despair. You've all missed the forest for the trees, and while you've been busy mocking it you've missed its brilliance. So let me take you through the video step by step and maybe at least a couple of you will begin to see.

Remember that these are just my own observations. after only a few viewings: this video is so multi-layered that unraveling its symbolism and meaning would take years of careful examination

We open with a production card and some building synths. As the music continues. we see a sort of calendar with flipping pages. Before we get to the lyrics. there's a couple things in this sequence worth pointing out. because they set the tone for the rest of the video and establish its overarching motifs. Firstly. Black appears here as a hideous moving drawing on the pages. moaning "yeah. yeah" in robotic. auto-tuned cadence. This startling image of the singer – and her voice -- both lie snugly in the very nadir of the uncanny valley. Ostensibly we are looking at a human. but it isn't close enough to what we recognize as human to inspire anything other than revulsion.

I think the director was trying to create a vision of the ''hyperreal" here. Like a sports drink with a flavor such as "blue mountain ice berry" that doesn't exist in nature. Black is a simulacra of something that never existed in the first place. Like so many American teens. she is attempting to live up to an ideal that's impossible to attain – outwardly succeeding in many respects. but never achieving self-actualization in any meaningful way. always feeling like an imposter. mired in a cycle of materialism and futile competition that serves no purpose She doesn't feel "rear and so in these opening frames she is presented as just that: an unreal monster. a horrible. ugly outside creation.

The artificiality of the music itself plays into this theme as well – I don't think there's a single II real instrument in the entire song

Secondly on the pages of the calendar we see some words that we are supposed to assume Black wrote there. On the page for Thursday, she has written "I am Thursday's Child. :(" This is a very clever reference to a nursery rhyme that ascribes personality traits to people born on certain days of the week. The line for Thursday reads, 'Thursdays child has far to go."

There are multiple things going on here. As a young girl Black has far to go before reaching adulthood and the (largely mythical) freedoms she ascribes to it. She also has 'far to go' before she can accept herself for who she is.

She has 'far to go` before she can be the person everyone around her expects her to be -- very. very far -- and she will never get there. These are the main conflicts that are present throughout the song.

Finally, the lyrics start. The monstrous drawing of Black gives way to the flesh-and-blood Black, just waking up with her alarm clock. Her eyes snap open and she starts out of bed instantly, almost mechanically.

7 AM waking up in the morning >Gotta be fresh gotta go downstairs 'Gotta have my bowl Gotta ha. e cereal Gotta She has no choice. She HAS to do these things As Black sings these lines, she gives a disdainful look to her alarm, obviously wishing she could sleep some more. but dutifully she throws her covers off (does this represent her urge to throw off the comforting but ultimately cloying shackles of childhood? Perhaps.) and we cut to her standing downstairs, dressed and ready to go, where she finishes the verse. In the downstairs section she stands stone-still. her facial features unmco,ing as she tells us that she must have a bowl of cereal. This is her routine- to break it would be a horrible transgression. And what exactly happens if she breaks her routine? Well. nothing -- but she doesn't know that and she's too terrified to find out. She wants freedom but she isn't strong enough to give it to herself

Seeing everything The time is going. ticking on and on And everybody's rushing Behind Black, her family goes through their own daily routine in fast-forward. No one has time anymore_ it seems to her, and by extension to the viewer. Everyone's day is firmly regimented planned out months in advance and there isn't any room to allow oneself a peaceful moment. For success we have traded in our very identities Black is disgusted with her family and more importantly with herself

Gotta get down to the bus stop >Gotta catch my bus More gottas. Again. Black has no choice in what she does with her time We cut to her at the bus stop where suddenly she notices something off-screen and gives a painfully faked smile: ei sea my inenda Her smile isn't real. As the camera reveals her 'friends' pulling up in a late-model car neither are theirs She cannot stand these people. Like her they're imposters, trying to live up to some abstract version of what a perfect teenager should be. and she hates them for it. But on the other hand they are nothing less than a mirror into her own empty soul – all the more reason to despise them

Kicking in the front seat >Sitting in the back seat >Gotta make my mind up >Which seat can I take' A verse absolutely pregnant with meaning. It's gotten a lot of derision. and that's a shame because it's one of the great little moments in this song.

Black surmises the car. Her friends are motioning for her to join them. Why would she do that instead of taking the bus? It's obvious that her friends aren't going to school today. And as she looks at them she realizes that she has to make up her mind: will she continue the daily routine that has become her own personal prison, or will she break free. skip school and taste independence?

Which seat can she take? Will she sit in the back, a passive bystander to her own life? Or will she sit in the front – wrest control of her own destiny and decide for herself what she wants to do?

It's Friday. Friday Gotta get down on Friday We cut to Black in the car with her friends. But she's in the back After all that turmoil, she's still a slave to others, doing not what she wants, but what is suggested to her by her peers. She may have rebelled against the tyranny of schooling but she's still imprisoned and acting without will "Gotta get down on Friday? Not 'wanna get down on Friday: or "gonna get down on Friday: or any of a number of lines that may have worked Its another -gotta? She is as much under the control of society as ever. In fact, her minor rebellion may itself be part of the act she's been putting on her whole life. What teenager doesn't skip school?

Everybody's looking forward to the weekend Partying. partying. yeah! >Partying. partying. yeah! >Fun, fun. hin Looking forward to the weekend Horrible. No one in the car is happy. They bob their heads and smile through gritted teeth as they lie about how much fun they're having, but they all look so desperate, so pained. They look OLD. like world-weary soldiers. Their refrains of 'yeahr are delivered with unenthusiastic fist pumps. the veil on their false joy wearing alarmingly thin.

Black chants 'fun, kin. fun' not like someone who is enjoying themselves but like a Nazi in a concentration camp. She is ordering herself to have fun, as if simply saying the words will make it so. But its not so. and she knows it This isn't fun. This is hell.

7.45. we're driving on the highway >Crusing so fast, I want time to fly 12 hours have passed in an instant. We cut to Black in a completely different car. wearing a completely different outfit with a completely different group of people What happened in the interim? That's left to the viewer's imagination but there is some imagery here that strongly implies Black lost her virginity at some point in the time gap.

Firstly, all the people in her company are noticeably older than the original group of friends She is with adults now, not children This suggests that she too is an adult she has stepped into womanhood. Secondly in the morning she was wearing a bright purple shirt. symbolic of youth and innocence. Now she wears all black, symbolic of impurity -- and mourning. She has lost her innocence- and she regrets it The car, too. has gone from white to black – pure to impure.

Whatever the case. it's clear Black has had quite the day. But still she sits in the back seat – through it all. she is still not in control.

Why does she vvant time to fly? Isn't she having 'fun. in fun'? Of course not This has been the worst day of her short life and she wants it to be over as soon as possible. This is probably the only time she directly betrays her true emotions in the entire song. Her self-loathing over giving up her virginity – and over myriad other things – bubbles to the surface in that fleeting instant before she tamps it all back down again and continues the pathetic charade of enjoying herself

,Fun fun >Think about fun

Again. ordering herself to have fun. This is reminiscent of lie back and think about England,' the advice given to Victorian-era brides on how to deal with being raped by their husbands. Was her loss of virginity willing? Or did she 'grin and bear it' as part of the ritual she felt she had to endure to cross the rubicon into adulthood? Now that she has crossed that rubicon. and nothing has changed. she is deeply ashamed Yet still she lies to herself, still she pretends to be having fun.

,You know what it IS'

I gat this. you got this >My friend is by my right >I gat this. you got this >Now you know it

She smiles, but her eyes tell a different story. They're pleading with you to understand her, her plight. She wants you to understand why she's done this. and to forgive her. But she really wants something else. She wants to forgive herself of what has happened today. Maybe she never will.

Kicking in the front seat >Sitting in the back seat 'Gotta make my mind up 'Which seat can I take? We come full circle. She knows that to become a truly free agent she will have to disavow her false friends and live for herself Will she be able to take this step? Will she summon the courage to strike out on her own? Immediately she answers for herself: she hugs her two 'friends' closer. She isn't ready to be her own person yet Not even the loss of her innocence could imbue her with the courage to move forward. She will be a slave to others for the foreseeable future.

It's Friday, Friday 'Gotta get down on Friday 'Everybody's looking forward to the weekend, weekend Black arrives at a party and waves to a boy about her age. He glances salaciously at her backside – perhaps this is the boy who took her virginity? The party is outdoors and it's pitch black except for the headlights from the cars there. Without her friends. without her peers Black would be in dark_ completely lost. The meaning is obvious. Again, she's -gotta ° get down. The line has now acquired a disturbing sexual connotation given what has transpired, but its basic meaning is essentially the same.

-Friday Frets.

Getting down an Friday Watch closely here, this is around 1:50. Her smile completely drops for an instant as she says the second line. She hates herself

Everybody's looking forward to the weekend The boy from before walks up behind Black and makes an inappropriate sexually-charged grab at her. She swirls around in shock. but then fakes a smile at him. She cannot bring herself to admit how disgusting she finds him.

Partying. partying yeah' >Partying. partying. yeah! >Fun, fun. fun Loolong forward to the weekend Black walks backwards here. It's easy to read into that. She's not improving herself, but regressing. For all her bluster and pretending. she's worse off tonight than she was this morning. More of her false friends make unconvincing fist pumps. Once again, no one is happy.

'Yesterday was Thursday. Thursday 'Today it is Friday, Friday We see Black again as the drawing-monster from the beginning. She recites the progression of the days of the week.

Yesterday was Thursday, today is Friday. This transformation and these lyrics validate the suggestion that her rebellions today have been nothing more than yet another piece in the larger act she's been putting on. of being the perfect teenager. The days of the week are set in stone. they always come in the same order. And Black's rebelliousness was equally predictable. It wasn't spontaneous at all.

We, we, we so excited 'We so excited 'We gonna have a ball today Black talks in broken English, but it's just an affectation, like everything she's done today. Talking like a stereotypical 'urban" (read: black) person is supposed to be °edgy " for this young white suburban girl, but it's not edgy if everyone in her peer group is doing it. just fired and cliched She's no bohemian or free-thinker or even common punk. she's a mindless drone doing what all the others do.

Tomorrow is Saturday And Sunday comes afterwards The predictability of her actions are again hammered home as Black is shown directly turning from the moving drawing into her real life counterpart. The drawing-monster and Black are the same entity: a horrendous, unreal abomination, revolting yet pitiable. .dorit want this weekend to end But she does. She trembles with this lie and has to say it with an open-mouthed gape, as if forcing it out of herself.

How long can she go on like this before she cracks?

RB Rebecca Black So chillin' in the front side A grown man begins to rap. cutting into Rebecca's lyrics (symbolizing her powerlessness?) He calls her by name, then looks down at his crotch as he says the second line. More sexual connotations abound. Has this adult man victimized the young Black?

In the backseat ›I'm drrving cruising These lines have caused confusion. but it makes sense if you consider 'So chillin' in the front side, in the backseat' to refer to Black. and -I'm driving, cruising' as referring to himself. He's having sex with her (Black is 'so chillin' in the front sides ie being penetrated). but largely against her will (she is still in the back seat) Rather.

HE is the one in control – HE is in the front seat. driving 'Cruising" here takes on its sexual meaning as well as its more literal one -- he is cruising for underaged girls to abuse

Fast lanes. sratching lanes >With a car on my side Passing by is a school bus >In front of me Makes me tick tack. tick lock >VVanna scream Chilling. This man is a pedophile and the children aboard the school bus arouse him. But let's look closer. The fact that they're on a school bus is very meaningful indeed. Because if Black had followed her usual routine and gone to school, had failed to rebel – she may still have not escaped the fate that befell her tonight. Eventually she would have been sullied by the horrors of the adult world. For her, there is no escape, and there can never be

'Check my time. it's Friday

It's a weekend 'We gonna have fun 'Come on. come on The man looks in the rearview mirror but the position of the camera makes it appear as if he's looking directly at the viewer. And he says we gonna have fun: not "I'm gonna have fun.' This is an accusation, a recrimination. We are all complicit in the crimes this man commits. By forcing the image of perfection upon young girls. by sexualizing them, by turning a blind eye to their cries for help. WE are responsible for the -fun' this man has. We are no better than him.

It's Friday. Friday Gotta get down on Friday Everybody's looking forward to the weekend weekend >Friday. Friday Getting down an Friday Everybody's looking forward to the weekend

We cut back to Black performing in front of a large crowd. This is really what she's been doing her entire life. of course: performing. None of them seem that interested even as she sways and smiles and shouts about how great everything is What's more. we continually see cuts to Black standing alone in a bizarre darkened room full of strange glowing smoke. where she moans in protest – at one point (around 2:55) yelling out "n00000" as the Black performing in front of an audience announces that everyone is looking forward to the weekend.

This is Black's inner dialogue and likely it's been going on for the entirety of the day – this is just our glimpse at it. Outwardly she's happy and ebullient but in her mind she's shouting out in horrible pain trapped in a fevered hellscape of her own creation

Everybody's looking forward to the weekend >Partying. partying. yeah! Partying. partying. yeah! Fun. fun. km Looking forward to the weekend It's Friday. Friday Gotta get down an Friday Everybody's looking forward to the weekend. weekend >Friday, Friday Getting down on Friday 'Everybody's looking forward to the weekend As the song draws to a close, we cut back and forth like this – the projection Black gives of herself and the torment within. Finally her inner self isn't even attempting to speak intelligibly. instead just yelling as loud as she can.

eyes wrenched closed. fists balled up. But in the real world she forges on singing and dancing for the crowd_ and the pedophile from before looks on approvingly his prey's spirit fully broken.

And when she stops singing, she looks down at everyone before her embarrassed, disgusted_ kill of nothing but despair.

Now that her performance is done. the crowd will disperse and forget about her and for everything she's endured she will have gained nothing. She has literally become the -poor player that struts and frets her hour upon the stage.'

She has realized that her life is a futile mockery of real happiness a hollow. meaningless simulation. As Black's day draws to a close, she has stared into the abyss -- and the abyss has stared back.

I believe this song is about drugs, LSD or something similar. May also be DMT.

"Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs 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"

She wakes up and needs to have her "bowl" the primary piece of a water bong, which is what drugs are usually smoked from. "Cereal" is clearly a metaphor for the drug.

The "Tickin'" and "Rushin" are referring to your sense of time while high and how it is drastically altered and the intense body rush you get.

"7:45, we're drivin' on the highway"

This line describes LSD more so than DMT. Driving on the highway means she is well into her trip.

"Cruisin' so fast, I want time to fly"

She's now peaking.

"Tomorrow is Saturday And Sunday comes after wards"

This verse is probably most meaningful, but also the hardest to decipher. I haven't come up with the exact meaning of it yet but this is what I have so far:

These lines are referring to childhood, when we were still learning simple things. She's saying that when high on LSD, you are carefree, you don't worry about work/school or whatever, you are just one with nature and the world is beautiful. This is also what it's like to be a child.

I'm pretty sure this song is about Friday.

at least she understands how important breakfast is... it's the most important meal of the day

This song is shit. Bottom line.

I've got thursday friday saturday and sunday down but what comes next? Help me Rebecca! PLEASE!

Well there are two options here. Either everyone involved in the making of this song is a complete and total idiot, or the lyricist has produced a genius work of satire. If it is the latter, the auto-toned, overly simplistic, and mindless lyrics are used to demonstrate the increasing trend of meaningless songs that all sound the same. The repetition of the words 'fun', 'partying', and 'Friday' are used the show how most modern day pop stars and their song writers have simply given up on originality and creativity. They simply repeat a chorus, line, or even a single word an unreasonable amount of times simply for the sake of wasting time until the song has reached the typical 3-4 minute play time. The verse '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 afterwards' is used to highlight the over-simplistic and meaningless lyrics used by most modern pop singers. Everything is explained to us. No ambiguity or metaphor or message. Nothing to think about. Songs where music is art and lyrics are poetry don't seem to be found in the mainstream anymore. 'Passin’ by is a school bus in front of me, Makes tick tock, tick tock, wanna scream' shows again meaninglessness, but also demonstrates how some songs are simply nonsensical with out any coherence. You have to hope that these are the realities that are meant to be conveyed, because if this song is taken at face value it is obviously one of the most moronic and annoying songs written. But, let's face it. The chances of this song being a brilliant commentary on modern mainstream music are incredibly slim...

Congrats on being the worst song ever written, it's so bad it's funny.I thought it was a joke when I first heard it.

I think this song is supposed to be a statement on the vapidity of pop music. The lyrics are painfully simple and completely lacking in substance. It's the kind of song you'd teach to preschoolers.

But really, are other pop songs any different? The same themes--love, partying, and loss--are played over and over again. And because the singer is good-looking, or perhaps because the music video is interesting to look at, it sells. The concert halls are packed with screaming teenagers who know each one of these songs by heart, and they're so overcome with hormones and adrenaline that they fail to notice the lack of creativity, of meaning.

This song is simply a picture of what these empty, lifeless ballads really look like. It's brilliant.

This song is a deep, emotional representation of the common excitement that youth find on a Friday (which comes after Thursday and before Saturday), told from the point of view of an eighth grader named Rebecca Black. In the beginning, Rebecca explains her morning routine and the chaos of getting ready for school. After having her bowl and her cereal, she heads to the bus stop, where as she's waiting for the bus, she sees her friends. They're kicking in the front seat and sitting in the back seat. She then asks herself a deep question, to which the answer could be the meaning of life: "Which seat can I take?" This line is a philological metaphor, representing the difficult concept of making decisions in our modern day society. Then, while in the car with her 13 year old friends, she sings about "getting down on Friday" and how everyone is looking forward to the weekend. This statement is universally a triumph. Then she sings about "Partyin'", to which her friends agree with, "Yeah!" to represent the phenomenon that teens anticipate weekly: Friday. Finally, she sings about fun. The whole point of the song.