Before diving into this pop music rabbit hole, let’s get one thing straight: I’m no music expert. My musical talents peaked in sixth grade with a questionable keyboard duet of John Denver’s Take Me Home Country Road. Basically, I can’t play an instrument to save my life, and my ear isn’t exactly golden. However, I do possess a finely tuned bullshit detector, and both Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night and Rebecca Black’s infamous Friday set it off big time. And here’s the kicker – they’re practically the same song, and arguably, both kind of miss the mark.
“Seriously?” you might ask. “Rebecca Song Friday? Isn’t this a bit… dated?” Okay, fair point. These songs are vintage internet years old. But the debate rages on! People still defend Perry’s track as superior, and I’m here to tell you, I vehemently disagree. This musical standoff is taking up precious brain space that could be used for more important things, like perfecting my Cosby sweater collection or memorizing Wu-Tang Clan lyrics. This pop culture conundrum needs to be addressed, and I’m hoping you, the internet, can help me understand why Katy Perry’s tune was a chart-topper while Rebecca Black’s “Friday” became a punchline, when they swim in the same pool of glossy, over-produced bubblegum pop.
Let’s lay down some facts. Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) is from her Teenage Dream album, released in August 2010. It dropped as a single in June 2011. Rebecca Black’s Friday, the song that launched a thousand memes and cemented “rebecca song friday” into internet infamy, arrived earlier in March 2011. One common argument for Perry’s supposed superiority is that Black’s cameo in Perry’s music video (around 1:47) is Perry playfully acknowledging and responding to Black’s song. But timelines don’t lie. Perry’s song was written months before Rebecca Black even stepped into a recording studio. So, Black’s video appearance seems less like a witty response and more like a desperate attempt at damage control by Perry’s team. Imagine this scenario:
Russell Brand (then Mr. Perry): Katy, have you heard this absolute rubbish?
Katy Perry: (listens, face morphs into concern) Oh… uh oh…
Russell Brand: Dreadful, isn’t it?
Katy Perry: (panic rising) Oh no! Oh no! No no no!
Russell Brand: What’s wrong, love?
Katy Perry: (now screaming) FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUU…!
Russell Brand: Did you catch that line about Friday? Hilarious.
Katy Perry: Get my manager on the phone NOW!
And just like that, Katy Perry’s crisis management squad assembled. It took a village of publicists, stylists, a chauffeur, and possibly the gummy bears from the California Gurls video shoot to hatch the plan: get Rebecca Black into the Last Friday Night music video.
Essentially, the songs are two sides of the same coin. Rebecca Black’s “Friday” is the naive anticipation, the pre-game excitement for the weekend. Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night is the hungover aftermath, the slightly embarrassing memories of a Friday night that went too far. Black’s “Friday” is the innocent pre-party; Perry’s is the walk of shame the morning after.
Lyrically, both songs are essentially checklists of Friday-related activities. Rebecca’s to-do list for “Friday” is endearingly mundane: wake up at 7 AM, head downstairs, grab cereal. You almost wonder if she needs to sing her morning routine just to remember to catch the school bus. Katy, on the other hand, gets… explicit. Her Friday night checklist includes tabletop dancing, excessive shots, maxing out credit cards, streaking, skinny dipping, and a three-way kiss. It reads like she time-warped back to 1997 and answered a purity test in an AOL chatroom.
There’s a certain charm to Black’s discretion. She vaguely alludes to “partying! partying! yeah!” when pressed about her Friday night adventures. Perry, however, is the ultimate over-sharer, posting every cringe-worthy detail on Facebook Sunday morning. Hickey or bruise, Katy? TMI, girl. And waking up next to a stranger? We all know what that means.
So, why did Perry’s song become a massive hit while “rebecca song friday” – or rather, just “Friday” – became a cultural joke? If you’re looking for definitive answers, you’re in the wrong place. I still don’t fully grasp it. Yes, the production on Black’s song is… rough. The autotune is heavy-handed, but what else do you expect from a self-proclaimed song factory charging thousands to aspiring (and perhaps naive) young singers? Perry’s song, crafted with co-writers and produced by hitmakers Dr. Luke and Max Martin, boasts a polished, radio-ready sound. Yet, even with professional production, Last Friday Night still leans heavily on autotune. Shouldn’t these industry veterans know better? Then again, maybe I’m expecting too much from the guy who co-wrote the Backstreet Boys’ head-scratching hit I Want It That Way, with its iconic yet nonsensical lines:
I never wanna hear you say (never wanna hear you say)
I want it that way
‘Cause I want it that way
Wait, what? You don’t want me to say “I want it that way”? Because… that’s how you want it? What “way” are we even talking about? Okay, tangent aside, perhaps I’m holding Perry’s team to an unfairly high standard compared to Black’s.
Now, let’s talk music videos. I know, asking you to re-watch Rebecca Black’s Friday video is a big ask. It’s… something. Black’s dance moves are non-existent, and her awkward bus stop waves lack charisma. She exudes all the energy of Kris Humphries at a Kardashian family gathering. And the video itself? Opening and closing with bargain-basement A-ha Take on Me animation in a PowerPoint style? Seriously? It’s a soul-crushing viewing experience that makes you question the future of music videos altogether.
Perry’s Last Friday Night video, however, is a party. Beyond the aforementioned Rebecca Black cameo, it’s packed with celebrity appearances: Debbie Gibson, Corey Feldman, Kenny G, Glee cast members, and a plethora of attractive people, all in a nostalgic homage to 80s teen movies like 16 Candles. It even features the classic nerdy-girl-gets-a-makeover-and-removes-her-glasses-to-reveal-she’s-hot scene. Bigger budget? Absolutely. Wisely spent? Debatable, but undeniably more entertaining than Black’s video.
Even if we call the lyrics a draw, and give Perry the edge in production and video quality, I still argue that Rebecca Black’s “Friday,” that infamous “rebecca song friday” anthem, wins this showdown. Skeptical? Hear me out. Why is “Friday” arguably better? Because it went instantly viral, organically. It didn’t need a massive marketing machine. People heard it, and immediately shared it. It sparked an emotional response, even if that response was often ridicule. Listening to it, watching the video, became a shared experience, a source of jokes and memes with friends. Let’s face it, we love to hate things. And sometimes, “liking to not like” something is almost as engaging as actually liking it. There’s a strange enjoyment in mocking it. Haters gonna hate, because hating can be fun.
Perry’s song, in contrast, was inescapable because radio stations played it non-stop. We liked Last Friday Night because we were already familiar with Perry’s brand, her previous hits like I Kissed a Girl. We knew what to expect. “Friday,” being Rebecca Black’s debut (and likely swan song) in the pop world, was an unknown entity. We’re naturally skeptical of newcomers. But if you look past the initial shock of “Friday,” and embrace its simple, earnest celebration of everyone’s favorite day of the week, you might see its unexpected brilliance. It connected with its audience immediately and powerfully, in a way Perry’s polished pop anthem simply couldn’t.
Now, let’s be clear: both songs are, objectively, pretty bad. Most people aren’t spending their evenings debating which is less terrible. But I suspect Perry knew “Friday” had a certain undeniable something, which is why she extended an olive branch to Black, inviting her to perform on stage at one of her concerts. Perhaps these two pop figures, Katy Perry and the “rebecca song friday” sensation Rebecca Black, could unite pop music fans, maybe even the world, if they collaborated more often, like in The JaneDoze’s brilliant mashup, T.G.I.Friday. Now that is a Friday anthem worthy of celebration.
Phew. I feel better now. Maybe this is a ridiculous argument to obsess over for years. But I can’t ignore these pop culture moments, even the ones that assault our eardrums. Now that this rant is off my chest, I can finally dedicate more time to my growing fascination with the solo careers of the Wu-Tang Clan. Ghostface Killah, I hear, has a new album out.
