# Rebecca Black "Friday" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2011, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951 "2011-03-25T12:08:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/101 "2011-03-26T16:47:05Z")
> [@Curious3d](#): > > Did [Chocolate Rain](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwTZ2xpQwpA) kid take this much flak? I seem to remember people were more good-natured when commenting on his uh, performance. Not really, because he’s good-humored about it, and he has actual talent (odd talent, but talent nonetheless). I think that’s why people are going on and on about this video now. If Black had never responded (or had laughed about it herself) the video would’ve died pretty quickly. Instead she went on TV everywhere and complained about people bullying him. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/102 "2011-03-26T16:47:06Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > What makes people especially irritated about this song is that it’s an extraordinarily extreme case of the cynicism of manufactured pop music. > > \ > > “Friday” is the music video version of vanity publishing, except in this case it’s like vanity publishing a 12-year-old’s Twilight fanfic. > > People are, I believe, reacting to that phoniness; we all swallow a lot of pop bullshit but this is pop bullshit taken five steps too far and so it’s getting hammered for that. Since “Friday” has now attracted so much attention I guess the video probably has been shown on television and the song may even have made it onto the radio, but it’s my understanding that this song became well-known when the only way to hear it was by going to YouTube or iTunes and choosing to listen. It wasn’t something you might wind up having to hear because it was in a TV commercial or playing on the sound system at the mall or something. So slamming “Friday” does seem a lot more like slamming someone’s _Twilight_ fanfic than slamming a single that was released by a major label artist. This isn’t to say that people aren’t allowed to criticize “Friday”, or _Twilight_ fanfic for that matter, but it doesn’t make sense to expect these works to be even as good as the average pop hit or airport novel. If Ark Music’s songwriters, producers, etc., were really good at creating pop songs then they probably wouldn’t be working for a vanity music company. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/103 "2011-03-26T20:44:41Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Couldn’t find a thread on this, so I figured I’d start one here. If my Google Fu is just weak, feel free to merge or close or ignore or whatever. > > So yeah, watched the video on Youtube. Very bland, very flat, very not-good. Can’t figure out why it’s so hate worthy though. What’s the deal? > > I will admit that I am now tempted to quote it whenever it will fit in the context of conversation, just to see if anybody notices. I assume that I’m repeating something upthread, not having read past the OP. But… Arevyou kidding me? Did you listen to the lyrics? It’s the most inane, nonsensical song I think I’ve ever heard. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/104 "2011-03-27T00:27:36Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > I assume that I’m repeating something upthread, not having read past the OP. But… > > Arevyou kidding me? Did you listen to the lyrics? It’s the most inane, nonsensical song I think I’ve ever heard. > > Joe If you want, I could link you to some of the crap my co-workers listen to, like that song where they just say “Teach me how to Dougie” 800 times in a monotone and call it a song. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/105 "2011-03-27T02:18:13Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > The song still sucks and she’s still a pretty bad singer. How do we know how well she sings? Hiding poor ability isn’t the only reason to use Autotune. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/106 "2011-03-27T02:23:21Z")
Deleted - accidentally repeated a point already made by someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/107 "2011-03-27T04:22:56Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > How do we know how well she sings? Hiding poor ability isn’t the only reason to use Autotune. [Performing an acoustic version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CBzT2pv1Jc). ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/108 "2011-03-27T10:19:35Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > [Performing an acoustic version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CBzT2pv1Jc). Uuuuuuuhhh, I don’t know, dog. It sounded kinda pitchy to me.[/Randy Jackson] But the song is catchy and has earwormability. ---
**Author:** ![Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zany_Zeolite_Zipper)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/109 "2011-03-27T17:14:15Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > What makes this so goddamn irritating is Rebecca’s complete listlessness. There’s nomlife in her expression, voice, or physical performance at all. This is the kind of thing that kids do for each other. It shouldn’t be distributed to the general public. Eiyap. Listening to Black is like listening to George Costanza’s mother paging through her day planner. There can be no defense of Black’s work while people like this [little girl](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oBQnIumBRY) are unknown. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/110 "2011-03-27T19:17:24Z")
> [@enomaj](#): > > Uuuuuuuhhh, I don’t know, dog. It sounded kinda pitchy to me.[/Randy Jackson] > > But the song is catchy and has earwormability. Yeah, I just posted that in sort of a “here she is not autotuned, judge for yourself” way. IMO, she can at least carry a tune _fairly_ well, but her voice _quality_ needs quite a bit of work. It would be interesting to hear her sing a _good_ song to see how she sounds, because “Friday” just doesn’t make for a good vocal showcase. Then there’s this other little girl, CJ Fam, another ARK product: https://www.youtube.com/embed/8oVnBGRIZSQ?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque Here she is singing the traditional “Tomorrow” from “Annie”: https://www.youtube.com/embed/lwzSQH7W4rM?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque Pipes. Girl has pipes. I love all the comments urging her to distance herself from ARK 😛 > [@Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](#): > > Eiyap. Listening to Black is like listening to George Costanza’s mother paging through her day planner. There can be no defense of Black’s work while people like this [little girl](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oBQnIumBRY) are unknown. That is excellent (and I chuckled because that happens to be the only Jessie J song I’d ever heard before, having just watched the original video a couple days ago). ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/111 "2011-03-27T20:58:07Z")
> [@Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](#): > > Eiyap. Listening to Black is like listening to George Costanza’s mother paging through her day planner. There can be no defense of Black’s work while people like this [little girl](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oBQnIumBRY) are unknown. Consider, of course, the fact that the only reason she’s so well known is that everybody keeps complaining about her, and you realize how complaining about her being popular is a self-defeating course of action. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/112 "2011-03-28T00:17:55Z")
As I’m sure many of you were wondering, “When can I hear a full orchestra arrangement of this song?” Weep no more, my dear friend, for I like to you [this](http://fororchestra.com/2011/03/25/rebecca-black-friday-for-orchestra-53/). ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/113 "2011-03-28T00:42:26Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > As I’m sure many of you were wondering, “When can I hear a full orchestra arrangement of this song?” Weep no more, my dear friend, for I like to you [this](http://fororchestra.com/2011/03/25/rebecca-black-friday-for-orchestra-53/). I don’t throw around words like “genius” lightly, but this guy is, like, totally a genius. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/114 "2011-03-28T02:09:10Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > As I’m sure many of you were wondering, “When can I hear a full orchestra arrangement of this song?” Weep no more, my dear friend, for I like to you [this](http://fororchestra.com/2011/03/25/rebecca-black-friday-for-orchestra-53/). It actually reminds me of the theme to [Stripes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7DRC9I5boA). ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/115 "2011-03-28T02:11:04Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > As I’m sure many of you were wondering, “When can I hear a full orchestra arrangement of this song?” Weep no more, my dear friend, for I like to you [this](http://fororchestra.com/2011/03/25/rebecca-black-friday-for-orchestra-53/). Dear. God. That was beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/116 "2011-03-28T10:00:28Z")
It’s Okay! _gets glared at by Frank_ ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/117 "2011-03-28T13:28:36Z")
Because I am a mean Daddy, I had my 7-year-old listen to this to see if there was something generational I might be missing. She made it about 15 secs in, looks me dead in the eye and says “Why are making me listen to this? It’s bad.” and changes it to Miley Cyrus. I am not convinced that was a step up. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/118 "2011-03-28T14:16:48Z")
Ben Folds linked to [this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87CIz_HWuyo) and wondered why it never got the love that Rebecca Black’s has. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/119 "2011-03-28T16:06:35Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > Because I am a mean Daddy, I had my 7-year-old listen to this to see if there was something generational I might be missing. She made it about 15 secs in, looks me dead in the eye and says “Why are making me listen to this? It’s bad.” and changes it to Miley Cyrus. > > I am not convinced that was a step up. I have two nieces, one almost 13 and one almost 10 (birthdays in May). I was thinking of sending the video link to my sister and having her get the girls’ opinions. Though I think I can accurately guess. The older one will probably think its awesome (I mean, she thinks that “G6” song is great; and I hate to say it, but she’s kind of an airhead, and can’t carry a tune, either). The younger one probably wouldn’t make it through the whole song (she’s a big Queen fan, and can sing most of their songs). ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-friday/575951/120 "2011-03-28T17:47:02Z")
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