“It’s Friday, Friday, ... ” and you know the rest.
If you had an internet connection in 2011, you’re likely singing the end of that sentence in your head right now. You could hardly go anywhere without hearing Rebecca Black’s viral sensation that year.
Black was just 13 years old when the hit single made her famous, and her name and face became synonymous with that sacred day of the week. “Friday” was a rallying cry to celebrate the end of another long week.
Nine years later, what do we make of it? Especially right now, in the middle of a pandemic, when every day ― hell, every week ― can be difficult for us to distinguish from any other day or week?
Does Friday still even matter ― or mean what it used to mean? And how does the queen of Friday feel about what’s happening ― or the fact that people are no longer, well, getting down on Friday the way she instructed us to when she was barely just a teen? These burning questions needed answers, pronto.
Black graciously humored HuffPost by answering that question in a phone call last week. “I mean, I don’t know!” she said with a laugh.
What the singer — who has been quarantining in Los Angeles with her family, including three dogs — does know is how to appreciate a recent uptick of people putting their own lockdown spin on her original lyrics.
“It makes me happy to see all the memes people have made, using [‘Friday’] as something to stay positive and lighthearted,” Black said. “That’s what the song is meant best for. [‘Friday’] was definitely before her time.”
The lockdown has provided Black an opportunity to slow down a bit — though not much, it appears. She continues to write new music, hold writing and listening sessions with her team over Zoom and debut new songs.
Her most recent, “Alone Together,” was released in partnership with Best Buddies, “the world’s largest organization dedicated to ending the social, physical and economic isolation of the 200 million people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.” Black has worked with the organization for a few years.
“We organized a call with some of the Best Buddies ambassadors, thinking we would maybe write something, but really just hang out and catch up with some of the people I’ve met at different events,” Black said.
“We ended up writing a song, and it’s been one of the craziest projects I’ve ever been involved in,” Black added. “With what everyone is going through right now, to actually get to release it — to see through these buddies for the past month how awesome it is to have something to look forward to during this time that could so easily be detrimental for those dealing with developmental or intellectual disabilities — this is something to help lift people up.”
For Black, “getting down” on Friday now means letting herself take it easy. She has been learning guitar, spending time with family and feeling gratitude.
“A lot of us are lucky to not have so much to complain about and use the time to tackle new ways to be creative,” Black said.
And she’s looking forward to the future.
“It’s hard, because no one really knows what it looks like, but I really miss playing shows,” Black said. “I canceled a music video shoot, which feels so surface level to even talk about, but I never realized how important being able to create things with other people in person was to me until all of a sudden it was gone. I can’t wait for times when we can feel less anxious. I’ve seen the way this has impacted so many people I know, either because they know someone going through it or is generally worried about can and will happen. This has taught me to not take anything for granted.”
All of the proceeds from “Alone Together” will go toward Best Buddies’ initiatives. Head to the nonprofit’s website to learn more.