The Worst Song Ever

[NJL]

Hulu - Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: Stephen Colbert Sings "Friday" With the Roots

[cavorting with nudists]

So what did you guys think of Colbert's version of Friday? 

I guess what I think is: Colbert was made for better things.  On the other hand, fortunately he does plenty of them, so whatever.

[moonshake]

So what did you guys think of Colbert's version of Friday? 

I guess what I think is: Colbert was made for better things.  On the other hand, fortunately he does plenty of them, so whatever.

He does have a really good singing voice; it just didn't seem to work on this song.

[Joe Rogaine]

Has anybody heard this new little gem, i dont know whats more rank this or My Neck My Back?


Lady - Yankin

[buffcoat]

Has anybody heard this new little gem, i dont know whats more rank this or My Neck My Back?


Lady - Yankin

I thought she was saying "This Blissett be yankin'," then I looked up the lyrics, which made the Suth'nah in me blush a bit.

[Steve in North Hollywood]

So glad I left my job at the strip club. If I had to hear that three times a night, I'd probably commit some act of vandalism.

Good job, rap community.

"The mechanics of oppressing people is to pervert them to the extent that they become the instruments of their own oppression." ~ Kumasi, Crips and Bloods: Made in America.

[Sarah]

"The mechanics of oppressing people is to pervert them to the extent that they become the instruments of their own oppression." ~ Kumasi, Crips and Bloods: Made in America.

Hear that, ladies?

[dcgut]

I'd like to submit the Black Keys song that they made that stupid video for.

[Greggulator]

I just saw the Colbert video. Wow. That's great.

I've been pretty obsessed w/ the whole Rebecca Black experience since you all pointed it out to me here.

I think this bit shows how crappy pop music production is these days. On its face, I don't think Friday is a bad song at all -- it's just a bubblegum pop song that's supposed to be about fun. It's not too different from something from the Bay City Rollers or Tommy James or even the Go-Gos.

But the production of the original is just absolutely dreadful. The Arc Music Factory guys were onto something with the melody and rhythm, but all of the bells and whistles that they put on are just awful. They took a decent enough hook and just made it as homogeneous as possible so it could get on the playlist of a place like Z100. Instead of going for something original, they went for Katy Perry: The Teenage Years, and it completely fails, since the whole Wil I. Am-style pop music is some of the worst ever music ever made.

I'd imagine that the arrangements of the Jimmy Fallon Show version fell in the hands of ?uestlove and The Roots. I'm not a huge Roots fan (for no real reason other than "I just can't get into them") but those guys are total music nerds and know how to deconstruct a song and put it back together.

They found the part of the song that almost works and then made it ACTUALLY work. I honestly think that if Rebecca Black sang over the Roots version, it would be a decent enough guilty pleasure.

I probably lost all of my indie/protege cred with that defense of Friday.

[Smelodies]

I hear you, Greg.  I hope Colbert will do more covers in the future.

[Denim Gremlin]

I just saw the Colbert video. Wow. That's great.

I've been pretty obsessed w/ the whole Rebecca Black experience since you all pointed it out to me here.

I think this bit shows how crappy pop music production is these days. On its face, I don't think Friday is a bad song at all -- it's just a bubblegum pop song that's supposed to be about fun. It's not too different from something from the Bay City Rollers or Tommy James or even the Go-Gos.

really??? the lyrics are easily the worst part of this song. it could have the greatest production in the world and it would still be a fucking joke.

[Greggulator]

I just saw the Colbert video. Wow. That's great.

I've been pretty obsessed w/ the whole Rebecca Black experience since you all pointed it out to me here.

I think this bit shows how crappy pop music production is these days. On its face, I don't think Friday is a bad song at all -- it's just a bubblegum pop song that's supposed to be about fun. It's not too different from something from the Bay City Rollers or Tommy James or even the Go-Gos.

really??? the lyrics are easily the worst part of this song. it could have the greatest production in the world and it would still be a fucking joke.

What song for teenagers doesn't have the worst lyrics ever? The song is the evolutionary step from something like "Lollipop" or "Rockin' Robin" or something like that.  It's just supposed to be fun. Look at how much fun Colbert/Fallon & Co. are having -- they put some bombastic Queen-type of flourishes to it (with the fireworks and group singing) and it totally works in an over-the-top manner, despite the inane lyrics.

If you're listening to this song from an adult point of view -- yes, the lyrics suck. But if you put yourself in the shoes of an 8th grader, which is the intended audience, then, on its face, it's not that bad. But the production of it is so generic (including that ridiculous MC Scratch Kat-esque rap part) that it gets in the way of what's supposed to be just a fun, disposable pop song.

I would really like to see something like the Handley School (or that chorus from a NYC public school) do this song.

I also kind of respect that this is sort of a DIY thing. It's not some Miley Cyrus or Katy Perry thing which is this whole pre-fabricated marketing campaign. Some girl wanted to be a singer. Her parents found a way where she could make a single on her own (not in itself DIY in the indie sense) and she made a video where she had to get all her friends to take part and it ended up a viral sensation (after being ceaselessly mocked by Tosh.0, who is just a total bully). I like that narrative arc better than someone like Christina Aguilera.

I think there's way worse music than Friday. A 13-year-old girl singing about how she can't wait for the weekend isn't supposed to be taken seriously by adults. I'm much more offended by something that's supposed to be geared towards folks like us -- intelligent people with good taste -- that just panders. See: The Strokes, who I think are the biggest collection of posers in music history.

[Steve of Bloomington]

See: The Strokes, who I think are the biggest collection of posers in music history.

OK, I've come around, I'm on team Greggulator now.

[mackro]

"Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division is a classic song.  Even those who find it overrated or just not their thing would likely not ever call it The Worst Song Ever.

Alas, some folks have finally made that deed possible. A band called The Complete Stone Roses, a Stone Roses tribute band if you can believe it, apparently ran out of Stone Roses songs to murder, so they turned their knives towards other Manchester classics.  And they made a video, a horrible horrible video.  This isn't Cosmo Jarvis bad, but it will make you want to watch that "Friday" video again.

Love Will Tear Us Apart by The Complete Stone Roses

[cavorting with nudists]

"Love Will Tear Us Apart"? That's a great song, been in my all-time top ten for 30 years!  Here, let's go check out that video & see what they've done with it.