Belt up, Rebecca
Picture: Youtube
Move over Justin Bieber, there’s a new prepubescent tween with skin deep social issues and the upbeat attitude to match.
The latest Internet sensation this week is Rebecca Black, a 13 year old American girl who has released her single ‘Friday’ to the online world, a song which is currently being touted as the “Worst song and music video in the history of pop music”.
Produced by Ark Music Factory, who according to their website, are a ‘Community, Music/Entertainment Channel and Independent Record Label based in Los Angeles, California’, the music video ‘Friday’ has reached almost 14 million views in a week.
On Twitter, Rebecca Black has out-trended the Japan Earthquake and Charlie Sheen - and is still going strong.
True, most of the tweets are bagging the song, her voice and her talent, but fame has been achieved.
With 30,000 followers, Rebecca Black might be besieged by haters, but there’s an awful lot of support there as well.
But is the banality of the song just imagined?
Are we just a bunch of old farts who no longer understand what awesome music is?
I admit it, I’m very old school. My ideal concert is one in which Mick Jagger and John Lennon have top billing, with Martha and the Vandellas providing back up while The Kinks are on the instruments, all staged on the back of a roaming T-Rex playing an electric guitar.
But I’m not the one music companies are targeting. Unfortunately it’s the 12 year olds that are setting the standard. And they love it.
The majority of press and comment about Rebecca has been about the banality of her song and video, but has any attempt been made to actually get to the heart of matter and find out what makes this girl tick? Let’s examine the song.
Rebecca wakes up at 7am, eats her cereal and goes outside to wait for the school bus.
Moments later her friends, (who all look way too young to drive) roll up in a convertible. Here is the crux of the song.
Kickin’ in the front seat, Sittin’ in the back seat, Gotta make my mind up, Which seat can I take?
The predicament is soon settled and Rebecca takes a seat in the back (which was the only seat available anyway).
She sings a little more about Friday and how excited she is that it’s Friday.
It’s Friday, Friday, Gotta get down on Friday, Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend, weekend.
Moments later it is night time and they are on their way to a party. In complete ignorance of seatbelt laws Rebecca is sitting on the trunk of the car as it speeds down the highway, her two friends on either side of her.
Despite the seating allocation already in place, Rebecca is stuck again.
Which seat can I take?
It doesn’t matter. She soon arrives (in one piece thank God) to the party which, judging by the amount of teenagers rocking up in cars seems to be hosted by Corey Worthington.
The song has all the classic calling cards to be a tween sensation, repetitive and simple lyrics, relative subject matter and flashing graphics.
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 after...wards, I don’t want this weekend to end.
In a bold move, the video shifts suddenly to a lone man in a car, blinged to the eyebrows and speeding without a care for other drivers.
R-B, Rebecca Black,
So chillin’ in the front seat (In the front seat)
In the back seat (In the back seat)
I’m drivin’, cruisin’ (Yeah, yeah)
Fast lanes, switchin’ lanes
Wit’ a car up on my side (Woo!)
(C’mon) Passin’ by is a school bus in front of me
Makes tick tock, tick tock, wanna scream
Check my time, it’s Friday, it’s a weekend
We gonna have fun, c’mon, c’mon, y’all
Self explanatory that one.
Shift back to the party. Rebecca sings to the crowd of 12 year olds.
Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah), Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah), Fun, fun, fun, fun, Lookin’ forward to the weekend.
Well, despite all that, I still don’t “get” the song.
But I am beginning to understand a bit about Rebecca.
She’s a 13 year old girl who loved singing, and was lucky enough to have a music video made.
Although the song is trite and silly, and reminds one of Joey Jeremiah’s song in Degrassi, ‘Everybody Wants Something’, it appears to be reflective of the times.
If we live in a time which worships celebrity and applauds the 15 minutes of fame, should we really blame someone who goes out and achieves it?
Note: The song first came to 7PM’s attention when one of the writers excitedly brought up the page on Youtube, laughing erratically and claiming that this was the latest thing on Twitter.
We now play that song as punishment whenever that writer gets out of line.
The opinions expressed in The 7PM Side Project blog do not necessarily reflect those of The 7PM Project or the Ten Network.
