Released 11 May 1992 Genre Jangle pop Label Fiction | Format CD, 12" vinyl Length 3:38 | |
Writer(s) Perry Bamonte
Boris Williams
Simon Gallup
Robert Smith
Porl Thompson | ||
"Friday I'm in Love" is a song by British rock band The Cure. It is the second single taken from the album Wish (1992), and was a worldwide hit. It won the award for European Viewer's Choice for Best Music Video at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.
Contents
Robert Smith, the song's primary writer, described it in 1992 as both "a throw your hands in the air, let's get happy kind of record" and "a very naive, happy type of pop song."
Production
During the writing process, Robert Smith became convinced that he had inadvertently stolen the chord progression from somewhere, and this led him to a state of paranoia where he called everyone he could think of and played the song for them, asking if they had heard it before. None of them had, and Smith realised that the melody was indeed his.
The song was written to be a slower number than its upbeat final rendition. While the track was recorded in D major, the commercially released version sounds a quarter-tone higher than D major due to Robert Smith forgetting to turn off the vari-speed on the tape after toying with it before recording. When played live, the song is played in its original intended key as opposed to the one heard on the record.
The track was produced by both David M. Allen and The Cure.
Music video
The video, directed by Tim Pope, features the band performing the song in front of various backdrops on a soundstage, in homage to French silent filmmaker Georges Méliès (the appearance of characters in The Eclipse, or the Courtship of the Sun and the Moon). Throughout the video, the band play around with various props and costumes while several extras wander about, causing chaos and ultimately trashing the set. Tim Pope makes a cameo in the beginning, riding a rocking horse and yelling out high-pitched stage directions through a plastic megaphone after inhaling helium from a balloon. The final shot is of bassist Simon Gallup crouching and peering into the camera while wearing a bridal veil and holding some champagne. The producer of Friday I'm in Love, Dave M. Allen, makes an appearance in the background, holding up props too. Another oddity is the band's name on the drum - a scrawled "The Cures" rather than the band's singular name.
Release
"Friday I'm in Love" was the second single taken from the band's ninth studio album, Wish, released on 11 May 1992. The single was a number 6 hit in the UK and reached number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is the band's last American Top 40 hit to date. It was also the band's last song (in a string of four) to top the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, matching the success of their previous single, "High", with a four-week stint at number 1.
Legacy
The song is featured in several TV shows and films including: About Time, I Could Never Be Your Woman, Chuck, Surviving Jack, About Time, Regular Show and iZombie. The track is the main theme song used in the 2009 film He's Just Not That into You.
In 2004 Soundtrack of 50 First Dates with Dryden Mitchell of Alien Ant Farm.
In the video game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, "Friday I'm in Love" appears as both an in-game cassette tape and an anachronism, as the song was released eight years after the game takes place in 1984. The song is a playable track in the video game Rock Band 4.
The song was covered by Yo La Tengo for their 2015 album Stuff Like That There. Marshall Williams' character also covered the song in an episode of Glee.
Personnel
Like much of the band's artwork, the single's art was designed and created by guitarist Porl Thompson and Andy Vella.