B-side "When I'm Out of You" Format 7" single Length 3:18 | Released May 3, 1980 Genre Country Label MCA | |
"Friday Night Blues" is a song co-written by Sonny Throckmorton and originally recorded by him. Throckmorton's version of the song went to number 89 on the Hot Country Songs charts in 1980, released on Mercury Records with "It Always Rains on Me" on the B-side.
Only one month after Throckmorton's version charted, John Conlee released his own rendition of the song, from his album of the same name for MCA Records. Conlee's version charted at number two on Hot Country Songs. Conlee's version of the song was the first credit for session guitarist Brent Rowan, who soon became the only guitarist that Conlee used under the production of Bud Logan.
Song content
The couple at the focus of this song is living in a dying relationship. The husband has been on the road all week on business, and tired out when he arrives home on Friday afternoon, wants to sit on the couch, watch the 6 p.m. news and relax. Meanwhile, his wife is getting dressed for a night out on the town; when she tries to ask him to accompany her, he flatly declines, leaving her with the "Friday night blues." The wife's feelings of loneliness for her oft-absent husband build through the week, as she converses with a neighbor about married life.