Friday by Rebecca Black

[Big Phil]

Charlotte Church was 12 when her first album came out. Here she is at 11 years old:

She can sing. This girl cannot.

I think this song is perfect for people under the age of 6 or anyone who needs reinforcement of how the days of the week are ordered. That said, I will now go chemically remove the memory of it from my brain.

You're not really suggesting that any musician/singer/group who cannot sing as well as Charlotte Church (or comparably) is utter shit and worthy of scorn and abuse, are you? If so, 95%+ of artists out there need to be ridiculed, insulted, spit upon, etc. In that case the only people that shouldn't be ridiculed are, what, Gordon Lightfoot, Perry Como, Judy Garland, Charlotte Church, and a handful of others? That's an absurd standard.

The fact that the hate isn't coming from other artists, but rather un-talented pimple-faced teenagers and 20-somethings bleating their impotent rage on YouTube should tell you something about how authentic the outrage is. People aren't really angry that she's using autotune, because if they were, they'd be frothing at the mouth that Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga (among others) also use autotune. People aren't really angry about the crappiness of the song - if that were really the issue, they'd be raging at Ark Music Factory, not Rebecca Black, and wouldn't be buying Britney Spears songs.

I think what's really driving 1 Million+ dislikes is a certain amount of jealousy - "why is this girl popular and I'm not?" type of stuff.

[Guardsman Bass]

You're not really suggesting that any musician/singer/group who cannot sing as well as Charlotte Church (or comparably) is utter shit and worthy of scorn and abuse, are you? If so, 95%+ of artists out there need to be ridiculed, insulted, spit upon, etc. In that case the only people that shouldn't be ridiculed are, what, Gordon Lightfoot, Perry Como, Judy Garland, Charlotte Church, and a handful of others? That's an absurd standard.

Why are you jumping to that conclusion? He said nothing about how Charlotte Church means other artists are shit, just that Rebecca Black pretty much can't sing by comparison. Which is almost certainly true - even auto-tuned, her voice isn't that great.

[Big Phil]

Did you bother to read the OP? The question was "Why are people losing their collective minds over this song/video?"

And FSTargetDrone's response was (paraphrased) "Charlotte Church can sing; this girl can't." Unless it's just a tangent, the only conclusion I can "jump" to is that he thinks people are losing their minds because she can't sing very well (and perhaps that he supports the ridicule, but that's why I asked for clarification).

Which is bollocks, for the reasons I've pointed to previously. People don't go apeshit every time Britney Spears launches a new record, and she can't sing for shit... so the idea that this is a reaction to bad singing is tripe.

[Phantasee]

Britney may or may not be able to sing for shit, but her producers don't do a half-assed job usually, and her songwriters don't write complete garbage.

The issue is that Friday is actually worse than the majority of pop music produced these days, and if you can't tell because your tastes are so refined, then I don't know why you're bitching about this in the first place.

[FSTargetDrone]

Sorry, just seeing this...

Charlotte Church was 12 when her first album came out. Here she is at 11 years old:

She can sing. This girl cannot.

You're not really suggesting that any musician/singer/group who cannot sing as well as Charlotte Church (or comparably) is utter shit and worthy of scorn and abuse, are you?

Nope, just commenting that age isn't necessarily relevant to whether or not someone can sing competently.

[Big Phil]

Britney may or may not be able to sing for shit, but her producers don't do a half-assed job usually, and her songwriters don't write complete garbage.

The issue is that Friday is actually worse than the majority of pop music produced these days, and if you can't tell because your tastes are so refined, then I don't know why you're bitching about this in the first place.

Britney Spears is supported by a MAJOR fucking label that hires hordes of people and spends hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars to write, shoot, and produce each of her videos. Rebecca Black's parents paid $2000 to pay for a YouTube video with a generic pop song. And the most intelligent thing you can say is "[Britney's] producers don't do a half-assed job usually"

[Phantasee]

It's a fair bit more intelligent than your criticism of Rebecca Black's critics. The fact that you are unable to perceive the difference in quality between something put out by a major artist on a major label and Friday shows me you have no ability to tell the difference between "decent, can dance to" and "awful".

Terrible music is released all the time. Most of it doesn't get 25 million views on YouTube. People pointing out how terrible the song is are probably afraid someone might get the mistaken idea that it's actually a good song.

As far as "usually": She did have a couple albums that didn't do very well, there. Which means they didn't do a good job of producing an album that should top the charts at some point (which is what they're paid to produce). I was making a joke.

EDIT: And I object to you calling Friday a "generic pop song". It is not generic in the sense that it is the same thing as other pop songs without the "brand names" attached, it is nowhere near being a "generic pop song." There's a lot of same-old same-old out there that is miles ahead of Friday in both quality of writing and producing. Forget the video, the song is complete shit. Not even unremarkable shit, as Gabriel would say. It's remarkable for it's poor quality.

[Guardsman Bass]

Actually, I think most Britney Spears songs are much better than "Friday". Britney actually has decent vocal range, for example.

[Big Phil]

It's a fair bit more intelligent than your criticism of Rebecca Black's critics. The fact that you are unable to perceive the difference in quality between something put out by a major artist on a major label and Friday shows me you have no ability to tell the difference between "decent, can dance to" and "awful".

Terrible music is released all the time. Most of it doesn't get 25 million views on YouTube. People pointing out how terrible the song is are probably afraid someone might get the mistaken idea that it's actually a good song.

As far as "usually": She did have a couple albums that didn't do very well, there. Which means they didn't do a good job of producing an album that should top the charts at some point (which is what they're paid to produce). I was making a joke.

EDIT: And I object to you calling Friday a "generic pop song". It is not generic in the sense that it is the same thing as other pop songs without the "brand names" attached, it is nowhere near being a "generic pop song." There's a lot of same-old same-old out there that is miles ahead of Friday in both quality of writing and producing. Forget the video, the song is complete shit. Not even unremarkable shit, as Gabriel would say. It's remarkable for it's poor quality.

Whether you like it, or whether it's popular, is entirely subjective. There is a lot of terrible, but popular music. The Ramones, for example, launched an entirely new genre of music - as singers and musicians, however, they're complete shit. Likewise, there are many great singers who are not popular. Popularity alone doesn't make a singer great, or music technically great.

But that's beside the point - the OP was simply about why people are ranting and raving like lunatics about an otherwise forgettable song and mediocre singer. People are saying things like "she's a terrible singer!," but if every terrible singer got ripped like this girl has, the Britney Spears' of the world wouldn't be where they are. The song itself is pretty awful, but as she didn't write it herself, I fail to see why she's drawing the criticism. Which is why I'm left with assuming that the frothing at the mouth rage is more due to jealousy than her singing or the song itself, but if it's just a crappy song, you ignore it and move on. But then, I'm not a teenager or a 20-something with too much time on my hands, so I'll acknowledge that perhaps I simply don't understand you youngsters and chalk the foaming at the mouth rage to that.

[Phantasee]

To be fair I don't think most people know about ARK or the details of how she got recorded. Most people probably assume she's another product put out by a major label to be the next big thing, in which case it's backlash against the music industry for thinking we're that dumb (I mean hey we love the Biebs but there's a limit, right?).

I actually think this is similar to the hate-on for Justin Bieber, except he's got a modicum of talent and he appeals to his target market (little girls). Anyone over the age of 15 who hates on Bieber just isn't getting it. He's not supposed to appeal to you very much. Rebecca Black apparently doesn't appeal to anyone, very much.

[salm]

Without having seen the video - it´s blocked in Germany - i guess it´s just because people enjoy flaming. Add pack mentality and you get teenager bashing for no good reason.

[Big Phil]

Without having seen the video - it´s blocked in Germany - i guess it´s just because people enjoy flaming. Add pack mentality and you get teenager bashing for no good reason.

Why would it be blocked in Germanland?

[Guardsman Bass]

One factor for it is that the song is amusingly terrible, to the point where it has spawned some awesome amateur parody versions of it (including my favorite one, 4-Gate). There are a lot of songs that are just terrible and forgettable.

[aerius]

Whether you like it, or whether it's popular, is entirely subjective. There is a lot of terrible, but popular music. The Ramones, for example, launched an entirely new genre of music - as singers and musicians, however, they're complete shit.

The Ramones could actually sing in tune and keep a beat, and while their songs weren't songwriting genius they were at least decently clever & catchy most of the time.

But that's beside the point - the OP was simply about why people are ranting and raving like lunatics about an otherwise forgettable song and mediocre singer. People are saying things like "she's a terrible singer!," but if every terrible singer got ripped like this girl has, the Britney Spears' of the world wouldn't be where they are.

Before I get to this I first want to say fuck you, I hope you die from gonorrhea. To figure out what you were getting at I had to go listen to some Lady Gaga and the other shit you mentioned in previous posts so I could put Rebecca Black in context. Man, I want my 30 minutes back, it was all shit, and I have to say it's all so shitty that I just don't care what's worse or less bad. I get a Tylenol 3 headache from listening to any of that crap, it was painful.

To answer the OP, I still have no clue. I stand by my original opinion that it's just one of those things. It just is.

[Terralthra]

Charlotte Church was 12 when her first album came out. Here she is at 11 years old:

A family member bought her first album. I listened along, then wrote Will go off the rails completely in five years on a piece of paper, folded it in half and handed it to my sister with the instructions to read it in 2004 as proof of my long-distance perception.

Who's laughing now?

Well, since you appear to be completely wrong, I'm guessing whomever you handed the paper to?

[Broomstick]

To answer the OP, I still have no clue. I stand by my original opinion that it's just one of those things. It just is.

Either that, or the media is so full of shit and disaster lately people are grasping at anything that is the least good not too horrible as a distraction.

[salm]

Without having seen the video - it´s blocked in Germany - i guess it´s just because people enjoy flaming. Add pack mentality and you get teenager bashing for no good reason.

Why would it be blocked in Germanland?

I don´t know. Today it says that the video was removed by the owner. Yesterday, i´m fairily certain, i got an error message stating that i can´t view the video because it has content owned by some record company. Tons of music videos on youtube are blocked in Germany for that reason.

[Big Phil]

Whether you like it, or whether it's popular, is entirely subjective. There is a lot of terrible, but popular music. The Ramones, for example, launched an entirely new genre of music - as singers and musicians, however, they're complete shit.

The Ramones could actually sing in tune and keep a beat, and while their songs weren't songwriting genius they were at least decently clever & catchy most of the time.

Let's be honest - Joey Ramone is a shit singer, and the rest of band knew (maybe) three chords between them. They're utter shit as musicians. What the Ramones were, however, is completely original and unlike anything else. A lot of people give the Sex Pistols credit for launching punk, but the reality is the Ramones were there first. In other words, you don't have to be a technically great musician or singer to do something impressive; it helps, but it's not necessary. Being new, different, creative, and tapping into a social meme is far more important than your singing ability.

But that's beside the point - the OP was simply about why people are ranting and raving like lunatics about an otherwise forgettable song and mediocre singer. People are saying things like "she's a terrible singer!," but if every terrible singer got ripped like this girl has, the Britney Spears' of the world wouldn't be where they are.

Before I get to this I first want to say fuck you, I hope you die from gonorrhea. To figure out what you were getting at I had to go listen to some Lady Gaga and the other shit you mentioned in previous posts so I could put Rebecca Black in context. Man, I want my 30 minutes back, it was all shit, and I have to say it's all so shitty that I just don't care what's worse or less bad. I get a Tylenol 3 headache from listening to any of that crap, it was painful.

To answer the OP, I still have no clue. I stand by my original opinion that it's just one of those things. It just is.

I know you stroke it nightly to Sarah McClacklan, but seriously... how the fuck have you not heard of Lady Gaga up in Canuckistan? I know you're backwards fucks and all, what with only recently discovering plumbing, hot showers, and soap, but even by accident you should have heard of her.

[Big Phil]

Also, for people who say her singing is complete shit, here's a YouTube clip of her singing acoustically - there are others online as well. Judge for yourself.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZQ0Fsk4 ... re=related

[aerius]

I know you stroke it nightly to Sarah McClacklan, but seriously... how the fuck have you not heard of Lady Gaga up in Canuckistan? I know you're backwards fucks and all, what with only recently discovering plumbing, hot showers, and soap, but even by accident you should have heard of her.

McLachlan. Seriously, I've heard of Lady Gaga but I've never heard her songs before because my radio's tuned to the jazz and classic rock stations, hell, I still haven't heard a Justin Bieber song and that bastard's music is everywhere. There's 3 radio stations I listen to and none of them play any recent mainstream pop music. It's great.

[Morilore]

On the original youtube video: sixty-seven million views and two comments a second. What the fuck. I guess nothing brings people together like hating on some random teenage girl.

[SilverWingedSeraph]

I have no hate for her, because hey, she's just a kid. But goddamn that song is awful. I was introduced to it to my sister, and I just kind of stared and asked "This... this is like a parody, right? 'We we we so excited'? 'Yesterday was Thursday'? I mean... this has to be a joke, right?" And my sister just slowly shook her head and I was left wondering what the hell made anyone think those lyrics were a good fucking idea. They're just so utterly terrible.

[J]

Also, for people who say her singing is complete shit, here's a YouTube clip of her singing acoustically - there are others online as well. Judge for yourself.

The person responsible for mixing the vocals in her video needs to be drawn & quartered for bad taste, he, and I'm pretty sure that person's a he, managed to turn an average singer into an unlistenable robot. That's what I think she is, an average singer for a girl of her age, nothing more, nothing less.

With that over and done let us not speak of her again, and instead, enjoy the talent of Hayley Westenra.

[FSTargetDrone]

With that over and done let us not speak of her again, and instead, enjoy the talent of Hayley Westenra.

Ah, excellent.

[Big Phil]

I know you stroke it nightly to Sarah McClacklan, but seriously... how the fuck have you not heard of Lady Gaga up in Canuckistan? I know you're backwards fucks and all, what with only recently discovering plumbing, hot showers, and soap, but even by accident you should have heard of her.

McLachlan. Seriously, I've heard of Lady Gaga but I've never heard her songs before because my radio's tuned to the jazz and classic rock stations, hell, I still haven't heard a Justin Bieber song and that bastard's music is everywhere. There's 3 radio stations I listen to and none of them play any recent mainstream pop music. It's great.

Oh, and by the way, thanks very fucking much for siccing Justin Beaver on us. Way to go Canada... way to fucking go...