The Easybeats – Friday On My Mind
“Friday on My Mind” is a 1966 song by The Easybeats from their studio album ‘Easy’. Written by band members George Young and Harry Vanda, the track became a worldwide hit, reaching #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1967 in the US, reaching #1 on the Dutch Top 40 chart, #1 in Australia and #6 in the UK, as well as charting in several other countries. In 2001, it was voted “Best Australian Song” of all time by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) as determined by a panel of 100 music industry personalities.
In 2007 ‘Friday on My Mind’ was added to the National Film and Sound Archive’s Sounds of Australia Registry.
Music and lyrics
The minor-key verses of “Friday on My Mind” depict the tedium and drudgery of the work week, taking each day at a time (“Monday morning feels so bad/Coming Tuesday I feel better”). These verses are adorned with a distinctive guitar figure. The build-up to the chorus features a slowly rising vocal, culminating with a shout of “Cos I’ll have Friday on my mind!”, and launching into a major-key refrain celebrating the pleasures of the weekend in the city.
Though the song has long been termed a “working class anthem”, George Young maintained it had “more to do with their outlook on the world than any class statement”. According to Harry Vanda, the track’s distinctive guitar opening was inspired by a film performance featuring The Swingle Singers: “It went tudutudutudu, which made us all laugh. In the train back from the gig, we were imitating them and suddenly it sounded good. They became the first notes of Friday On My Mind.”
Edited Extracts from Wikipedia®