"Friday I'm in Love"
Single by the Cure
from the album Wish
B-side
  • "Halo"
  • "Scared as You"
Released15 May 1992 (1992-05-15)[1]
Genre
Length3:38
LabelFiction
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
The Cure singles chronology
"High"
(1992)		 "Friday I'm in Love"
(1992)		 "A Letter to Elise"
(1992)
Music video
"Friday I'm in Love" on YouTube

"Friday I'm in Love" is a song by British rock band the Cure. Released as the second single from their ninth studio album, Wish (1992), in May 1992, the song was a worldwide hit, reaching number six in the UK and number 18 in the United States, where it also topped the Modern Rock Tracks chart. It also won the award for European Viewer's Choice for Best Music Video at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.

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 naïve, happy type of pop song."[6]

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.[7] "It's always been paradoxical that it's pushed down people's throats that we're a goth band," Smith observed. "Because, to the general public, we're not. To taxi drivers, I'm the bloke that sings 'Friday I'm in Love'. I'm not the bloke who sings 'Shake Dog Shake' or 'One Hundred Years'."[8]

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 (halfway between D and E-flat) due to Smith forgetting to disengage the vari-speed function on the multi-track recorder after toying with it before the final mixing process took place. When played live, the song is performed in its original intended key as opposed to the pitch discrepancy heard on the record.[9] The track was produced by David M. Allen and the Cure.

Release

"Friday I'm in Love" was the second single taken from the band's ninth studio album, Wish, and was released in the United Kingdom on 15 May 1992. Unusually, two formats of the song were released on a Friday instead of a Monday, so it debuted on the UK Singles Chart at a low number 31 on the chart week beginning 17 May.[1] The following week, after the other two formats went on sale,[1] the single rose to number eight and peaked at number six during its third week on the chart. As of 2024, it is the group's last UK top-10 hit.[10] In the United States, the song reached number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving the band their last American top-40 hit to date.[11] 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 one.[12]

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 video features the appearance of characters from his The Eclipse, or the Courtship of the Sun and Moon. Throughout the video the band play with various props and costumes while several extras wander around, causing chaos and ultimately trashing the set. Tim Pope makes a cameo at the beginning, riding a rocking horse and yelling out high-pitched stage directions through a plastic megaphone after inhaling helium from a balloon. The band's Japanese make-up artist also makes an appearance. The final shot is of bassist Simon Gallup crouching and peering into the camera while wearing a bridal veil and holding some champagne.[13] The producer of "Friday, I'm in Love", Dave M. Allen, makes an appearance in the background, also holding up props. Another oddity is the band's name on the drum—a scrawled "The Cures" rather than the band's singular name.

Track listing

7-inch vinyl
No.TitleLength
1."Friday I'm in Love"3:36
2."Halo"3:47
12-inch vinyl
No.TitleLength
1."Friday I'm in Love" (Strangelove Mix)5:29
2."Halo"3:47
3."Scared as You"4:12
CD
No.TitleLength
1."Friday I'm in Love"3:36
2."Halo"3:47
3."Scared as You"4:12
4."Friday I'm in Love" (Strangelove Mix)5:29

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for "Friday I'm in Love"
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[31] Gold 45,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[32] Platinum 100,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[33] 2× Platinum 1,200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release history for "Friday I'm in Love"
Region Date Label(s) Ref.
United Kingdom 15 May 1992 Fiction [1]
Europe 18 May 1992 [34]
United States 28 May 1992 Elektra [35]
Japan 25 June 1992 Fiction [36]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Chart Focus" (PDF). Music Week. 23 May 1992. p. 9. Retrieved 14 July 2021. The Cure's idiosyncratic decision to release Friday I'm In Love on Friday instead of Monday...
  2. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Galore: The Singles 1987-1997 - The Cure | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Gerard, Chris (4 April 2014). "50 Best Alternative Albums of the '90s". Metro Weekly. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  4. ↑ Beaumont, Mark (27 March 2019). "Just Like Heaven: The Cure's 10 best songs". NME. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  5. ↑ "The 50 Best Alt-Rock Love Songs". SPIN. 12 February 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  6. ↑ "The Cure Interview Transcript - discogs.com".
  7. ↑ "The Cure's Robert Smith interview - Part Two". femalefirst.co.uk. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  8. ↑ Cameron, Keith (August 2004). "It's more Kiss Me than goth". Mojo. No. 129. p. 87.
  9. ↑ Gore, Joe (September 1992). "Confessions of a Pop Mastermind". Guitar Player. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  10. 1 2 "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  11. 1 2 "The Cure Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  12. 1 2 "The Cure Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  13. ↑ Runtagh, Jordan (21 Apr 2017). "The Cure's 'Friday I'm in Love': 7 Things You Didn't Know". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  14. ↑ "The Cure – Friday I'm In Love". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  15. ↑ "The Cure – Friday I'm In Love" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  16. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 1973." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  17. ↑ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 26. 27 June 1992. p. 23. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  18. ↑ "Cure – Friday I'm In Love" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  19. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Friday I'm in Love". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  20. ↑ "The Cure – Friday I'm In Love" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  21. ↑ "The Cure – Friday I'm In Love". Top 40 Singles.
  22. ↑ "The Cure – Friday I'm In Love". VG-lista.
  23. ↑ "The Cure – Friday I'm In Love". Singles Top 100.
  24. ↑ "The Cure – Friday I'm In Love". Swiss Singles Chart.
  25. ↑ "The Cure Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard.
  26. ↑ "The Cure Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  27. ↑ "The RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1992" (PDF). RPM. Vol. 56, no. 25. 19 December 1992. p. 8. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  28. ↑ "1992 Year-End Sales Charts" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 51/52. 19 December 1992. p. 17. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  29. ↑ "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1992" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  30. ↑ "Billboard Top 100 – 1992". Billboardtop100of.com. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  31. ↑ "Danish single certifications – The Cure – Friday I'm in Love". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  32. ↑ "Italian single certifications – The Cure – Friday I'm in Love" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  33. ↑ "British single certifications – Cure – Friday I'm in Love". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  34. ↑ "Friday I'm in Love" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 21. 23 May 1992. p. 38. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  35. ↑ "Friday I'm in Love". Amazon. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  36. ↑ "フライデイ・アイム・イン・ラヴ | Cure" [Friday I'm in Love | Cure] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
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