I'll Be There for You (The Rembrandts song)

Background and release

The title theme used in the pilot for Friends was "Shiny Happy People" by American rock band R.E.M. For later episodes, Warner Bros. Television wanted either that song, or a song by R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe. When Stipe rejected the offer, the producers of the show instead wrote their own theme song and enlisted the Rembrandts, consisting of members Phil Sōlem and Danny Wilde, to record it. The music was composed by Marta Kauffman's husband, Michael Skloff. The Rembrandts did not want to record the song, but since they were the only available band on Warner Bros. Records, they relented to the company's demands. The original lyrics of "I'll Be There for You", a single verse as needed for the length of the series' opening credits, were co-written by Friends producers David Crane, and Kauffman along with songwriter Allee Willis. Skloff became inspired by hearing the Beatles song "Paperback Writer" on the radio while reading a show script and sought to capture a mid-1960s pop sound for the theme; though Michael Stipe speculates that the theme may have been written to emulate the sound of his band R.E.M. who were initially asked to supply the theme song. The handclaps at the end of the first line of the song were a last-minute addition, with Sōlem admitting that it was a wise decision and naming it the best part of the track.

The original theme, which is under one minute long, was later re-recorded as a three-minute pop song. After a radio announcer in Nashville, Tennessee, looped the original short version into a full-length track and broadcast it, the song became so popular that the Rembrandts had to re-record it, as well as helping to write the second verse and bridge. Sōlem said, "Our record label said we had to finish the song and record it. There was no way to get out of it." The three-minute version of "I'll Be There for You" was serviced to American contemporary hit radio on May 23, 1995. In the United Kingdom, a CD single and cassette single were issued on August 7, 1995. On May 12, 1997, the CD and cassette were re-issued in the UK to commemorate the video release of the first season of Friends.

Composition

"I'll Be There for You" is an upbeat song about traveling, dead-end jobs, and friendship.

Critical reception

Mark Sutherland from NME wrote, "Another record that makes you want to be American. This time it's one of the boho twentysomethings who populate US sitcom Friends, to which this is the theme. And, as such, it's the aural equivalent of the programme: all snazzy handclaps, ever-so-slightly alternative guitars, 'kooky' harmonies and lyrics that hint at existential angst but, fortunately, only the kind that can be sorted out in half an hour in front of a live studio audience. I'll be there for you, they swoon, When the rain starts to fall. What, in October?" Leesa Daniels from Smash Hits gave "I'll Be There for You" four out of five, saying, "It's quirky in a Beatles/Monkees way and it demands to be danced to in a ridiculous fashion that could possibly involve exposing your underwear. Ace!" In 2009, the song was listed by Blender as one of the "50 Worst Songs Ever". Conversely, several magazines have listed the song as one of the best TV theme songs, including Paste, Complex, and Observer.

Chart performance

"I'll Be There for You" topped the US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart for eight weeks and also peaked atop the Billboard Adult Contemporary and Top 40/Mainstream charts. At the peak of its popularity, the song was not available as a commercial single, therefore becoming the first song to top the Hot 100 Airplay chart without appearing on the Billboard Hot 100. On the Billboard Hot 100, when it was later released commercially as a double A-side with "This House Is Not a Home", it reached number 17. In Canada, the song peaked at number one for five consecutive weeks and was the most successful single of 1995. In the United Kingdom, it reached number three on the UK Singles Chart, and it peaked at the same position on the Irish Singles Chart the same year. In Scotland, it topped the country's singles chart. The song sold 322,000 copies in the UK during 1995.

While the song did not immediately make a significant commercial impact in Australia, reaching number 86 in October 1995, it re-entered the ARIA Singles Chart in August 1996 and peaked at number three on the week of October 13, spending a total of 20 weeks in the top 50. In 1997, when re-released in Europe, the song reached the top 10 in Ireland and the United Kingdom once more, placing two positions shy of its number-three peak in both countries. This re-release also saw the song reach the top 40 in Flanders, France, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. As of May 2021, "I'll Be There for You" has sold 925,000 copies and has been streamed 20.7 million times in the UK since streaming figures were introduced in 2014. According to the Official Charts Company, the song is streamed an average of 96,000 times a week.

Music video

The music video for "I'll Be There for You" features the band performing in a studio while the cast of Friends join in. Some scenes are shot in black-and-white. The Rembrandts members Phil Sōlem and Danny Wilde disclosed during a live interview on The Today Show on September 20, 2019, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the song that the video was shot on the set of SNL (Studio 8H).

Track listings

Several formats of the single feature snippets of six tracks from L.P. These tracks are "Don't Hide Your Love", "End of the Beginning", "Lovin' Me Insane", "Drowning in Your Tears", "This House Is Not a Home", and "What Will It Take".

1995 release

• US 7-inch vinyl and European CD single

1. "I'll Be There for You (Theme from Friends)" – 3:09
2. Album snippets – 6:42

• UK 7-inch and cassette single

1. "I'll Be There for You (Theme from Friends)" – 3:09
2. Fixin' to Blow – 5:03 Note: The cassette single was reissued in 1997

1997 release

• European and Australian CD single

1. "I'll Be There for You (Theme from Friends)" – 3:09
2. "Fixin' to Blow" – 5:03
3. "Just the Way It Is, Baby" – 4:06
4. Snippets medley – 6:46

Personnel

Personnel are lifted from the European CD single liner notes.

Musicians

• Danny Wilde – lyrics, vocals, bass, acoustic guitar, percussion
• Phil Sōlem – lyrics, vocals, electric guitar
• Michael Skloff – music, Hammond organ
• Pat Mastelotto – drums

Production staff

• Marta Kauffman – lyrics, executive production
• David Crane – lyrics, executive production
• Gavin MacKillop – production
• Kevin S. Bright – executive production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions

• American pop rock band The Goo Goo Dolls recorded their own version of this song which contained slightly altered lyrics, and a more upbeat tempo, rockier sound, as well as a glockenspiel in the rhythm track.
• American punk rock band Pink Lincolns covered this song under the title "Friends" for a 1997 compilation album titled Show & Tell.
• Meghan Trainor covered the song on September 22, 2019, to celebrate the Friends 25th Anniversary at the Empire State Building light show.
• Charlie Puth and The War and Treaty covered the song in a stripped-down acoustic version along with Puth's own "See You Again" at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, as a tribute to Matthew Perry and others during the In Memoriam segment.
• In 2020, retro musical collective Postmodern Jukebox released a cover titled Evolution Of The "Friends" TV Theme Song, presenting the song in a series of period-inspired arrangements spanning the 20th century, with The Rembrandts themselves performing the "1990s version".

In popular culture

For the 25th anniversary of the show, Jonas Brothers appeared in a music video of the theme song featuring Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sophie Turner and Danielle Jonas.

References

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