‘Friday on My Mind’ is a 1966 song by Australian rock group The Easybeats. Written by band members George Young and Harry Vanda, the track became a worldwide hit, reaching No.16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1967 in the US, No.1 on the Dutch Top 40 chart, No.1 in Australia and No.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.
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'."
This song was co-written by Easybeats guitarists George Young and Harry Vanda, who were the primary songwriters in the group (Young is the older brother of Malcolm and Angus Young from AC/DC). Vanda described the song as reminiscent of the days where the band members lived in hostels in Sydney as "new Australians." They would hang out for the end of the week because that's when the fun began.
Previously, the band's main songwriting team had been George Young and lead singer Stevie Wright. Vanda and Young produced The Easybeats' later albums and after the group broke up in 1969, formed their own group, Flash And The Pan, which had a few successes during the late '70s and early '80s. They also continued writing and producing hits for other artists like AC/DC and John Paul Young.
Label – United Artists
Songwriters – George Young, Harry Vanda
Producer – Shel Talmy
SONG LYRICS
{Intro}Monday mornin' feels so bad
Ev'rybody seems to nag me
Comin' Tuesday I feel better
Even my old man looks good
Wed'sday just don't go
Thursday goes too slow
I've got Friday on my mind
Gonna have fun in the city
Be with my girl, she's so pretty
She looks fine tonight
She is out of sight to me
Tonight I'll spend my bread, tonight
I'll lose my head, tonight
I've got to get to night
Monday I'll have Friday on my mind
Do the five day grind once more
I know of nothin' else that bugs me
More than workin' for the rich man
Hey! I'll change that scene one day
Today I might be mad, tomorrow I'll be glad
Cause I'll have Friday on my mind
Gonna have fun in the city
Be with my girl, she's so pretty
She looks fine tonight
She is out of sight to me
Tonight I'll spend my bread, tonight
I'll lose my head, tonight
I've got to get to night
Monday I'll have Friday on my mind
Gonna have fun in the city
Be with my girl, she's so pretty
I'm gonna have fun in the city
Be with my girl, she's so pretty