"I'll Be There for You" | ||||
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Single by the Rembrandts | ||||
from the album L.P. | ||||
B-side |
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Released | May 23, 1995 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:09 | |||
Label | ||||
Composer(s) | Michael Skloff | |||
Lyricist(s) |
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Producer(s) | Gavin MacKillop | |||
The Rembrandts singles chronology | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
"I'll Be There for You" is a song by American pop rock duo the Rembrandts. The song was written by David Crane, Marta Kauffman and Allee Willis as the main theme song to the NBC sitcom Friends , [4] which was broadcast from 1994 to 2004. [5] American rock band R.E.M. was originally asked to allow their song "Shiny Happy People" to be used for the Friends theme, but they turned the opportunity down. "I'll Be There for You" was subsequently written and Warner Bros. Television selected the only available band on Warner Bros. Records to record it: the Rembrandts. In 1995, after a Nashville radio station brought the song to mainstream popularity, Rembrandts members Danny Wilde and Phil Sōlem expanded the theme song with two new verses and included this version on their third studio album, L.P. (1995).
The extended version of the song was serviced to US radio on May 23, 1995, and was issued in the United Kingdom on August 7, 1995, as the first single from L.P. Following the song's release, it reached the top 10 in Australia, New Zealand and Norway, as well as in Ireland and the United Kingdom in both 1995 and 1997. In Canada, the song reached number one for five weeks and was the most successful single of 1995, while in the United States, the song reached number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart for eight weeks.
The title theme used in the pilot for Friends was "Shiny Happy People" by American rock band R.E.M.. Warner Bros. Television wanted either that song, or a song by R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe as the theme for the show. 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. [6] [7] 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. [8] 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; [9] 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. [10] 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. [8]
The original theme, which is under one minute long, was later re-recorded as a three-minute pop song. [11] 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. [8] Sōlem said, "Our record label said we had to finish the song and record it. There was no way to get out of it." [12] The three-minute version of "I'll Be There for You" was serviced to American contemporary hit radio on May 23, 1995. [13] In the United Kingdom, a CD single and cassette single were issued on August 7, 1995. [14] 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. [15] [16]
"I'll Be There for You" is an upbeat song about traveling, dead-end jobs, and friendship. [17] It is written in the key of A major with a tempo of 192 beats per minute. [18]
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?" [19]
In 2009, the song was listed by Blender as one of the "50 Worst Songs Ever". [17] Conversely, several magazines have listed the song as one of the best TV theme songs, including Paste , [20] Complex , [21] and Observer. [22]
"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. [23] [24] [25] 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 Hot 100. [26] 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. [27] In Canada, the song peaked at number one for five consecutive weeks and was the most successful single of 1995. [28] [29] 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. [30] [31] In Scotland, it topped the country's singles chart. [32] The song sold 322,000 copies in the UK during 1995. [8]
While the song did not immediately make a significant commercial impact in Australia, reaching number 86 in October 1995, [33] it soon 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. [34] 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. [31] [35] This re-release also saw the song reach the top 40 in Flanders, France, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. [36] 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. [8]
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). [37] [38]
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
Note: The cassette single was reissued in 1997 | 1997 release
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Personnel are lifted from the European CD single liner notes. [6]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA) [65] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [69] | Gold | 5,000* |
Norway (IFPI Norway) [70] | Platinum | |
United Kingdom (BPI) [71] | Platinum | 925,000 [8] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
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United States | May 23, 1995 | Contemporary hit radio | [13] | |
United Kingdom | August 7, 1995 |
| [14] |
On 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. [74] [75]
The Rembrandts are an American alternative rock duo, formed by Danny Wilde and Phil Solem in 1989. They had previously worked together as members of Great Buildings in 1981. The Rembrandts are best known for the song "I'll Be There for You", which was used as the main theme song for the NBC sitcom Friends.
"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. from their ninth studio album, Monster (1994). The song's title refers to an incident in New York City in 1986 in which two then-unknown assailants attacked journalist Dan Rather while repeating "Kenneth, what is the frequency?"
"The Great Beyond" is a song by American rock band R.E.M., written for the 1999 film Man on the Moon. It was released as a single the same year for support of the film's soundtrack album. On the soundtrack, there is some dialogue from the movie at the end of the track; meanwhile, the single version is a radio edit, with the bridge omitted.
"Shiny Happy People" is a song by the American rock band R.E.M., released as the second single from their seventh studio album, Out of Time (1991). It features guest vocals by Kate Pierson of the B-52's, who also appears in the music video.
"Everybody Hurts" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. from their eighth studio album, Automatic for the People (1992), and released as a single in April 1993 by Warner Bros. Records. It peaked at number 29 on the US Billboard Hot 100, but fared much better on the US Cash Box Top 100, where it peaked at number 18. The song also reached the top 10 on the charts of Australia, Canada, France, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Its music video was directed by Jake Scott and filmed in San Antonio, Texas. In 2003, Q ranked "Everybody Hurts" at number 31 on their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever", and in 2005, Blender ranked the song at number 238 on their list of "Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".
"Head over Feet" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, taken from her third studio album Jagged Little Pill (1995). Written by Alanis and Glen Ballard, and produced by Ballard, it was released as the album's fifth single outside of the United States in July 1996 and presented a softer sound than the previous singles from the album. "Head over Feet" talks about being best friends and lovers with someone at the same time, with Alanis thanking them for their manners, love and devotion.
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"Bang and Blame" is a song by American alternative rock group R.E.M. It was released as the second single from their ninth studio album, Monster (1994), on October 31, 1994 by Warner Bros. Records. The song was R.E.M.'s last to reach the top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 19, and was also their last number-one single on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The single reached number one in Canada—R.E.M.'s only single to do so—and peaked inside the top 40 on the charts of Australia, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
"Strange Currencies" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. It was included on their ninth studio album, Monster (1994), and was released as the album's fourth single on April 18, 1995, by Warner Bros. Records. The song reached number nine on the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number 47 in the United States. Like "Everybody Hurts" on R.E.M.'s previous album, it has a time signature of 6
8. The song's music video was directed by Mark Romanek.
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