"Friends" by Justin Bieber & BloodPop®, Thursday, December 9, 2021

YouTuber Todd in the Shadows makes a yearly list of what he deems as the worst songs of the year, and last year Justin Bieber bookended the list with "Lonely" at #10 and "Yummy" at #1. Todd's frank commentary on the 27-year-old singer seemed a bit mean to put in my blog, and I realized that there was a reason Todd is in the shadows. There are several reasons why I chose "Friends" as the song of the day. First, the Tyler Ward version was stuck in my head, and it wasn't until I watch Ward's video on YouTube that I realized that the song was a Bieber song. When I watched the Bieber music video, the snow in the video made me think that it made the song fit in on my December playlist. I realized that the Bieber version wasn't half bad. It was melodic and the electronic production was a kind of song I would listen to, although I'd still prefer the Tyler Ward cover (see below).

LIKE I GOT ULTERIOR MOTIVES. Regardless of whether it's the Tyler Ward cover or the Justin Bieber & BloodPop original, this song give us an opportunity to discuss Bieber. If you were born before 1994, you probably not on the Justin Bieber 1.0 phase. The YouTube star who became the youngest singer to top the Hot 100 charts in 47 years wasn't critically acclaimed for lines, such as "I was like baby, baby, baby oooh."  In 2015 my students started talking about this new sound that Justin Bieber was doing. The singer's voice had changed and he was nearly 18. Public opinion on the singer was now saying that Bieber was cool, and songs like "Sorry" and "Love Yourself" were quite catchy. But after Bieber's introduction to EDM, which never really has gone away, the singer started appearing on dance tracks by so many artists who won't be remembered in 20 years from now: DJ Snake, Major Lazor, BloodPop, just to name a few. Bieber went from little pipsqueak to controversial frat boy, singing songs that we'd mostly forget about after getting drunk at the bar on Saturday night if they weren't always playing it at the gym. To me, Bieber's career turned into stock music for artificial events. You listen to Bieber at the gym if your AirPods need to charge.

AND IF IT ENDS, CAN WE BE FRIENDS. Today's song comes from 2017 between Bieber's 3rd and 4th LPs. "Friends" is a song about wanting to be close to an ex, which can be a precarious situation. There are certainly people who can do that--Elaine and Jerry. But there are also Rory and Dean situations. In 2018 Justin Bieber married Hailey Baldwin, yet many fans speculate that Bieber never got over his ex, Selena Gomez. Now should Justin be hanging out, texting Selena? Should the three hang out together? Who am I to judge. However, the listener of this song doesn't get a voice, only the singer. "Friends" is a song that comes from a position of privilege, which is really all Bieber knows. I'm not saying that the singer hasn't had struggles; the mental effects the star faced in his childhood would set anyone back. But the singer's diet-Christianity seems to reek of privilege. When Bieber was baptized by former Hillsong Pastor Carl Lentz in 2014, faith to him was like taking on a sponsorship. He began voicing pro-life beliefs and making some religious songs, while others talked about "California weed" with tons of curse words. Meanwhile, fans became upset when they learned about Hillsong's stance on LGBTQ issues and some iffy racial issues. An Instagram account called @preachersnsneakers took issue with Lentz pandering to celebrity, while cultivating an expensive style. Is Bieber directly responsible? I don't think so, but it's worth mentioning that "the poor in spirit" are no where to be blessed. Bieber's religion is a nice country club for the wealthiest, coolest, cisgendered white men and subservient cisgendered white women, and this church is masterfully parodied on Season 2 of The Other Two. So, no Justin, I don't think we can be friends.

Lyric Video:

Tyler Ward's Cover:




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