Monday you can fall apart
Tuesday, Wednesday, break my heart
Oh, Thursday doesn’t even start
It’s Friday I’m in love
“Friday I’m in Love,” The Cure
“Friday I’m in Love” by The Cure, “Last Friday Night (TGIF)” by Katy Perry, “Friday” by Rebecca Black, and so many more. If there’s one thing the music industry has instilled in us, it’s an affinity for the best day of the week. But is Friday really the best? Here’s a countdown ranking all seven days of the week, worst to best, with a little help from a handful of artists:
7. Wednesday
Wednesday morning, take my blues away
Wednesday morning, it’s going to be a brighter day
“Wednesday Morning,” Slackstring
It is ironic, I know, to have chosen such uplifting lyrics for the day ranked last, but hear me out. You wake up to a bright morning. Rising to the positive realization that you’ve made it halfway through the week, you know you can do it, you’re almost to the weekend. By noon, however, you realize that you’re only halfway through the week. You have to do everything you just did all over again before you can shut off that dreadful morning alarm. No longer riding the momentum from last weekend, but not close enough to next weekend to start winding down, you’re stuck in limbo. This dreadful back-and-forth lands Wednesday in the bottom spot.
6. Thursday
I lost Thursday, I had it somewhere
Don’t say it’s where I left it
“I Lost Thursday,” They Might Be Giants
This song by They Might Be Giants explores the confusion we experience when we begin to lose interest in the things that once sparked joy; when things that used to light us up don’t seem quite so electric anymore. This is how Thursdays can often feel. Neck deep in the week, so close to falling below the surface, it can be difficult to find the drive to push forward. Waking up with a full two days worth of work ahead of you, the weekend can seem distant and unachievable, much like the notion of happiness is to the narrator of “I Lost Thursday.” This melancholy sensation and strive to feel grounded that often accompanies Thursdays earns the day its sixth place ranking.
5. Sunday
I want a Sunday kind of love,
A love to last past Saturday night
And I’d like to know
It’s more than love at first sight
“A Sunday Kind of Love,” Etta James
James sings about wanting to find a love that is true and real, lasting beyond the idyllic haze of Saturday night. A love that faces the realities of life. This is what’s not to like about Sundays, and puts it in the #5 spot. Sundays can never be truly enjoyed as a part of the weekend because Monday is always lurking around the corner. Sundays remind us that the only constant in life is change and all good things must end. No matter how hard you try, you’ll never be able to recreate the magic of a Saturday night knowing that Monday is looming. Unless maybe you’re retired, I can’t speak on that.
4. Tuesday
I’ve come to know that love’s not only the best days
Or the worst days
Yeah, love is the Tuesdays
Tuesdays aren’t special or spectacular, but they aren’t miserable either. Tuesdays are just Tuesdays, and there’s something beautiful in that simplicity, putting them right in the middle of this list. These are the days when you wake up to your alarm and actually get up. You’re a day into the week, and you’re picking up momentum. Tuesdays are hopeful, they are the mornings you can romanticize in the right light. Maybe you have a lot of work to do this week, but you have the whole week ahead of you to do it. Just as love isn’t only abundant in moments of white dresses and champagne toasts, happiness in life can’t only be counted by weekends. Love is in rushed Tuesday morning breakfasts and leftovers for dinner.
3. Monday
Monday, they’re just mad
Monday, don’t be sad
Monday, you’re not so bad
“Monday You’re Not So Bad,” Jeremy Messersmith
Hot take: I love Mondays. Refreshed from the weekend, you have days of opportunities ahead of you. The dread and anticipation leading to Monday are worse than the actual day itself. In reality, a good Monday can kickstart an awesome week. Bonus, you have a built-in excuse in your back pocket all day. Slept through your alarm and running late? No worries! Call it a case of the Mondays.
2. Friday
It’s finally Friday, I’m free again
I got my motor running for a wild weekend
It’s finally Friday, I’m out of control
Forget the working blues and let the good times roll
– “Finally Friday,” George Jones
Call me crazy, but I just can’t rank Friday #1. If we spend the whole week waiting for the weekend, how can we possibly justify putting a weekday first? The beauty of Friday is having the whole weekend ahead of you, but that inherently suggests that the weekend should be ranked higher than Friday itself. I love the freedom of Friday come 5:00 p.m., but you simply can’t ignore the early morning alarm and full workday Friday brings with it. Not to mention the extreme difficulty of getting anything done while already mentally checked into the weekend. Still, I can’t discount the beauty of Fridays, and they hold the 2nd place spot on this list.
1. Saturday
And I remember, I remember
When your neon used to burn so bright and pink
So bright and pink!
Saturday night kind of pink
There’s something undeniably special about Saturdays. Houndmouth’s “Sedona” illustrates the magic haze of a Saturday night through a nostalgic and reminiscent look back at the day’s enchanted and lively nature. There’s simply no day quite like a Saturday. A moldable chunk of clay you can shape to be whatever you want, it’s time to spend however you so choose. With no responsibility and the comfort of another weekend day ahead, Saturdays are the ultimate opportunity for relaxation and freedom to be untamed.
Maybe The Cure has it right, and Fridays are unbeatable. Or perhaps love really is in Tuesdays. Either way, each day will come and go time and time again, so it might be best to make the most of them all.
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