It’s Thanksgiving Day here in these somewhat United States, so let’s be thankful for today’s classic song of the day, Andrew Gold’s “Thank You for Being a Friend.” According to Mr. Gold, this one was “just this little throwaway thing” that took him only about an hour to write. I guess it doesn’t take that long when you’re as talented as he is.
“Thank You for Being a Friend” is, as you can probably tell from the title, an ode to friendship. Mr. Gold was accompanied on this recording by Waddy Wachtel on guitars, Kenny Edwards on bass, and the legendary Jeff Porcaro on drums. Andrew himself played piano and synths.
Released as a single in February of 1978, “Thank You for Being a Friend” reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100, #11 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #15 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. It got a second lease on life in 1985 when vocalist Cynthia Fee sang it as the theme song to the NBC television series, The Golden Girls. (That’s probably where most slightly younger folks know it from.) Then, in 1992, former Three Dog Night singer Chuck Negron recorded another version as the theme song to the short-lived The Golden Girls spinoff, The Golden Palace.
All that said, I really like the ad hoc cover done by Lake Street Dive in 2020, on the occasion of Betty White’s passing.
Whoever sings it, “Thank You for Being a Friend” is a song to be thankful for. You should also be thankful for all your friends, especially today. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
