2020 took a lot from us, but in its final days, it did give us one incredible gift: An updated version of Aly & AJ’s classic 2007 bop, “Potential Breakup Song.”
Just weeks after debuting a brand new single, “Slow Dancing,” the duo released an explicit remake of their iconic tune. The new “Potential Breakup Song” lyrics aren’t that different from the original, but there are three key changes that definitely take the song out of the Disney territory of Aly & AJ's young stardom. The lyric, “except for the fact it was my birthday / my stupid birthday” is now, “except for the fact it was my birthday / my f*cking birthday;" and “Let me repeat that / I want my stuff back” has been updated to “Let me repeat that / I want my sh*t back.” In the song's bridge, one line was changed from “Before you nearly, nearly mess up” to “Before you nearly, nearly f*ck up.”
The original “Potential Breakup Song” may be 13 years old, but it picked up major steam — and a lot of new fans — this year, as a trending song on TikTok. And while Aly & AJ didn’t officially announce the remake until this month, the sisters did indicate they’d be open to revisiting it in an interview with Us Weekly earlier this year. “I would produce that song a lot differently now when I think about it,” Aly told the magazine. AJ added, “I would love that song to get, like, a facelift. … I think the way pop music has changed now, we’d reproduce it and make it kind of a whole other thing.”
Despite the minimal changes to the lyrics, the 2020 version does feel new, with music that reflects the ‘80s synth-pop vibe of their 2019 EP, Sanctuary. And one thing is certain: Fans are loving it. “The way aly and aj single handedly saved 2020 with the explicit version of potential breakup song,” one fan tweeted, while another wrote, “Aly and AJ added three (3) curse words to potential breakup song and yall are going wild for it...and you know what me too let’s go.” Plenty of fans also hilariously gave the song the meme treatment.
Belting this out on repeat until our voices are hoarse just might be the perfect way to bid farewell to 2020.
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