The Friends theme song, “I’ll Be There for You” by The Rembrandts, has become the most recognizable TV theme of all time over the years. But for many years, actor David Schwimmer wasn’t a huge fan of it. On his recent appearance on Matt Lucas and David Walliams’ Making a Scene podcast, the 58-year-old Ross Geller actor disclosed that listening to the song over and over again throughout the show’s 10-year run affected him.
David Schwimmer Avoided Watching Friends for Years
“I never watched the show after we finished it,” he admitted to the hosts. Lucas, 51, quipped, “Same, I never watched your show.”
David Schwimmer went on to explain, “For me, it’s like, I did it, I’m moving on. I don’t really go back and revisit.” But his opinion changed when his daughter, Cleo, grew up watching the show around age nine. David, who shares the 13-year-old with ex-wife Zoë Buckman, remembered how her new fandom for the show changed things for him.
Hearing the Friends Theme Song Was Difficult for David Schwimmer
“I’ll be really honest, there was a time for quite a while that just hearing the theme song would really,” he said, pausing as he struggled to put the feeling into words. He sighed before adding, “You know what I mean? I just had that reaction. I mean, I just had heard it so many times.”
Adding some humor, Matt chimed in with the song’s famous opening line: “Well, no one told you life was going to be that way.” David responded with a simple, “Correct, thank you.”
The Song Followed Him Everywhere
David Schwimmer explained that each time he appeared in public, the song was played at his introduction, and this made him avoid hearing it. “And any time you’d go on a show or a talk show or an interview, that would be your intro song. So I just didn’t have the greatest response to it,” he said.
His Perspective Changed Through His Daughter
But everything changed when he heard it through his daughter’s ears. “I’d be making breakfast or whatever and I’d hear my kid’s laughter,” he recalled. “My whole relationship to that song and to the show changed.”
Friends debuted on September 22, 1994, and chronicled six twentysomethings as they made their way through life and love in New York City. In addition to David Schwimmer , the hit sitcom also featured Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green), Courteney Cox (Monica Geller), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay), Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani), and the late Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing). The show last year marked 30 years since its launch.