Who is Thursday's Child?

What it means to be a “Thursday’s child” and why it makes perfect sense for TXT to use that reference

Associating certain traits with being born on certain days of the week dates back centuries. The most popular version of the nursery rhyme “Monday’s Child” reads as follows:

“Monday's child is fair of face

Tuesday's child is full of grace

Wednesday's child is full of woe

Thursday's child has far to go

Friday's child is loving and giving

Saturday's child works hard for a living

But the child who is born on the Sabbath day

Is bonnie and blithe and good and gay.”

There have been modifications to this writing over time. In some cases, Friday is given a negative connotation due to an affiliation with Crucifixion and bad luck. A Harper’s Weekly story from 1887 swaps Thursday’s and Saturday’s traits and describes “Sunday’s child” as “happy and wise” as opposed to “blithe and good.” Despite these variations, “Monday’s Child” is not an unimportant piece of literature. It is worth remembering and investigating the meaning of even though its meanings have changed over time, because the deeper and very real meanings people attach to arbitrary ones speak volumes. In other words, even if “Monday’s Child” comes across as superstitious or just plain silly, it is worth remembering because of the ways it has prompted people to reflect on their own destinies. Humans give this silly poem meaning, and understanding how it is interpreted is a way to understand how humans think about their own lives. David Bowie and TXT have both used the “Thursday’s child” reference from this rhyme to contemplate their shifting perspectives on their destinies.

David Bowie’s Song

Deriving profound meaning out of the written word is a large part of how pop culture is perpetuated, and nursery rhymes are a prime example. How do the stories told to children shape their outlooks, and how do nursery rhymes allow adults to see their pasts differently in hindsight? Taking a closer look at songs’ interpretations of “Monday’s Child” offers some answers. Here are some key lyrics in “Thursday’s Child” by David Bowie:

“Something about me stood apart / A whisper of hope that seemed to fail / Maybe I'm born right out of my time / Breaking my life in two / Now that I've really got a chance / (Throw me tomorrow)... Seeing my past to let it go… Only for you I don't regret / That I was Thursday's child.”

After singing about moving through life with heavy feelings of numbness and sorrow (“Shuffling days and lonesome nights”), Bowie sees a light at the end of the tunnel that makes the harrowing journey worthwhile (“Nothing prepared me for your smile / Lighting the darkness of my soul”).

Bowie opens up about feeling like an outsider, unsure where he belongs in the world, until someone he loves enters the picture and makes him feel reborn. TXT’s “Chaos Chapters” are all about this feeling. The Chaos Chapter : FREEZE and The Chaos Chapter: FIGHT OR ESCAPE tell stories in which the members are frozen in time, physically and metaphorically stuck feeling like outsiders. What allows the frozen world around them to melt down is their lover, who reminds them that as alien as one might feel in a situation, someone is always there to remind them they are not alone. As unpredictable and nerve-wracking as life can get, at least one thing can be depended on: love. The power of love to make people feel a newfound zest for life is what both Bowie’s and TXT’s songs address. 

TXT’s “Thursday’s Child Has Far To Go”

TXT sing about feeling liberated thanks to love:

“The destiny of being a Thursday's child / Makes me walk again, feelin' so good.”

Just as Bowie’s apathy towards his future is replaced with optimism thanks to love, TXT’s resentment towards their fate turns into a sense of opportunity: 

“Our life is unpredictable… I'm looking forward to the wonderful days.”

Although love does not take away struggles, it does inspire people to work through them. Rather than giving up and feeling despair at how far away a light at the end of the tunnel appears, love turns the attention to making the most of the long walk through that tunnel. In both Bowie’s and TXT’s songs, love gets them out of a funk and changes their outlooks to be journey-focused, rather than destination-focused. A tough time is much more manageable if tackled with a sense of excitement and gratitude.

“Far to Go” as a Matter of Perspective

Love is not only Bowie’s sole motivator to make his way through hardships, but it is also what allows him to let hope into his life. He has hope that brighter days are ahead and worth continuing to move towards, and this hope makes him reassess his resentment towards being a “Thursday’s child,” as mentioned earlier:

“Everything’s falling into place… Only for you I don’t regret / That I was Thursday’s child.”

Having “far to go” sounds daunting if one has no one to look forward to sharing the future with, but now that he does, he can truly believe the rhyme’s prophesying that for Thursday’s children, the best is yet to come. 

TXT’s Inner Child

“Thursday’s Child Has Far To Go” is a breakup song, humorously declaring it is best to break up on a Thursday, when it is far enough into the week to not make enduring the whole week unbearable but not too close to the weekend so as to spoil it. There is something charming and innocent about this worldview, thinking that one can just schedule their emotional outbursts for when they’ll be the least inconvenient! This groundless optimism is clear in TXT’s lyrics:

“Let’s break up on Thursday / On Frida[y], I’ll cry as much as I like / Pull yourself together on a Saturday night.”

There is something disarming about how TXT still take on the outlook of a child, as people who view their feelings as simple and straightforward. By treating a breakup as just another thing on a to-do list, there is an underlying assumption that the breakup will be quick to move on from; rather than declare they will be in a post-breakup funk indefinitely after Thursday, they plan to bounce back by the weekend! This attitude does not mean TXT do not value the relationship they are ending. Rather, they are choosing to have an “It was fun while it lasted” mentality and then not waste their futures wallowing over the past. 

By not succumbing to the jaded outlook of adults, TXT’s anthems full of Gen Z angst somehow maintain a degree of optimism. As member Taehyun puts it:

“In the end, our songs are always about growth… So that’s the reason why they always come back to the positive side.”

Bowie also sings about this way of looking at tough times, a mindset change made possible thanks to the power of love in his life:

“Now that I’ve really got a chance… Everything’s falling into place.”

Both “Thursday’s Child” by David Bowie and “Thursday’s Child Has Far To Go” by TXT are about tapping into a different side of oneself in response to sorrowful circumstances. Hope is a necessity, a source of strength that keeps them going. This hope is born from their loving relationships and the ways in which those relationships enable them to enjoy the present moment on the way to (what they can now see as) a promising future. Having “far to go” is exhilarating, rather than terrifying, once they have someone to accompany them on the journey. It is a beautiful full-circle moment to enter an older phase of life with encouragement from something said in one’s early childhood. 

Conclusion

Being a “Thursday’s Child” is about having far to go, and this can be seen as wonderful or the opposite. The difference in interpreting having “far to go” as exciting or something to dread depends on what perspective one has about the state of their present moment. What makes the present moment meaningful - sources of love in Bowie’s and TXT’s lives - are what make the future seem worth living too. Just like humans make “Monday’s Child” carry meaning, loved ones give positive meaning to the term “Thursday’s child” and reorient Bowie and TXT in the process.

Hear more about TXT’s new album, which includes “Thursday’s Child Has Far To Go,” here!