What show is potential breakup song in?

The AJ in Aly & AJ. Photo: Getty Images

It took too long (it took too long, it took too long) to get a reimagined “Potential Breakup Song.” Aly & AJ have dropped a deliciously explicit version of their classic song and it feels like our birthday. Our “fucking birthday,” that is. The new, dirty version of “Potential Breakup Song” lets fans get even more pissed at their imaginary boyfriend, trading the Disney-approved alternatives for some good old-fashioned swears: “So you better think clearly, clearly / Before you nearly, nearly / Fuck up the situation that you’re gonna miss dearly, dearly / C’mon,” throwing in the f-bomb. Aly & AJ rerecorded the 2007 pop-rock song from their album Insomniatic after a resurgence on TikTok, but anyone who was babysat by the Disney Channel in noughties remembers the words to “Potential Breakup Song.”

Now’s as good a time as any to revisit Aly & AJ’s previous hits “Rush,” “Like Whoa,” and “Take Me,” as well as their recent single “Slow Dancing.” The sisters are dropping a new single each month, leading up to their new album in the spring, starting with the acoustic track. In February, they dropped “Attack of Panic,” and in May, they gave us “Joan of Arc on the Dance Floor,” two electro-pop bops. We’ve waited 13 years to be able to cuss out the dude in “Potential Breakup Song.” Finally, the emotional release we needed to say good-bye to 2020.

Aly & AJ Drop Explicit Version of “Potential Breakup Song”

Sisters Aly Michalka and AJ Michalka gave fans a reason to rejoice in 2020 with their Dec. 29 re-release of their hit “Potential Breakup Song.” Fans couldn’t wait to get their hands on the explicit version of the Disney Channel stars’ song. Here’s who inspired the Michalka sisters to re-release their 2007 hit. 

Aly & AJ re-released the explicit version of ‘Potential Breakup Song’ 

“Potential Breakup Song” became an instant hit amongst fans when it was first released in 2007 thanks to the catchy beat, compelling lyrics, and the siblings’ Disney Channel stardom. The song was the first single from Insomniatic, Aly & AJ’s third studio album. 

When Aly & AJ released the song’s explicit version 13 years later, there was just as much hype. 

Aly & AJ have been performing the explicit version of ‘Potential Breakup Song’ for years 

During an interview with Vulture, the Michalka sisters discussed the first time they ever performed the famous song with curse words. 

“There was one show [when] we literally just started [singing the explicit version] in the moment, and it became a thing,” AJ told the outlet. “It was random. We weren’t planning it.”

“There were a couple of cities where we played the song twice, literally back to back because people were loving it so much, which we never do with any song,” Ally added. “We just found it so funny that people were so hyped over it. We were like, ‘We’re gonna play it again!’ and then people would go crazy.” 

She said they wouldn’t often add all of the expletives, of which there are three. “I just said, ‘My f*cking birthday,'” Ally clarified. 

Fans on TikTok inspired the re-release of Aly & AJ’s ‘Potential Breakup Song’ 

The inspiration for Aly & AJ’s re-release of “Potential Breakup Song” is not lost on the sisters. 

“Obviously, TikTok brought this song back from the dead,” Aly admitted. “We really have TikTok to thank, and a bunch of moms.” 

She of course is referencing the viral videos of TikTok moms lip-syncing to the iconic song. But it was more than the song being used in comical TikToks. There was a message from a fan in particular who begged for the explicit version of “Potential Breakup Song.” 

“There was one guy on TikTok not long ago who was like, ‘Can you guys please just swear in this song?'” AJ added.

“He was like, ‘I know y’all have said ‘f*ck,” Aly mentioned. 

“I remember that being the trigger, where Aly and I were like, ‘Oh, we should rerecord this with the explicit lyrics,'” AJ continued. “He kind of inspired that.” 

Aly & AJ are living for the TikTok’s featuring their re-release of ‘Potential Breakup Song’ 

The re-release of “Potential Breakup Song” features a few other changes in addition to the added curse words. 

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“There were a couple of weird things in the original that AJ and I took out,” Aly said. “There was almost like a chipmunk-type vocal that was happening, and the Auto-Tune on the original was really heavy in a fun way [that] was obviously very popular back then.” That vocal effect is missing in the re-release, which has a more polished sound. 

Just as they did with the original, fans have gone wild creating TikTok content using the re-released version of Aly & AJ’s song. 

“There’s a really funny one that came out recently of a guy that’s doing the ghosting version, where you go outside your body,” Aly mentioned. “He used that with the new explicit version, and it’s really funny.”

Another one of her favorites comes from Julian Burzynski, who is best known for his Jersey Shore TikToks. 

“There was a guy that dressed up as all of the moms and had wigs and everything,” Aly added. “I thought that was brilliant.”

Aly & AJ came back in full swing with the explicit version of their 2007 hit, "Potential Breakup Song." The singing duo gave their song a "makeover" with a more adult feel, and fans couldn't get enough of it. As Aly Michalka tells ET's Deidre Behar, the song came at the perfect time for them.

"It was interesting to dissect the song and find a new, fresh take on it," Aly shares of the re-recorded song she did with sister AJ Michalka last year. "It was great for AJ and I to be able to get into the studio and remix it, remaster it. Take out some of the things in the track that I think just weren't necessary. We were able to take down some of the auto-tune that was such a sound back in the day, that was used in so many songs."

The 32-year-old singer -- who was promoting  her new Hallmark movie, Sand Dollar Cove -- adds, "It was just fun to give it a makeover." "I think the fans that were able to connect with it, I think a lot of them had been waiting and wanting some kind of explicit version, which is what made us laugh and feel like we needed to give this to the fans," she continues.

As for deciding on how much profanity to include in the explicit version, Aly explains they felt the final version was great and "not going too crazy." "We were just replacing words that were already there." 

"We weren't really adding anything. We were just replacing the word that was like the PG version of it, and then putting in the explicit," she says. "AJ, I think, originally just thought it would be just the F-bomb once, and I was like, 'AJ, there's still a couple more in here that we can do.' She was like, 'Oh yeah, I guess you're right.'"

The sisters even discussed filming a new music video for "Potential Breakup Song," she shares. "We talked about that for a second, but again, we were so inundated with our new music at that point in time," she explains. "And we were doing music videos for the new album. We just didn't have the time."

Aly, however, couldn't be more grateful for the great response they've received from the song and how it's taken off on TikTok.

"It's great to see that younger fans are getting turned on to our music, whether it's the old music or this new music in these new ways. We're just happy to have them on board," the singer relays. "They've followed us for so many years, even throughout the time we weren't making music, and we were really focusing on our acting projects. Now, being back with the new record, A Touch of the Beat. I think for us, it just feels really good to be back to music. It feels like it's our home. It's our first love, and we just can't wait to get out on the road in 2022 now."

There’s even celebrities lip-syncing along to the infectious bop, like Nick Carter and AJ McLean from the Backstreet Boys and Lance Bass and Joey Fatone from *NSYNC.

"It's pretty fantastic. It's so funny to see this resurgence of acts from an era where it was unlike any other. The early 2000s were so special and AJ and I were huge *NSYNC fans and Backstreet too," Aly expresses. "So seeing them do that, it was pretty funny. My younger self would have just been like, 'No, this isn't real!'"

Aly also notes that it was the "perfect timing" to release the track while it was "having its moment." At that same time, Aly & AJ were already in the studio creating their new album, A Touch of theBeat Gets You Up on Your Feet Gets You Out and Then Into the Sun, which was released in May.

"It was just perfect timing. We really couldn't have created it better," she says. 

Aly stars as Elli, a real estate developer who travels to a quaint seaside town to convince charming local Brody, played by Chad Michael Murray, to sell his beachfront property. As she attempts to make a deal, sparks fly.

"I describe it as this really sweet love story between two opposite characters that come from very different worlds. Elli is a city girl and Brody is a small town boy, and the two of them just find this connection with each other," she describes. "They're a little bit at odds at the beginning of our story, but by the end of it, Elli's fallen in love with this small town…It's really sweet. It's a great little love story, and it's set in a beautiful setting. It was shot in Mystic, Connecticut, which is a darling town. It was great."

Up next for Aly and sister AJ is a tour in 2022. "We hit a bunch of places overseas, and then we do the U.S. as well," she shares. "We've got a good four months of touring for us ahead, but it's been a while since we've been out on the road. I'm really excited."

Sand Dollar Cove premieres June 26 at 9 p.m. on Hallmark Channel.

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