The song was the sixth biggest British hit of 1979 and the band’s second No. 1 single, but it was based on a chilling true story about a 16-year-old deadly shooter in America
If you take the Boomtown Rats song I Don’t Like Mondays at face value, many of us would likely agree with the sentiment.
It was the sixth biggest British hit of 1979 and the band’s second No. 1 single. Penned by lead singer Bob Geldof, on the surface it appears to be a typical new wave pop tune with an upbeat rhythm, much like any other chart-topping hit. However, when Geldof wrote the track, he wasn’t simply expressing a dislike for the start of the week, but something far darker.
In reality, he was referencing remarks made by a 16-year-old-girl who embarked on a lethal shooting rampage in the US.
Geldof found his lyrical inspiration after reading about the Cleveland Elementary School shooting that occurred on January 29, 1979.
The attack by Brenda Spencer injured eight children and resulted in the deaths of two adults. In the aftermath, Spencer barricaded herself in her home, and during this period she told a reporter over the phone that her motivation for the shooting was because she claimed: “I don’t like Mondays.”
Speaking about the contrast between the song’s cheerful melody and its grim lyrics and title, Geldof revealed to BBC Radio 6 Music: “I was doing a radio interview in Atlanta with Johnnie Fingers and there was a telex machine beside me. I read it as it came out. Not liking Mondays as a reason for doing somebody in is a bit strange. I was thinking about it on the way back to the hotel and I just said, ‘silicon chip inside her head had switched to overload’.”
He added: “I wrote that down. And the journalists interviewing her said, ‘Tell me why?’ It was such a senseless act. It was the perfect senseless act, and this was the perfect senseless reason for doing it. So perhaps I wrote the perfect senseless song to illustrate it. It wasn’t an attempt to exploit tragedy.”
In what could be seen as a postmodern twist, Geldof takes on the role of an unreliable narrator, casually spinning a yarn of extreme violence against a backdrop of upbeat piano chords. This bold approach to songwriting led him to initially consider relegating the track to a B-side.
But when their record label Ensign suggested releasing it as a single, he retorted: “You’re mad, that’s not a hit.”
Despite his reservations, the song triumphed, clinching Single of the Year at the British Pop and Rock awards.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
