"I Don't Like Mondays" by The Boomtown Rats from the album The Art of Surfacing. 1979.
Maybe you've heard this one. I mean, it did hit the top spot on the British charts back in the day, and though just a minor success in the US, modern times have been decent for its appreciation value. If you know it, you probably know the rumors of its creation, and if you aren't sure of their accuracy, lemme assure you: this song indeed stems from an elementary school shooting.
GASP! SHOCK! .. ..ETC! Attention-grabber aside, there's not much to hate about this number. The band name is amazing, the cover unique, and the subject matter? Well, it's different. Not in a bad way, but certainly not mainstream. I suppose any break-of-the-80s new wave band was reaching for that niche anyhow. The big eye-catch that brought fortune to this song lies in the roots of its birth. Lead singer Bob Geldof heard a news bit where a sixteen-year-old opened fire upon an elementary school killing three adults and injuring eight children. When they brought her in, the only reasoning she could give was "I just did it for the fun of it. I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day." Geldof contemplated upon the senselessness of the act and thus how such a "senseless" answer could fit. While critics accused him of exploiting a tragedy, he explains that he only wrote a "senseless" song to match her ridiculous attitude. Of course, the family of the singer tried to block the song, but didn't quite manage.
My only real criticism of the song stems from the not-so-good vocals of Mr. Geldof. But , as I mentioned, the 80s were about to spring into full bloom, and the abilities of voices started to become less important for pop music. It shouldn't bring your opinion of the song down though, as it works with the melodies and whatnots. It starts off with an almost stereotypical Asian ditty before breaking into that defining line "the silicon chip inside her head gets switched to overload." From there it almost turns Queen-esque as it streams through the harmonies and instrumentation. With such a morbid topic, it really is surprising how happy the overall mood feels. But alas, the only recommendation I can make is not to pick the song apart too much, for taken as it is in one big piece, it's a tasty chunk to swallow.
nbsp; I'll leave you with one of the morbid puns from the lyrics (considering the whole school shooting bit): "I wanna shoot the whole day down!"
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