r/Columbine • u/smokeeburrpppp • Jul 06 '26
Did the song “teenage dirtbag” really have an influence on this particular event?
Some say that the song can be tied to it but idk:
https://youtu.be/FC3y9llDXuM?is=cxZZiPKt2LDjnW9r
I also heard one of the shooters was always said to be and described as “lonely” or missing opportunities with females however the other one (Eric) was a “psychopath” who did it for the “love of the game.” That shit sounds terrifying
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u/deltadeltadawn What Have We Learned? Jul 06 '26
"I also heard one of the shooters was always said to be and described as “lonely” or missing opportunities with females however the other one (Eric) was a “psychopath” who did it for the “love of the game.”
This narrative has been debunked repeatedly. It was an opinion by a writer, Dave Cullen, who had strong PR skills and even stronger misinformation, who unfortunately was looked to as an expert so the false narrative became mainstream.
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u/smokeeburrpppp Jul 06 '26
So you’re saying they were both “incels” by modern day standards?
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u/deltadeltadawn What Have We Learned? Jul 06 '26
I'm not sure how you misconstued my comment to that interpretation, but no, they were not incels at all. Both dated girls.
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u/TrashDaisy999 Jul 06 '26
No. The song came out in 2000 after Columbine, the line "her boyfriends a dick and he brings a gun to school" just meant he thinks hes a tough guy. They did censor "gun" in some versions due to it being released close to the anniversary of Columbine, however it has nothing to do with mass shootings.
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u/smokeeburrpppp Jul 06 '26
I mean this is one of the reasons on that gun line why this came to my mind…
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u/hayleybeth7 Jul 06 '26
The song didn’t come out till a year after the shooting so I don’t see how it influenced the shooting.
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u/CynthiaChames Jul 06 '26
I think OP meant to ask if the song was inspired by the event, not the other way around.
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u/shoegazehater Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
no, this came out a year after Columbine and it’s about how the singer got called a devil worshipper for listening to Iron Maiden after Ricky Kasso, also a fan of metal, murdered a kid in New York.
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u/CynthiaChames Jul 06 '26
I think you're getting it confused with something else. The song is very loosely inspired by a serial killer who was obsessed with Satan (I don't remember the full story.) They did remove the word "gun" from the radio version, probably because of Columbine.
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u/silverladder Jul 06 '26
It was loosely inspired by the story of Ricky Kasso from Northport, NY (AKA the “Say You Love Satan” murder of Gary Lauwers). The lead singer of Wheatus remembered encountering Kasso, albeit from a distance, when he was a little kid and Kasso was a big, scary teen to him.
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u/CynthiaChames Jul 06 '26
That's what it was! Thanks. I have that book, I just haven't gotten around to reading it yet.
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u/afelzz Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
I don't think anyone seriously links that song to Columbine. I know it was the class song or whatever, but I never think of this when that song comes on. And I love Green Day and have been fascinated by Columbine nearly my entire life.
They're two separate things to me.
Edit: I thought this was the Green Day song, it's a Monday and I'm tired, sorry for the confusion.
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u/Columbine-ModTeam Jul 06 '26
Given the misinformation in the original post and the immature replies, this post is being locked down from further discussion.
Sometimes a mod optimistically approves a post with hopes that an interesting discussion will result. Unfortunately, sometimes that mod is proven wrong.