Boomtown Rats - I don't like Mondays. - Lyrics Meaning

I don't like Mondays was performed by Irish pop group the Boomtown Rats and written by their controversial lead singer Bob Geldof. The song reached number one in the UK charts in July 1979 and remained there four weeks.

Despite its success in the United Kingdom, I don't like Mondays was a bit of a flop in the US, reaching only as high number 73 in the US Billboard Hot 100, mainly because the Boomtown Rats were largely unknown in America, and not necessarily because of the song's controversial subject matter.

Geldof wrote the song after hearing about a shooting spree that took place in San Diego, California. The shooter was a 16-year-old girl Brenda Ann Spencer, who on January 29, 1979 and for no apparent reason opened fire on a school playground situated across the street from her home. Before being disarmed she killed two adults and injured eight children as well as one police officer.

When asked why she had committed such a senseless crime, Spencer stunned the police officers questioning her by replying without remorse "I don't like Mondays, this livens up the day."

Geldof's favorite line in the song is "Silicone chip inside her head is flipped to overload. And nobody's going to go to school today, she's gonna make them stay at home."