The song was written in the summer of 1979 by Bob Geldorf in response to the shooting spree of the 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer, who who killed two adults (including the principal) and injured eight children and a police officer with her father's gun. The shooting took place in a school playground at Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, California, on Monday, the 29th of January in 1979. Brenda Ann Spencer showed absolutely no remorse about her killing and injuring of several people. In her confession she offered the following explanation for her actions: "I just started shooting, that's it. I just did it for the fun of it. I just don't like Mondays. I just did it because it's a way to cheer the day up. Nobody likes Mondays."
These words really got to Bob Geldorf, who performed his number one hit song only a few weeks later. He couldn't stop thinking about Brenda Ann Spencer's statement and reason for killing people, which is why he finally put pen to paper to let go of his emotions. The words "silicon chip inside her head had switched to overload" popped into his head and as he couldn't get rid of them they finally became an essential part of his lyrics. Hearing the phrase "Tell me why?" over and over again during the numerous interviews of the shooter, made him inlcude these words in his lyrics as well.
Ever since I heard the story behind this song, I see Mondays in a different way. I have stopped whining about the end of the weekend and the beginning of a new stressful week and started accepting Mondays just the way they are. Maybe the same thing will happen to you. So, just listen to the song once more and take a closer look at the lyrics. Afterwards, you may even be cured of the "Mondayphobia".
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