20 Years of Teenage Dirtbag

In July of 2000, the American rock band Wheatus exploded onto the scene with their track ‘Teenage Dirtbag.’ The song went on to sweep the nation, and has remained stuck in our heads ever since.

But how did this fun karaoke staple come to be, and why did it leave such a lasting impression?

20 years on, I’d like to look back at the smash hit’s surprisingly dark origins, and check out its impact on music and pop culture ever since.

The origins of Teenage Dirtbag are grim, to say the least.

While the song’s narrative in its current form is mostly fictionalised, it went through many transformations before release. Wheatus’ frontman Brendan B Brown grew up in a violent fishing town on the outskirts of New York, fraught with petty crime and drug use. When he was 10, a man was murdered right in his childhood playground as a ‘sacrifice to Satan’. The murderer was wearing an AC/DC shirt, and loved bands like Iron Maiden and Ozzy Osbourne.

Brendan, a fan of heavy metal himself, soon became ostracised from his community, yet still maintained the goal to make music like that of his idols.

Soon he was playing in bands, but for four years one song continued to haunt him. His romantic experience was limited, so lyrically he struggled to write a pop hit. But a little while after that fateful murder, a piece was written about it in Rolling Stone magazine. This is where he first read the phrase ‘teenage dirtbag’, which was used to describe the murderer. That phrase stuck in his head when writing the song, and thus his magnum opus was born.

But after so many years, why hasn’t this song been forgotten, and left to rot with the ghosts of pop hits past?

Well to put it frankly, no one’s let it! To this day, throwback radio shows keep it in their mix, a karaoke party isn’t complete without it, and there’s enough cover versions of it to make a playlist lasting several hours. Potentially days. Everyone from Weezer, to All Time Low, and even One Direction have had a crack at doing it justice! In fact, I’m even tentatively prepared to call it this generation’s ‘Take On Me’.

So I thank you, Wheatus, for staying by our side and in our ears for all this time. I’m sure you’ll continue to do so for many years to come.

Happy 20th Anniversary, Teenage Dirtbag. You deserve it.

Written by Clayton Stitt