Jeremy, Polly, etc: Sad NEWS stories behind sad 90s songs.
By Mike Moran, host of the Confessional Podcast.
In the early 1990s, popular music changed drastically. Almost overnight the mainstream went from colorful spandex and synthy love songs, to thrift-store chic and heroin-rock. Some of these offerings were based on real-life media stories seemingly custom-made for the musical decade of bleakness. Here are a few 90s rock songs based on true headlines. And, trigger warning, some of this gets pretty dark. Also, a few disturbing images but nothing graphic.
Jeremy by Pearl Jam (1992).
To give you an idea of how glum mainstream music became once grunge kicked glam metal of the charts, one of the biggest MTV videos of 1992 was about a child’s public suicide. Yes, in the years between “Cherry Pie” and “Backstreet’s Back,” things got pretty bleak. The song was Jeremy, the band was Pearl Jam, and the story behind it is not much brighter than the tune itself.
Jeremy Dell was a troubled 15 year old Texan in 1991. Though described as a quiet, shy kid, both his parents and teachers had been concerned about his mental state for awhile, and had been getting Jeremy psychiatric help.
He didn’t seem to stand out to his peers as particularly disturbed; like many teens he displayed a contradictory array of personality traits with some classmates describing him as quiet and sad, while others found him social and humorous. Those who were closest to him however, knew something was wrong. He had attempted suicide when a girl broke up with him, and threatened it several other times. He had expressed the desire to kill one of his teachers. He was dabbling in serious drugs and theft, and was often truant in school. And in one of many searches of the boy’s belongings, a severed deer leg was found rotting in his locker.
Unlike the image portrayed in the Jeremy song, there is no evidence of excessive bullying at school or neglect at home. The real Jeremy’s problems appear to have been mostly psychological. He had a relatively active social life, and though his parents had divorced, they tried hard to help their son improve.
All hopes were lost however on the morning of January 8th, 1991, when Jeremy Delle entered his 2nd period English class for the last time. He was told to get a pass from the office to prove he had completed his latest bout of in-school suspension. When he returned however, he made one last sarcastic remark to his teacher, “Miss,” he quipped, “I got what I really went for.” He then pulled out a revolver, and placed it in his mouth, pulling the trigger before anyone could react.
Many in school that day came to view the grisly spectacle after a student witness ran down the hall screaming. They found the 15 year old Delle laying in a pool of blood, his teacher and classmates gathered in the corner, many weeping.
It remains a mystery why Jeremy choose to make his final act public, as he didn’t appear to have any resentment towards that particular group of students, or teacher.
As if this story weren’t depressing enough, not only was the song Jeremy inspired by this real life event but it allegedly, also inspired another tragedy. School shooter, Barry Loukaitis who killled 3 people in the Frontier Middle School Shooting, claimed that his grisly idea came from the graphic Jeremy music video. You see, MTV felt it irresponsible to show the image of Jeremy placing the gun in his mouth, and the resulting edit, which cut to his blood soaked classmates, left many viewers with the impression that he had open fired on his peers.
Ultimately, the song, video, and real life incident, were morbid indeed, but hopefully opened up more dialogue about teen depression and suicide.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/pearl-jams-jeremy-and-the-intractable-cultural-script-of-school-shooters
http://www.thejeremystory.com/home
100% by Sonic Youth (1992).
This is a unique case in that the subject of the song lyrics involved others in the 90s music industry, namely punk-icon, Henry Rollins, and his best friend, the late Joe Cole. Though 100% was never a huge hit you may remember the music video from the late night, “alternative” hours of MTV, where less mainstream material was featured. In it, Sonic Youth juxtaposed bright footage of party-goers and skateboarding, with morbid crime scene clips. This was their tribute to Joe Cole, who died at age 30, in 1991, in a still unsolved case.
Joe Cole was the son of actor Dennis Cole, who appeared in many films and TV shows, from the 60s to the 90s. His only child, Joe was also involved in film but took more of interest in the music scene, working as a roadie for Hole, Black Flag, and Rollins Band. Henry Rollins, frontman of the 2 latter groups, found a kindred spirit in Cole and the 2 became inseparable for years, with Rollins even welcoming Cole to live in his house.
Unfortunately it was at this location that the 2 would meet the men who would take Joe’s young life. Henry and Joe returned from an all night grocery store after a Hole concert when 2 armed men emerged from the darkness and calmly demanded money. Looking back, Rollins had suggested that perhaps they had spotted producer Rick Rubin in his expensive car visiting Rollins in weeks prior, and assumed they were wealthy rock musicians.
When the assailants only got a little cash from them, the pair were ordered inside. Rollins was barely been able to open the door before shots rang out behind him, and bullets whizzed by his head. He dashed through his house and out the back door bracing himself with each blast. When he returned later with police, he was told that his best friend was dead. It was estimated that Rollins had avoided fatality by a matter of inches.
Though the case received much media coverage, including a spot on Unsolved Mysteries, no one was ever apprehended in the murder. Rollins, has spoken at length about how drastically the event has changed his life in many of his spoken word performances. To this day he keeps a small container of leaves and dirt, soaked in his best friend’s blood, inside his home.
Zombie by The Cranberries (1994).
Sadly, the world recently lost the amazing musical talents of singer/songwriter Dolores O’Riordan, front-woman for The Cranberries. Though many of their songs were upbeat and optimistic, not even The Cranberries could get away without at least some 90s, alt-rock angst. One of their most successful was the dark and heavy, O’Riodan-penned, “Zombie” form their album, No Need to Argue. Though it’s clear that the song about the Ireland political “troubles” of the day, what many don’t know is the specific incident that the lyrics, resulted in the killing of 2 innocent children.
On March 20th, 1993, in Liverpool, England, a bomb went off in the shopping district of Warrington. No one was killed in the first blast, but unfortunately, many fled unknowingly in the direction of the second which detonated one minute later. Within the blast zone were 3 year old, Jonathan Ball and 12 year old, Tim Parry. Jonathan was killed instantly while Tim was mercifully taken off life support by his parents 5 days later in the hospital, as he displayed little brain activity. They were the only casualties from the horrifying day.
The IRA claimed retroactively that they had given sufficient warning and that the tragedy was on the shoulders of the sloppy reaction of the police. The British authorities claimed only a vague warning was administered, and they did what they could. Either way, the death of 2 innocent children swayed many on both sides to take a serious look at the ongoing violence.
The Parry family have tried their best to make something positive out of the tragedy and have established the Tim Parry Trust Fund, which encourages understanding and conversation about the Ireland/England conflict. They even, (controversially) have had sit downs with IRA members.
Life for Marie Comerford, the mother of Jonathan Ball was not quite as optimistic after her son’s death. The boy was out with his babysitter shopping for a Mother’s Day card for her when the tragedy occurred. She became extremely depressed and reclusive after his death, eventually refusing to eat or seek medical treatment. She died on the eve of the anniversary her son’s death, in 2009.
If there was one good thing to come out of the the deaths of young Jonathan and Tim, it’s that many sympathetic to either side were forced to come together and admit that things had gotten out of hand. Thankfully, the Irish/British violence began to decline after this event and has all but ended in the last decade and a half.
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-42702781
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/warrington-bombing-20-years-on-1775013
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1235068/Mother-boy-3-killed-IRA-bomb-died-broken-heart.html
Polly by Nirvana (1991).
Unsurprisingly, the album that is credited with destroying the make up-and-smiles, 80s hair metal scene (Nirvana’s Nevermind) features some pretty dark lyrics. One of those songs is the acoustic version of the song, Polly. In Cobain’s narrative, Polly is a woman forced to be a pet by a sadistic captor, and eventually outsmarts and escapes him. The real life story is not much different .
The real “Polly” remains anonymous but her kidnapper was a sadistic individual named Gerald Author Friend. Friend apprehended his 14 year old victim by offering her a ride home from a concert in the Seattle area, in the cab of his mobile home. Unbeknownst to her, the vehicle had been outfitted for the purpose of unspeakable horror. The young woman was subjected to awful things I won’t go into detail with but are suggested in the Nirvana song.
The story has a relatively happy ending as the young woman was able to run off into the night while Friend was stopped at a gas station. She’s never told her story publicly so the details of her escape have never really emerged. She was however, able to give police enough information that they captured Friend the next day.
The truly ridiculous part of this awful story, is that this an almost exact repeat of an incident that happened 17 years earlier. That’s right, this was not the first time Gerald Friend had been arrested for kidnapping and assaulting a child. Years earlier he did the same thing to another young woman who escaped by jumping into a river. Friend’s own father forced him at gun point to turn himself in, and he was sentenced to a minimum of 70 years in prison. Somehow, Friend was paroled after only serving 20 years, and that was after 2 escape attempts.
Understandably, the real life Polly was pretty upset upon learning of his early parole, and sued the state. Gerald Friend has been incarcerated ever since, with no chance of release for life. Many suspect that he has more crimes under his belt then he had admitted to, and could perhaps be responsible for some of the murders attributed to Washington state’s other monster, the Green River killer.
http://wespeakmusic.tv/post/en/the-story-behind-polly-by-nirvana
http://nwestnomad.com/northwest-nuggets/northwest-nuggets-series-nirvanas-polly-creepy-story-gerald-friend/
The Way by Fastball (1998).
Don’t let the upbeat music fool you, sure this song came out after music companies realized they could make “alternative music” have mass appeal if they took some of the dreariness out of it, but make no mistake the story behind pop-radio sensation, The Way is as sad as they come.
Lela and Raymond Howard were an elderly couple in Salido Texas in 1997. They were both in their 80s and, according to their grandson they were beginning to show signs of dementia. Fearing for their safety, he insisted they skip their annual trip to a festival in a neighboring town, but the stubborn couple refused.
Once they were off however, something must have gone wrong for both of the Howards, as they never arrived at their destination but instead seemed to be traveling aimlessly throughout Texas, and eventually Arizona.
Family members quickly launched a manhunt and the pair were spotted several times throughout the next 2 weeks, including 2 unsuspecting traffic stops, but no one could seem to pin the confused couple down. They were placed at a Texas Wal-Mart, and an Arkansas Farmer’s Market, but only retrospectively.
Sadly, when Lela and Raymond Howard were finally found, it was too late. Their car had jetted off the road, over a 25 foot cliff, and neither survived. Howard appeared to have died instantaneously, and poor Lela collapsed after attempting to crawl away for help. She was still clutching her purse and keys. The lack of skid marks indicated that Lela was either confused or distracted when she drove the car straight into the ravine.
By all accounts, the couple were inseparable and the marriage was a very happy one up until the very end.
Now, the funny thing about this example is, the Fast Ball song doesn’t quite fit into the narrative of what really happened. It’s more of a fantasy about an elderly couple who leave their mundane lives behind on an impulsive trip around the country. This is because singer, Tony Scalzo was inspired to write the lyrics before the sad fate of the Howard’s was discovered, and they were still traveling the dessert highways. As newspapers wrote about the missing couple, he imagined a blissful take on the story where they ride off into the sunset for one last ultimate experience.
This tale is a bittersweet tearjerker but at least Lela and Raymond Howard were with their lifelong loving partner until the last moments of their lives.
http://www.signature-reads.com/2014/04/memoir-in-a-melody-the-tragic-disappearance-behind-fastballs-the-way/
Get Your Gunn by Marilyn Manson (1994).
Though they wouldn’t break through into the mainstream for a few more years, the band responsible for bringing Satan back into rock music released the cult-hit album, Portrait of an American Family produced by Trent “Nine Inch Nails” Reznor, and released on his label.
The first single was a fan and critic favorite entitled, Get Your Gunn. The lyrics of which came from news reports that Brian Warner aka Marilyn Manson, had become fascinated with the year before, involving the first American pro-life murder of David Gunn, seeing it as “the ultimate hypocrisy I witnessed growing up: that these people killed someone in the name of being ‘prolife.”
On March 10, 1993, 31 year old Michael Griffin waited outside a Pensacola, Florida abortion clinic hiding behind some bushes, and gripping a pistol. When Dr. Gunn approached the building to enter, Griffin emerged and shot 3 bullets into the Dr. Gunn’s back, yelling, “Don’t kill anymore babies!” He then calmly awaited police arrival, without any resistance or attempts to flee.
He was quickly sentenced to life in prison, but his family claimed he had been manipulated into killing by a man named, John Burt, a pro-life religious leader who, they claimed held a near-cult leader like power over his pro-life, Rescue America group. Burt and his followers has long been in and out of trouble with the law for destructive behavior towards abortion clinics and doctors, including several non-fatal bombings. He was later named by Paul Jennings Hill, who murdered Dr. John Britton and his bodyguard, as his “spiritual advisor.”
Burt was eventually found guilty of molesting a young woman who was staying at his Christian. shelter for unwed mothers, and died in prison.
In another depressing twist, the song, Get Your Gunn later became notoriously controversial after the media erroneously reported that the Columbine Massacre was inspired by the music of Marilyn Manson. Though the lyrics clearly highlight the hypocrisy of killing against killlig, many misunderstood the lyrical metaphors. The band addressed the media blame for the Columbine incident, most prominently in their 2000 Song, The Nobodies.
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth? by R.E.M. (1994).
R.E.M.’s, “What’s the Frequently, Kenneth” was a surprisingly upbeat hit for the often morose act. Don’t worry too much though, there’s plenty of darkness (and strangeness) found in the backstory of the lyrics.
It all comes from a very bizarre incident involving none other than television news personality, Dan Rather. Way back in 1986 Rather was the victim of an attack outside of his Park Avenue apartment, as he returned home. He was surprised by 2 “well dressed” men, one of whom demanded, “Kenneth, what is the frequency?!” When Rather responded with, “I believe you have me mistaken for someone else,” the man attacked the reporter, repeating the phrase throughout.
Rather was rescued by a couple of employees from the building, but the attacker and his accomplice disappeared into the night.
Over the next decade, many rumors and legends emerged about the bizarre occurrence. Speculations over the identity and motives included the following:
- Government agents sent by then-Vice President, and Dan Rather-hater, George Bush warning him against exposing sensitive information in the Iran-Contra Affair.
- A jealous lover mistaking Rather for his partner’s other man (he lived in a traditionally gay neighborhood), with Rather misunderstanding the words, “was this freak seeing Kenneth?!”
- A couple of angry Jewish men who took something he had said on air as anti-Semitic, the misunderstanding this time being between “Kenneth” and the Yiddish word, “Gonif,” meaning “liar.”
- An inter-dimensional felon who would be granted immunity if he would volunteer for their first time-travel experiment. Of course, things went haywire when the prisoner did not return on time and he was tormented via the transmitter implanted in his brain, with repeated auditory broadcasts. One can then understand how he lost it on Dan Rather, who of course, is the earthly double of his own Vice President (first name, Kenneth) who is in charge of the broadcasting frequencies.
…yeah. Others just assumed it was just a case of mentally illness with no real motive.
R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe also found the story fascinating and concocted his own assessment. His narrative seems to envision the assailant as a hysterical curmudgeon, desperately frustrated with modern media. He has stated that it’s meant as an attack on the ridiculous nature of news media.
Just a few weeks before the song was released in 1994, the mystery finally began to unravel, as a man named William Tager was arrested for the murder of NBC stagehand, Campbell Montgomery who blocked the armed Tager from entering the studio.
The disturbed Tager explained that this was in an effort to finally discover what frequency the TV stations were using to send signals into his brain. Rather stated that he “had no doubt” that Tager was the man who attacked him, upon viewing his photo. Though the identity of his accomplice remains a mystery.
Tager’s arrest put to bed a lot of the various “Kenneth” theories, but somehow the mythology just kept building. In 2001, writer Paul Limbert Allman discovered what he believed to be the source of Tager’s delusion. He found that sci-fi writer, Donald Barthelme had a character named Kenneth who’s catchphrase was…yup, “What’s the Frequency?” Further, Allman discovered that Barthelme and Rather were both journalists, both the same age, and both from Houston. Plus, there’s a character in Barthelme’s works named Lather, a news reporter who seems to at least invited by, if not a direct parody of, our boy.
The mentally ill Tager spent 12 years in Sing Sing Correctional Facility but roams free today. He remains on parole and undergoes court-appointed counseling. His exact whereabouts are unknown, and although it is widely accepted that he was the man who attacked Rather, it’s never been proven.
http://mentalfloss.com/article/49147/music-history-20-whats-frequency-kenneth
