Wikipedia

Teenage Dirtbag

For the 2009 film, see Teenage Dirtbag (film).

"Teenage Dirtbag" is a song by American rock band Wheatus. It was released on June 20, 2000, as the lead single from their eponymous debut album (2000). The song was written by guitarist and vocalist Brendan B. Brown and was inspired by a childhood experience of his.

"Teenage Dirtbag"
Single by Wheatus
from the album Wheatus
ReleasedJune 20, 2000 (2000-06-20)
RecordedFebruary–March 2000[1]
Genre
Length4:07
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Brendan B. Brown
Producer(s)
  • Wheatus
  • Philip A. Jimenez
Wheatus singles chronology
"Teenage Dirtbag"
(2000) 		"A Little Respect"
(2001)
Music video
"Teenage Dirtbag" on YouTube
Alternative cover
UK single cover

The song was especially successful in Australia, spending four weeks at number one, being certified triple platinum and becoming the second-best-selling single of 2000. It also reached number one in Austria and Flanders while peaking at number two in Ireland, Germany, and the United Kingdom, where it was certified quadruple platinum in 2024. It has sold five million copies worldwide as of 2014.[5]

English singer-songwriter Cat Burns released a cover of this song on November 15, 2024.[6]

Background

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"Teenage Dirtbag" is about a childhood experience that guitarist and vocalist Brendan B. Brown had. In a 2012 interview with Tone Deaf, he said:

It came from the summer of 1984 on Long Island, when I was 10 years old. That summer in the woods behind my house, there was a Satanic, drug-induced ritual teen homicide that went down; and the kid who did it was called Ricky Kasso, and he was arrested wearing an AC/DC T-shirt. That made all the papers, and the television, obviously; and here I was, 10 years old, walking around with a case full of AC/DC and Iron Maiden and Metallica – and all the parents and the teachers and the cops thought I was some kind of Satan worshipper. So that's the backdrop for that song.[7]

Brown also added that the song's sing-along chorus remains an act of defiance: "so when I sing: 'I'm just a teenage dirtbag', I'm effectively saying: 'Yeah, fuck you if you don't like it. Just because I like AC/DC doesn't mean I'm a devil worshipper, and you're an idiot.' That's where it comes from."[7] In the same interview, regarding the possible reasons for its continued success, Brown recalled his father's words: "Every teenager has to go through that 'being an outsider' thing, at least a little bit. So that story is still the same for people, even if it's thirty years after I went through it."[7]

The song's vocals are all performed by Brown, including a segment in falsetto. When the group arranged a joint tour with MC Frontalot, MC Frontalot contributed a nerdcore rap verse to the song, as did MC Lars.

Critical reception

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Ayhan Sahin of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, calling it a "gritty, on-the-edge track" and saying that its "keen melody, inventive production, and cool lyric about those who have felt like underlings during high school will entice listeners who prefer hanging out behind the gym with a smoke to Latin club." He went on to say that it "stands strongly on its own as an emphatic anthem and a song many teens will be proud to push hard from their car speakers."[8] In June 2013, Australian radio station Triple J ranked "Teenage Dirtbag" as number 82 on their "Twenty Years of Triple J's Hottest 100".[9] The song was ranked number 69 on the "Top 100 Greatest Pop Songs of All Time" countdown by British music channel The Hits.[citation needed]

Commercial performance

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In the United Kingdom, the song peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, staying there for two weeks and kept off the top spot by Atomic Kitten's "Whole Again". It spent four weeks at number one in Australia and also topped the charts in Austria and Flanders. Despite being a chart success in the UK, Europe and Australia, it failed to appear on the US Billboard Hot 100, but it did peak at number seven on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. In March 2011, the song returned to the UK Singles Chart at number 43 and climbed to number 35 the following week,[10] nearly 11 years after its initial release. Bigtop40.com suggested that this was due to a promotion on iTunes.[11] The song has re-entered the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart on multiple occasions, including in March 2011, April 2012, and November 2023.[10] By 2014 the track had sold five million copies worldwide.[5]

Censorship

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The second verse of the song originally began with, "Her boyfriend's a dick/He brings a gun to school". Radio edits usually omitted the word "dick" or edit it so that it sounds like the less offensive "prick", but most modern versions of the song have the words "gun to school" covered by turntable scratching sounds. Some versions also edit the lines "And he'd simply kick/My ass if he knew the truth", to remove the word "ass". When asked why "gun" is frequently censored, Brown stated that it is because the day he presented the song to the band's record label was around the time of the first anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre.[12] The song was re-recorded and re-released in 2020, retaining the original lines.[13]

Music video

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The music video for "Teenage Dirtbag", directed by Jeff Gordon,[14] is based on the 2000 film Loser, which the song is featured in, and tells a different story from the film based on the song's lyrics. Jason Biggs plays a nerdy character and Mena Suvari is the love interest who unexpectedly invites the protagonist to an Iron Maiden concert, and in the end scene they dance together on prom night.

In some cases, the beginning and the end of the video were deleted: The full version of the video begins with Jason falling asleep while doing his homework and ends with a large glitter ball falling from the ceiling and striking him on the head. He then wakes up, revealing his brief romance with Suvari to have been all a dream. The video was nominated for Best Video at the Kerrang! Awards.[15]

Rerecording

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As the multitrack masters to "Teenage Dirtbag" were lost, Wheatus rerecorded it in 2016. Brown said they felt "compelled to recreate them so that, if for no other reason, we could own a copy". Wheatus took lengths to rerecord every element, including the distorted snare drum caused by a recording error in the original. Brown estimated that it took two years to recreate the song.[16]

Track listings

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Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[59] 3× Platinum 210,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[60] Platinum 50,000*
Belgium (BEA)[61] Platinum 50,000*
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[62] Gold 45,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[63] 3× Gold 750,000‡
Norway (IFPI Norway)[64] Gold  
Sweden (GLF)[65] Platinum 30,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[66] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[67] 4× Platinum 2,400,000‡
Summaries
Worldwide — 5,000,000[5]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States June 20, 2000 Alternative radio Columbia [68]
June 26, 2000
[69]
July 10, 2000 Hot adult contemporary radio [70]
August 1, 2000
[71]
United Kingdom February 5, 2001
  • CD
  • cassette
 [72]

References

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  1. ^ Millman, Rachel (August 17, 2022). "The Many Lives of the TikTok Hit 'Teenage Dirtbag'". Observer. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  2. ^ Harrison, Flicky (May 31, 2012). "Those teenage dirtbags cleanup". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  3. ^ Russonello, Giovanni (March 2, 2017). "Pop, Rock and Jazz in NYC This Week". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  4. ^ "Pop Punk Died 15 Years Ago Today, and 'Teenage Dirtbag' Killed It". August 17, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c Ellis, Dawn (September 5, 2014). "INTERVIEW: Wheatus frontman Brendan B Brown talks tour news, One Direction and Teenage Dirtbag". Torquay Herald Express. Archived from the original on September 6, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  6. ^ Damara Kelly, Tyler (November 20, 2024). "Cat Burns unveils cover of "Teenage Dirtbag"". The Line of Best Fit.
  7. ^ a b c Lin, Sharona (August 9, 2012). "Wheatus - Tone Deaf". Tone Deaf. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  8. ^ Billboard, July 8, 2000 - Vol. 112, No. 28, Page 22.
  9. ^ "Countdown | Twenty Years of triple j's Hottest 100 | triple j". Abc.net.au. April 18, 2013. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  10. ^ a b c "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  11. ^ "Wheatus land in the iTunes chart". Big Top 40. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  12. ^ Brendan B. Brown [@wheatus] (December 12, 2014). ""@vuIplx: why is gun blocked in teenage dirtbag & not ass @wheatus @god @jesus @barackobama" Columbine 1 yr anniv. the week I gave 2 Sony" (Tweet). Retrieved December 25, 2015 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ "Teenage Dirtbag 2020 (our version) is 100% uncensored". Twitter. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
  14. ^ "Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag - Music Video". MTV. June 26, 2012. Archived from the original on July 1, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  15. ^ "Archive News Aug 23, 2001". blabbermouth.net. August 23, 2001. Archived from the original on July 1, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  16. ^ "How Wheatus re-recorded Teenage Dirtbag from scratch after losing the masters". CBC Radio. April 26, 2021.
  17. ^ Teenage Dirtbag (Australian CD single liner notes). Wheatus. Columbia Records. 2000. 669707 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. ^ Teenage Dirtbag (UK CD single liner notes). Wheatus. Columbia Records. 2001. 670796 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  19. ^ Teenage Dirtbag (UK cassette single sleeve). Wheatus. Columbia Records. 2001. 670796-4.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. ^ Teenage Dirtbag (European CD single liner notes). Wheatus. Columbia Records. 2001. COL 669656 1.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  21. ^ Teenage Dirtbag (European maxi-CD single liner notes). Wheatus. Columbia Records. 2001. COL 669656 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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  63. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Wheatus; 'Teenage Dirtbag')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
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  66. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Teenage Dirt Bag')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
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