Mr. Bojangles

"Mr. Bojangles" was written and recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker in 1968 and covered by many other artists. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band took the song to #9 on the Billboard pop chart in 1971.

The song was inspired by an encounter with a street performer in the New Orleans First Precinct jail. According to Walker, a murder on the 4th of July weekend in 1965 precipitated the arrest of all the street people in the area. In the crowded cell, a disheveled homeless old man began to talk to Walker, who had been arrested earlier for drunkenness. The man told various stories of his life, but the tone darkened after 'Mr. Bojangles' recalled his dog that'd been run over. Someone then asked for something to lighten the mood, and the man obliged with a tap dance.

Many assume that the song is about Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, an actor and tap dancer, but this is not the case as Robinson died penniless in New York City in 1949 at the age of 71, many years before Walker’s encounter with the man in a New Orleans jail cell which at that time was segregated. Walker also mentions that all the men in the cell had nicknames to prevent easy identification by the police and the dancer's nickname was 'Mr. Bojangles' - his real name unknown to Walker.

However, Bill Robinson's influence had passed into the "folk culture" by inspiring talented, but poor, individuals to dance, thus sharing in his legacy so in that respect the song is a tribute to that man.

I Don't Like Mondays

"I Don't Like Mondays" was written by Bob Geldof and recorded by The Boomtown Rats. Geldof wrote the song after reading report on the shooting spree of 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer, who fired at children playing in a school playground in San Diego, California. She killed two adults and injured eight children and one police officer. Spencer's family tried unsuccessfully to prevent the song from being released in the United States.

In the Christmas of 1978, her father Wallace gave Spencer a .22 caliber rifle. On January 29, 1979 she started shooting randomly at the Cleveland Elementary School which stood just opposite of her house. The shooting began as children were waiting outside for principal Burton Wragg to open the gate. In the end, eight students and one police officer were injured, while principal Wragg and head custodian Mike Suchar were killed. Wragg was killed while trying to protect the youngsters whereas Suchar was killed trying to pull Wragg to safety.

After firing thirty rounds, Spencer barricaded herself inside her house for almost seven hours, warning police that she was going to "come out shooting." But eventually she surrendered to the police. When asked why she went on her rampage, she replied, "I just did it for the fun of it. I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day. I have to go now. I shot a pig. I think and I want to shoot more. I'm having too much fun." She also said, "I had no reason for it, and it was just a lot of fun"; "It was just like shooting ducks in a pond"' and "[The children] looked like a herd of cows standing around; it was really easy pickings."

Neighbors claimed that Spencer had a history of violence and drug abuse and classmates alleged that the week before the shootings she had told them that she wanted "to do something big to get on TV." In 1993, Spencer claimed that she had been under the influence of drugs and alcohol and at a parole hearing in 2001, Spencer claimed that her violence grew out of an abusive home life.

The 16 year-old Spencer was tried as an adult. She pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon, and was sentenced to prison for 25 years to life. She has been denied parole four times and will not be eligible again until 2019.