Blink Song Played At Suicide
(LAUNCH, 05/08/2000 6:00 PM)

By Craig Rosen

(5/8/00, 6 p.m. ET) - Blink 182's "Adam's Song" was the tragic soundtrack to a suicide of a Columbine High School student Thursday (May 4) morning. The song, from the 1999 album, Enema Of The State, was set to replay indefinitely as 17-year-old Greg Barnes hanged himself in the garage of his family's home, the Associated Press reported.

Barnes, a basketball star at the now-infamous Colorado high school, had witnessed last year's shooting rampage and lost one of his best friends during the ordeal. The lyrics to "Adam's Song" include the lines: "I'm too depressed to go on, you'll be sorry when I'm gone," and "I never thought I'd die alone."

The band is offering no comment at this time regarding the tragedy.

Blink 182's 'Adam's Song' Should Be 'Mark's Song'
(LAUNCH, 05/10/2000 6:00 PM)

By Craig Rosen

(5/10/00, 6 p.m. ET) - In spite of Blink 182's "Adam's Song" being connected to the suicide of a Columbine High School student (LAUNCH, 5/8), singer Mark Hoppus maintains it's a positive song overall. The San Diego punk rocker told LAUNCH the song was inspired by his own lonely times out on the road.

"The song is really about me being lonely on tour before I found a woman to love," Hoppus said. "It's about being lonely on tour and not being able to come home to anything either. It's just about depression also and how as bad as things get, there's always better things on the other side, and there's always hope, and there's always friends you can rely on or whatever."

Blink 182 Discusses 'Adam's Song' And Suicide
(LAUNCH, 05/31/2000 6:00 PM)

By Craig Rosen

(5/31/00, 6 p.m. ET) - Blink 182's "Adam's Song" has perched the band on top of the alternative rock ladder and into being one of pop music's biggest bands. The song shows a moody side of the band -- a side that one young fan chose to use as background music to his suicide. On May 4, Columbine High School student Greg Barnes took his own life at his house. "Adam's Song" was set to repeat on the CD player when the student was found hanged.

The band sympathizes with the loss, but singer/bassist Mark Hoppus told LAUNCH that people need to sit down and listen to the lyrics to get the inherently positive message in the song. "Any intelligent person that listens to that song will know that it's an anti-suicide song, and so if you listen to the lyrics it's pretty self-explanatory that it's about going through a hard time and finding the strength to go on," he said. "It was a very unfortunate thing that that happened and our heart goes out to the kid's family, but the song itself. . . I think the message is pretty clear actually."

Source: "Music News, Reviews and Interviews",  LAUNCH: Music on Yahoo!

Adam's Song - Blink 182

I never thought I'd die alone
I laughed the loudest who'd have known?
I trace the cord back to the wall
no wonder it was never plugged in at all
I took my time, I hurried up
the choice was mine I didn't think enough
I'm too depressed to go on
but you'll be sorry when I'm gone

I never conquered, rarely came
but 16 just held such better days
days when I still felt alive
we couldn't wait to get outside
the world was wide, too late to try
the tour was over, we'd survived
I couldn't wait till I got home
to pass the time in my room alone

I never thought I'd die alone
another six months I'll be unknown
give all my things to all my friends
you'll never step foot in my room again
you'll close it off, you'll board it up
remember the time that I spilled the cup
of apple juice in the hall
and please tell mom this is not her fault

I never conquered, rarely came
but 16 just held such better days
days when I still felt alive
we couldn't wait to get outside
the world was wide, too late to try
the tour was over, we'd survived
I couldn't wait till I got home
to pass the time in my room alone

I never conquered, rarely came
but tomorrow holds such better days
days when I can still feel alive
and I can't wait to get outside
the world is wide, the time goes by
the tour is over, I've survived
I can't wait till I get home
to pass the time in my room alone

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