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As odd and painfully happy as this music video may be, it was an important staple in the world and especially the United States at this time. This thought is reflected by how quickly it rose to the top of the charts in 1999. The United States was having a tough time in 1999 between Columbine, the Mark O. Barton shootings, and the trials to acquit Bill Clinton; the atmosphere in the United States was tense. This feeling was also reflected throughout the world as the United Nations had to get involved in Serbia due to their increased rate of ethnic cleansing on Kosovo Albanians and the short war between India and Pakistan over the region of Kashmir. This song serves as a reminder that regardless of what is going on in the world that there is always a better outcome if you strive for it. I think this particularly relates to the parents of the Columbine shooters. The parents of the shooters who committed the United States’ deadliest high school shooting to date needed a message to continue in their fight to renounce their child’s actions and find peace themselves in the wake of this incident. In the video the members of S Club 7 are depicted getting thrown into unpleasant situations but even after this happens they are still happy. This correlates to the hurdles the parents had to get over because of the actions of their children. They were constantly attacked by the victims, their parents, and news companies wanting to hear their thoughts for many years after the shooting. Even after almost 17 years, the parents of Dylan Klebold were asked to appear on television for interviews and his mother, Sue Klebold, published a book titled “A Mother’s Reckoning” that addressed many of the questions people had. This music video is more of a reminder that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, even on our darkest days.

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Another prime example of a music video that captures the inner workings of one of the Columbine shooters is The World is Not Enough. This video closely relates the shooter Eric Harris, rather than Dylan Klebold. I say this because while Dylan was “painfully shy” and seemingly depressed, Eric was considered just an average teenage boy who showed no signs of being able to commit a crime such as this before it had already happened. Although this may be true, Eric was later evaluated by experts in the psychological field and they found that he displayed tendencies that coincided with being a psychopath. He was a pathological liar and seemed to relish being in situations where he could “disguise” himself to get what he wanted. This video goes along almost too perfectly with this mindset. The main character is a cyborg that infiltrates a famous actor’s dressing room to kill her and take her place. Eric played his part so he would not be found out until his plans were already carried out and it was, unfortunately, too late to change the outcome. The lyrics also shed light on the thought process of a psychopath, they display some key elements in the diagnosis of this disorder. Particularly parts that hint at concealment and the rational thought process before an individual with this disorder commits crimes.  

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David Bowie has inadvertently produced a song that encapsulates the mind of the Columbine school shooters. Columbine is considered the worst high school mass shooting in American history and it was carried out by two students; Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. After this disaster everyone asked their selves the question that is always asked after a tragic event, “Why?” This question has yet to find a rock solid answer considering the shooters committed suicide before the proper authorities could detain and question them. Due to this, experts can only speculate as to what was going through their heads at the time of the shooting and an article has come about as close as it gets to solving this mystery. Although this article was written five years after the shooting, Bowie released this song in the same year this happened. This song’s lyrics explain the feelings of the shooters and what they thought leading up to and during the act itself. The video accompanies this thought by showing him alone on a stage performing for an unknown crowd. The Columbine shooters motive was not just to inflict harm on individuals, but to “create a nightmare so devastating and apocalyptic that the entire world would shudder at their power.” In a sense, they wished to perform for the unknown masses of America and in this song and the video that accompanies it, Bowie displays that he is the shooter displaying his power over those who are watching him.

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This video captures the turmoil felt at the time of this particular point in history. In 1999, the biggest fear in the last quarter of this year was the threat of Y2K. Y2K was thought to be a virus that could spread to every electronic device in the world and cause a systematic shut down of these devices in the year 2000. This virus was said to stem from an issue within the computer’s system that did not allow the clock to display the year 2000. Y2K was so plausible that entire governments and corporations held international meetings to plan for such an event and what actions they could take to prevent it. This music video takes the feeling of uncertainty and puts it into a visual representation. It shows the overthrow of the government and the exposing of the lies that government has been feeding the people it rules. The mass of people are being told to follow this figurehead to the year 2000 but obviously they do not want to. This video displays the worst case scenario for any major corporation or government at this time in history by showing a violent revolution caused by the uneasiness of Y2K. It also shows a different side of this bug; it shows that the people are overthrowing the government so they can learn the truth for themselves and not be fed anymore lies. This translates to the public in 1999 wanting to know if Y2K was going to happen or if it was being fed by the popular media and their own governments.