Wheatus Give Their Thoughts On The 'Teenage Dirtbag' TikTok Trend

When Wheatus released "Teenage Dirtbag" in 2000, it became a massive hit—securing the band placements in movies, television appearances, and world tours. None of their other songs made quite the impact as that one, and eventually it began to fade. But thanks to a new TikTok trend that's seeing users dig up "teenage dirtbag" photos from their past, the track is experiencing a massive resurgence.

AltPress spoke with the band's songwriter Brendan B. Brown about his thoughts on the trend. "It doesn’t matter, but it doesn’t matter that it doesn't matter," he said with a laugh when asked if he cared if the song's meaning got lost in translation. "If you put something out there, people will see themselves the way that they see themselves in it. You want to talk about a hot mess? When I was a kid, I related to a movie called The Last Dragon, which is essentially a New York City urban setting for the Karate Kid story. I saw myself in that film, and if you watched this movie, you would be like, “How does this fucking idiot from Long Island see himself in this movie?”

"However, when you’re alone and trying to figure it all out, whatever appeals to you appeals to you. If somebody puts a picture of themselves on the hood of a police car and that's their 'dirtbag' moment, maybe they were alone in the cell that night when they were waiting to be processed," he added. "I don’t know what is, but I just know that it’s everyone’s right to experience it the way that they do."

The trend has inspired celebrities like Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato to share cringey photos from their youth, but Brown has a favorite celebrity entry: Cheech and Chong. " To see these guys doing the weird little thing that I created blew my mind, and I was an instant fanboy," he admitted.