#Memento mori lyrics full

In 1999, Misty published a (commercially-successful) book titled She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall. Part of the reason it persisted for so long was because of Cassie’s mother, one Misty Bernall. However, this revelation did not come to mainstream light until some years after the event. It was one that apparently wasn’t factually true. Bernall was said to have answered yes and was resultantly killed. That particular narrative proved to be akin to an urban legend. It also claimed the lives of Klebold and Harris.Ĭassie, who was 17 years old at the time, was amongst the victims who actually died.įresh after the event, it was reported that before fatally shooting her, Klebold questioned Bernall’s belief in God. The violence resulted in the death of 13 people.

#Memento mori lyrics full

This is something that we all know. But that said, some listeners still took this piece as Flyleaf trying to capitalize off of both a real-life tragedy and Christianity, basically. But to reiterate, at the time, the full details of all of the above were not yet made public.Īs fate would have it, Cassie Bernall was a student at Colorado’s Columbine High School on the fateful day of 20 April 1999. That was when two of her schoolmates, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, decided to go on a shooting spree inside of the institution. affirming one’s faith even when, as in this presented case, faced with the prospect of execution as a result of doing so. So more accurately this story depicts what Valeen went through, though some narrative liberties were unintentionally taken along the way.įor instance, as noted above, Valeen was not killed for saying yes. In fact when you look at the exchange she had with Klebold, it can be postulated that answering yes may have even saved her life. But at the time this song was dropped, the Bernall story was still circulating as fact.Īnd the reason that such stories are so believable to begin with is because many people have and in fact still do die because of their faith.

So ultimately, what Cassie is speaking to more generally is the concept of martyrdom, i.e. Strangely enough Klebold did not shoot her again after she responded affirmatively.

Lyrics of “Cassie”Īnd just to set the record straight from the onset, as tragic as Cassie’s story may be, this song is based on what has ultimately proven to be an urban legend. That is to say it wasn’t Cassie whom one of the killers (Dylan Klebold), asked whether she possessed a belief in God. That was the story that broke fresh after the event and managed to circulate for some years. But subsequent investigations revealed that Klebold posed that question to another young lady, Valeen Schnurr, who had already been shot.

those who may have for instance, being sacked from their jobs and decided to get revenge against their former employer. But with Columbine, that’s when it really became clear that any sick A-hole with a gun can potentially do massive damage, even to the most-vulnerable and unsuspecting of victims.īy the time all was said and done the perpetrators of this event, a couple of high school students, murdered a dozen of their peers in addition to a teacher. And amongst said peers was one Cassie Bernall (1981-1999). Prior to that, perpetrators of such crimes were generally understood to be disgruntled workers, i.e.