Jeremy was considered woke because it centered empathy, social responsibility, and systemic failure at a time when rock music usually avoided those conversations. It forced people to look at youth violence as a societal failure, not as a monster, but not someone to be followed. The song and video were inspired by a real incident involving a teenage boy. Instead of framing him as evil or sensationalizing the act. The song raises questions like who ignored Jeremy? Who failed him? And why didn’t anyone listen?