Lunes again.
I've got Music Monday's post with Herc, special Back To School edition, with an exception to my 7 rule. This is a list of 11 school songs that Herc has put together for the occasion!
Let's go Herc!
Seven 11 School Songs
(part of ongoing series 7 Song Playlists)
Most kids, this little Herc included, loved going back to school every fall. Sure, summer was over but if you did it right, you were exhausted and ready for the rigid discipline that school always brought. (Keep those comments polite, please.) Not to mention the new clothes, shoes and all those cool school supplies that accompanied you. Here’s a decades spanning mega list of seven eleven songs having to do with school. Listen to the Spotify Study Guide and then feel free to add your own favorites in the comments. Don’t be tardy.
“Thirteen” - Big Star [1972]
Simply put, this is one of the sweetest, most innocent songs ever recorded. The lyrics are brief but infused with awkward understated passion and if you ain’t played the game of love, you don’t know that these are the rules. And those silky sweet harmonies in the background are absolutely angelic. Pleading, practically begging to spend time with the one he loves (“Won't you let me walk you home from school?/Won't you let me meet you at the pool?”), our hero has the stones to stand up to her Dad (“Won't you tell your dad, "Get off my back"?/Tell him what we said about "Paint it, Black"/Rock 'n Roll is here to stay”). Often used to great effect in mass media to portray a first love, “Thirteen” is one of the greatest love songs ever recorded.
“My Old School” - Steely Dan [1973]
Technically perfect and coldly soulless as are most Steely Dan records, “My Old School” is a not so kind reminiscing of school days past. The kind of song for people like Herc who do not attend reunions. (“And I’m never going back to my old school.”) Neither am I, brother, neither am I.
“Rock N Roll High School” - Ramones [1979]
Three chords and a chant (“Fun fun/rock'n'roll high school”), this pounding punk blast from the 1979 motion picture of the same name says it all (“I don’t care about History/ Cause that’s not where I wanna be”). Re-recorded by the band with legendary producer (and future convicted murderer), Phil Spector, for their 1980 End Of The Century album, the original movie version is the better bet.
“School Days” - Chuck Berry [1957]
A day in the life of a student set to a rockin’ beat. (“Ring ring goes the bell”) Chuck leaves nothing to the imagination as he paints the day as hard work and drudgery that only pays off when school ends and (“You finally lay your burden down”) head to the juke joint (“Drop your quarter right into the slot”) and you dance the afternoon away until its time to go home and start it all over again tomorrow. (“Hail! Hail! Rock and roll!”)
“Be True To Your School” - Beach Boys [1963]
Almost 20 years before Toni Basil brought cheerleader music back into pop consciousness, the Beach Boys built the bottom of the pyramid with this rah-rah song. Showing school spirit without any one getting beaten, stabbed or shot, what a great concept. The only smashing done is on the football field. The song features marching band instrumentation and powerfully incessant cheers. Put on your letterman’s sweater and pick up a pair of pom-poms cause it’s on, buddy.
“Teacher, Teacher” - Rockpile [1980]
Another one of those songs that sound creepier now than when they were recorded, “Teacher, Teacher” was Rockpile’s lone American Top 40 hit. A rocking, driving song which combines rockabilly with the burgeoning “new wave”. (Although Herc could not locate any prior versions of the song, it seems to have been written in the late Fifties or early Sixties.) The band known as Rockpile released a total of four albums yet only one of them bears their name. Two others were released as Dave Edmunds “solo” albums and the final one was a Nick Lowe “solo” album which contained “Cruel To Be Kind”, a power pop staple.
“Hot For Teacher” - Van Halen [1984]
With its avalanche of drums intro and careening guitar, “Hot For Teacher” hits hard below the belt from the start and doesn’t let up. The Parents Music Resource Center protested both the song and video, demanding they be pulled from the airwaves. A nation of young males was grateful that the video, in particular, was not pulled. Truth be told, Herc was hot for Ms. Bufano years before this song was released.
“School” - Supertramp [1974]
A slow burning song that features cascading piano riffs that tumble into a beautiful melody, with lyrics about someone (the father? the boy’s grown self?) watching a boy go to school and learn the rules. A cautionary tale about conformity and treating all students the same much like the next song on the list.
“Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2” - Pink Floyd [1979]
With it’s accusatory tone (“Hey teacher/leave them kids alone”), fun to sing-along on the playground verse (“All in all/We’re just bricks in the wall”) and shout it at the top of your lungs opening lines (“We don’t need no education/we don’t need no thoughts controlled”), this is a song built to sing, shout and yell.
“School’s Out” - Alice Cooper [1972]
Ah, the joys of the last week of school. Cleaning out your locker and desk, finding all those things you thought were lost. Getting all your stuff back from the teacher who confiscated it throughout the year. And finally, blowing the school to pieces. At least it looked that way with all the paper and trash strewn about. You know what the inspiration was for this song? Someone asked the band what their “greatest three minutes ever” was and this is what they came up with.
“High School Never Ends” - Bowling For Soup [2006]
People like to think life will be different after high school and for a lot of people it’s true. But for some people, high school is the pinnacle of their lives and they never mature past it. They enjoy the lack of responsibility and focus on petty, shallow things like clothes or cars for the rest of their lives. That’s what this song means to Herc. What does it mean to you?
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