Jacob Zinn :: journalist + photographer

Top 5 Classic Rock Songs about School

Posted in Classic Rock, Music, Observations, Top 5 by Jacob Zinn on June 5, 2009

Summer’s approaching, and so is the end of the school year for many kids and teens worldwide. For as long as hard rock has been around, rockstars have written songs about school which their young fans can relate to.

Here comes another top five.

Top 5 Classic Rock Songs about School

5. “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School” by The Ramones (1979)
Those trouble-making Ramones–they just wanna have some kicks and they just wanna get some chicks. But they don’t mind irritating the teachers and the principal along the way, as noted in the film of the same name. Let them have their fun.

4. “Smokin’ in the Boys Room” by Mötley Crüe (1985)
Originally by Brownsville Station, “Smokin’ in the Boys Room” is about the rebellious teenage youth who just don’t like sitting through class. In the cheesey video, a student with an attitude hangs out with the Crüe in the boys room after a trip to the principals office. When the principal returns with an apology and an A on his paper, he still sticks it to the man.

3. “Hot for Teacher” by Van Halen (1984)
The video features David Lee Roth behind the wheel of the schoolbus, driving an apprehensive Waldo do his first day of school. He and his classmates–which include Eddie and Alex Van Halen with Michael Anthony and Roth–soon find out that their teacher is a bikini-clad pageant winner who table dances on the desks. If only everyone who ever crushed on their teacher could relate.

2. “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)” by Pink Floyd (1979)
Perhaps the most well-known of the three parts, “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)” contains the cryptic lyrics, “We don’t need no education, we don’t need no thought control,” sung by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour and repeated by a school choir. The album version starts with a trademark scream from bassist Roger Waters before the boarding school protest anthem begins. It’s eerie from start to finish.

1. “School’s Out” by Alice Cooper (1972)
If you didn’t see this coming, you haven’t heard enough anti-school rock songs. “School’s Out” was the anthem of that years graduating class and ones to come. The bell has rung–class dismissed!

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  1. Top 5 Cock Rock Frontmen « jacobzinn.com said, on September 27, 2011 at 2:09 PM

    […] Top 5 Classic Rock Songs about School […]


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