08/27/2007
Mix Disc Monday Home / Music Home / Bullz-Eye Home
School is back in session, the leaves are turning and football is on TV. So our latest Mix Disc Monday is a list of songs about school, or that have some sort of school reference in the lyrics or maybe in the title. Those of us who don’t have to endure teachers, fellow students or bad cafeteria food anymore can only remember what it was like, or (gulp) live it out vicariously through our kids. Meanwhile, enjoy this list and see if any of these songs give you that same September feeling you used to have when returning to class:
"I Don’t Like Mondays," The Boomtown Rats
(The Fine Art of Surfacing)
This song is so haunting, painting a very
vivid yet disturbing picture of 16-year-old Brenda
Ann Spencer, who went on a shooting spree back in
1979 that killed two adults and injured eight children
and one police officer on a school playground.
Let’s label this a depressing start to the mix
and get happier from here, shall we?
"A Lifetime," Better Than Ezra (Closer)
Okay, I lied. Here is another extremely
sad song about the death of a fellow student sung
from the point of view of a classmate. The premise
is about stealing the kid’s ashes and dumping them
in the ocean, as he would have wanted. Man, some
of these songs are bumming me out.
"Tony," Patty Griffin (Flaming Red)
Here’s an album you may have missed from
the last decade and the last song here about somebody
dying, I swear. Flaming Red still gives
me goose bumps. And in particular, this rocking,
albeit extremely disturbing song about a wussy
fat kid who blows his brains out, written from
the point of view of the girl who sat behind him
in homeroom, is too powerful to ignore.
"Adult Education," Hall & Oates
(Rock ‘N Soul Part 1)
Hey, adults have to keep learning, too. Grad school,
night classes, continuing education.
Not me, though. I closed that last book and never turned back. Still, I appreciate a good song about adult education.
"Stacy’s Mom," Fountains of Wayne (Welcome
Interstate Managers)
School isn’t just books and learning and
teachers. It’s lusting after cheerleaders, hot teachers
and fellow students’ moms. This song boldly went
where other songs didn’t go before, bringing MILFs
to the forefront of our fantasies. How come when
I went to school, other kid’s moms looked like grandmothers?
"No Such Thing," John Mayer (Room
For Squares)
John Mayer sings about how he wants to go
to his 10-year high school reunion and show his fellow
classmates that he’s made it big and is now banging
Jessica Simpson. I don’t blame him one bit.
"James," Josh Rouse (1972)
This one is a stretch, because it’s only
a reminder of my own school days in the Seventies:
jangly soft rock with flutes and powerful melodies.
Rouse brings back the likes of Firefall, Jackson
Browne and Nicolette Larson, all while using just
one spot on this list.
"Giant," Matthew Good (Beautiful Midnight)
Another great album of the last decade or
so that you may not have heard, but really should.
This is the first track, and starts with a bunch
of cheerleaders chanting "S-U-C-C-E-S-S/That’s
the way we spell success." Are you ready for
some high school football?
"Summer’s Gone," Feeder (Comfort In
Sound)
The last of the great rock albums from the
last ten years that you probably haven’t heard but
that I’m telling you to go and check out. And what
sums up "back to school" like the title of this song?
"September 22nd,"
Nathan Angelo (Through Playing Me)
Nathan is a singer/songwriter, piano-playing
dude along the lines of Gavin DeGraw. His music is
infectious and soulful, but he’s on here because
he wrote a song with a title that lands smack dab
in the middle of the first month of school.
"Kodachrome," Paul Simon (There Goes
Rhymin’ Simon)
"When I think back to all the crap I
learned in high school/It’s a wonder I can think
at all."
I don’t have to tell you Paul Simon is a brilliant
songwriter, but sometimes you have to just marvel
at how he can make simple lyrics sound so deep.
"Hey School Boy," Stefy (The Orange
Album)
If you hear this song, you’re going to want
to be the dude lead singer Stefy Rae is singing to.
Trust me.
"Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room," Brownsville
Station (Yeah!)
If you didn’t get into some sort of trouble
in school at some point, you’re either lying or you’re
not cool enough to be reading this.
"Maggie May," Rod Stewart (Every Picture
Tells a Story)
"It’s late September and I really should
be back at school." Well, what the hell are
you doing, Rod? Trying to bang Maggie? Is she
Stacy’s mom?
"S.C.H.O.O.L.," Rebel Rebel (Explode
Into Space)
A song about the last day of school and getting
the summer started. It seems like a long ways away,
but aside from drinking beer and banging that cute
chick in chemistry class, what else is there to
look forward to?