"When I Write the Book": My Favorite Songs About School and Writing
Since school has begun, I compiled a list of songs about teaching and writing. There are far more about teaching and teachers than writers, but I want to highlight a few of my favorites without picking the most obvious. For example, you will not find Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher" here. I think it is a tad overplayed and does not capture the feeling I am looking for in songs about teaching or attending school. Plus, you all know it. You also know The Ramones' "Rock 'n' Roll High School, but I cannot help myself in including that awesome track, especially paired with the MC5. I'm in search of more songs about writing, so if you have any suggestions let me know. I'm missing so many good ones. Any teaching/student songs would also be cool, especially if they extol the virtues of school. Many of these songwriters are fed up and frustrated with their school experience. That said, here are ten of my favorite in no particular order.
1. John K. Samson-"When I Write My Master's Thesis" Provincial (ANTI)
The Weakerthans singer writes another autumnal anthem on his first full-length record that captures the loneliness of graduate school. The narrator plays video games after his lover has left him. He celebrates that he no longer has to grade "first-year papers" or cite sources, and "it's all gonna change when I write my master's thesis." The truth is that little changes afterward if you stay in academia, but I relate far more than I should.
2. MC5-"High School" Back in the USA (Atlantic)
The first track on the second side of the MC5's more commercial second album happily rewrites the basic rock and roll high school song with a bit of Chuck Berry and a bit of cheerleading. This track is far different from anything on their first album, Kick Out The Jams.
3.The Ramones-"Rock 'n' Roll High School" Rock 'N" Roll High School (Warner Bros.)
The classic punk song about high school where the Ramones discuss that they do not care about school, except for having fun and picking up girls. In the vein of the MC5's "High School" with a bit more octane.
4. Jets to Brazil-"I Typed For Miles" Orange Rhyming Dictionary (Jade Tree)
A song from the frustrated writer mode, "I Typed For Miles," covers a lot of familiar writing territory, although I personally think it is about a Kerouackian writer that keeps working because they are unable to finish. You could also see Grady Tripp in Wonder Boys for another example of the trope. The writer needs recognition, but it never comes, so they keep writing because the "call could come at any time." Maybe not coincidentally, it is also a love song.
5. Atom and his Package-"Punk Rock Academy" A Society of People Named Elihu (Mountain/Revolver)
Atom dreams about a high school for nerdy punk rockers that does not require physical education classes and sings about it accompanied by his guitar and sequencer. Like most of his songs, this one is a speed-fire laundry list of what would happen at a Punk Rock Academy with humorous asides and in-jokes. As usual, he includes a snippet from another song within the song, in this case, "Take Me Home Tonight."
6. The Replacements-"Fuck School" Stink (Twin Tone)
During the band's "punk" phase, they wrote quite a few short, jokey songs like this one. Here they capture the frustrating feeling of dealing with students laughing at their speeches and teachers talking too much. The song is just a snippet, lyrically, but it captures a moment, a hatred for school, that even those of us in academia can sometimes feel.
7. The Necros-"I Hate My School" IQ32 (Touch and Go)
Another short, blast of snotty attitude, this track is primarily focused on the students being fools or being weird. The narrator just wants to leave or be left alone.
8. Elvis Costello-"Everyday I Write The Book" Punch The Clock (F-Beat)
Elvis Costello's song metaphorically approaches trying to write a book about love that the narrator never seems to get right. He chronicles the progress of the relationship through different chapters and shows that maintaining a relationship can parallel the difficulties of writing. Costello's minor details connect the love story to writing; for example, he writes "all your compliments and cutting remarks are captured here in quotation marks."
9. Rockpile-"When I Write the Book" Seconds of Pleasure (Columbia)
Nick Lowe's Rockpile song is a nice companion piece to Costello, which relies more on the positives of love. In this instance, the narrator is more optimistic about the future of love and detailed in his attempts at finishing his book and understanding the relationship better. Lowe's song is humorous and catalogs the travails of young love all the way through a more mature relationship. He determines that the pain will be on every page and it will be a "pop publication, tougher than tough. When I get down on the pages all I missed it will shoot to the top of the best-sellers list."
10. Scholastic Deth - Final Examiner (625 Thrashcore)
I'm breaking the rules with this one and including Scholastic Deth's complete discography. The lastfm web page for the band describes them as a "straightedge thrashcore/powerviolence" band. What you get on the album is short power violence tracks that not only bludgeon ears but are generally positive. Many of their songs are not about academia, but a few are. I included them because they are school-themed, and I cannot stop listening to the song, "Literally Illiterate." Check out the album cover for Final Examiner, which copies the iconic CliffsNotes design.
1. John K. Samson-"When I Write My Master's Thesis" Provincial (ANTI)
The Weakerthans singer writes another autumnal anthem on his first full-length record that captures the loneliness of graduate school. The narrator plays video games after his lover has left him. He celebrates that he no longer has to grade "first-year papers" or cite sources, and "it's all gonna change when I write my master's thesis." The truth is that little changes afterward if you stay in academia, but I relate far more than I should.
2. MC5-"High School" Back in the USA (Atlantic)
The first track on the second side of the MC5's more commercial second album happily rewrites the basic rock and roll high school song with a bit of Chuck Berry and a bit of cheerleading. This track is far different from anything on their first album, Kick Out The Jams.
3.The Ramones-"Rock 'n' Roll High School" Rock 'N" Roll High School (Warner Bros.)
The classic punk song about high school where the Ramones discuss that they do not care about school, except for having fun and picking up girls. In the vein of the MC5's "High School" with a bit more octane.
4. Jets to Brazil-"I Typed For Miles" Orange Rhyming Dictionary (Jade Tree)
A song from the frustrated writer mode, "I Typed For Miles," covers a lot of familiar writing territory, although I personally think it is about a Kerouackian writer that keeps working because they are unable to finish. You could also see Grady Tripp in Wonder Boys for another example of the trope. The writer needs recognition, but it never comes, so they keep writing because the "call could come at any time." Maybe not coincidentally, it is also a love song.
5. Atom and his Package-"Punk Rock Academy" A Society of People Named Elihu (Mountain/Revolver)
Atom dreams about a high school for nerdy punk rockers that does not require physical education classes and sings about it accompanied by his guitar and sequencer. Like most of his songs, this one is a speed-fire laundry list of what would happen at a Punk Rock Academy with humorous asides and in-jokes. As usual, he includes a snippet from another song within the song, in this case, "Take Me Home Tonight."
6. The Replacements-"Fuck School" Stink (Twin Tone)
During the band's "punk" phase, they wrote quite a few short, jokey songs like this one. Here they capture the frustrating feeling of dealing with students laughing at their speeches and teachers talking too much. The song is just a snippet, lyrically, but it captures a moment, a hatred for school, that even those of us in academia can sometimes feel.
7. The Necros-"I Hate My School" IQ32 (Touch and Go)
Another short, blast of snotty attitude, this track is primarily focused on the students being fools or being weird. The narrator just wants to leave or be left alone.
8. Elvis Costello-"Everyday I Write The Book" Punch The Clock (F-Beat)
Elvis Costello's song metaphorically approaches trying to write a book about love that the narrator never seems to get right. He chronicles the progress of the relationship through different chapters and shows that maintaining a relationship can parallel the difficulties of writing. Costello's minor details connect the love story to writing; for example, he writes "all your compliments and cutting remarks are captured here in quotation marks."
9. Rockpile-"When I Write the Book" Seconds of Pleasure (Columbia)
Nick Lowe's Rockpile song is a nice companion piece to Costello, which relies more on the positives of love. In this instance, the narrator is more optimistic about the future of love and detailed in his attempts at finishing his book and understanding the relationship better. Lowe's song is humorous and catalogs the travails of young love all the way through a more mature relationship. He determines that the pain will be on every page and it will be a "pop publication, tougher than tough. When I get down on the pages all I missed it will shoot to the top of the best-sellers list."
10. Scholastic Deth - Final Examiner (625 Thrashcore)
I'm breaking the rules with this one and including Scholastic Deth's complete discography. The lastfm web page for the band describes them as a "straightedge thrashcore/powerviolence" band. What you get on the album is short power violence tracks that not only bludgeon ears but are generally positive. Many of their songs are not about academia, but a few are. I included them because they are school-themed, and I cannot stop listening to the song, "Literally Illiterate." Check out the album cover for Final Examiner, which copies the iconic CliffsNotes design.
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