Meaning of School's Out - Alice Cooper

“I would be shocked if it didn’t become a hit,” Alice Cooper said of “School’s Out”. Intuition did not disappoint the legendary rock musician. She won the hearts of music lovers, climbed to the top of the charts and for many years became his hallmark. An excellent advertisement for the song was a radio ban. But let’s talk about censorship below, but first, let’s remember the history of the creation of the composition.

Here is what Alice said about his school years:

Basically, I was Ferris Bueller and practically ran to school. Our girlfriends did our homework for us, and the teachers loved us because we made them laugh. So school was a trifle for me. Not that I’ve ever done anything. I was just a great joker. When I wrote this song, I thought: “Wow, this is not about me at all! I love high school – I would spend the rest of my life there!

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Researchers of Alice Cooper’s work put forward several versions of the author’s main idea of ”School’s Out”. It is widely believed that the idea arose while the musician was watching the television series “The Bowery Boys”. Biographer Geoffrey Morgan says:

Alice sat and could not tear himself away from “Dead End Kids”… When the leader of the gang, Mugs, with his unique accent, told his friend Sach to “get smart”, Alice took these words as the basis of the single… “Hey, Sach! Mags said, slapping him on the head with his hat. “School is over!”

Renfield, who maintained the Cooper archives, finds this claim debatable:

… Alice himself will not say for sure from which movie he took this phrase. For years I’ve pondered its origins… It should also be noted that Alice has a very active imagination, which may have played a role when he first told the story of the origins of “School’s Out”.

1996

It must be admitted that Cooper’s explanations confirm the words of his archivist. Sometimes he agreed with the version about “The Bowery Boys”, and sometimes he talked about an interview in which he was asked about the three most joyful minutes in his life. Allegedly, then he remembered the final moments of the last lesson before the summer holidays, which prompted him to write a song.

“School’s Out” became the title track of Alice Cooper’s fifth album. It was released as a single, which peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the UK chart.

The track was criticized by many public figures, including Mary Whitehouse, who got it taken off the air by several radio stations. Years later, Alice recalled:

Mary Whitehouse’s ban became an advertisement we couldn’t buy. All we had to do was send her flowers! At first we were worried that we would not be able to come to England. But then we realized that this is the best thing that has ever happened to us. They couldn’t even print enough tickets. It was perfect!

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Alice Cooper often ended concerts with the song. Usually there was a fading school bell at the end. Check out the “School’s Out” music video from Live At Montreux in 2005.

Interesting Facts

Cooper once said that he wrote the main riff under the influence of Miles Davis, but called this statement a joke.
Bob Ezrin came up with the idea of inviting a children’s choir to record the track. A few years later, he again used this technique, working on the legendary “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)” by the rock band Pink Floyd.
“School’s Out” is featured on several famous movie soundtracks, including “Scream”, “School of Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “Dazed and Confused”.
The Canadian television series School’s Out (1992) was named after Cooper’s composition.
The Soul Asylum cover is featured in the thriller The Faculty.
In 2002, Alice Cooper recorded a new version of the song with the boy band The A-Teens.
The track is included in The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (Rolling Stone), The Best Hard Rock Songs (VH1) and The 20 Best Glam-Rock Songs of All Time (The Guardian).

School’s Out Lyrics
Alice CooperSchool’s Out Lyrics
Alice Cooperwell we got no choice
All the girls and boys
Makin’ all that noise
‘Cause they found new toys
Well we can’t salute ya
Can’t find a flag
If that don’t suit ya
That’s a drag
School’s out for summer
School’s out forever
School’s been blown to pieces
All girls and boys
Made this noise
‘Cause they found new toys
We can’t welcome you
Flag not found
If you don’t like it,
It’s your problems
School is over for the summer
School is over forever
The school was blown to pieces No more pencils no more books
No more teacher’s dirty looks yeah
well we got no class
And we got no principals
And we got no innocence
We can’t even think of a word that rhymes
School’s out for summer
School’s out forever
My school’s been blown to pieces
No evil teacher looks
We don’t have a class
And we don’t have directors
And we don’t have innocence
We can’t even think of a rhyme
School is over for the summer
School is over forever
The school was blown to pieces No more pencils no more books
No more teacher’s dirty looks
out for summer
Out till fall
We might not come back at all
School’s out forever
School’s out for summer
School’s out with fever
School’s out completely
No evil teacher looks
Leaving for the summer
Let’s go until autumn
Maybe we won’t be back at all.
School is over forever
School is over for the summer
School ended with a fever
The school was blown to pieces

Song Quotes

Of our fourteen Top 40 songs, “School’s Out” was the only one I was sure of. I said, “If it’s not a hit, I have nothing to do in this business.” She had everything she needed: she came out just in time for the end of school, it was a summer song, she had a catchy melody, she had lyrics – I would be surprised if she did not become a hit.

Alice Cooper