I love Aimee Mann’s ‘Ghost World,’ especially this lyric: I just read a lot and ride my bike around the school.

Hesitate to say it, but my agenda for summer free time in elementary and middle school (and even ninth and tenth grades) was the same as Aimee’s agenda. I remember circling Lake Spokane Elementary on my Huffy, looking at my reflection in the darkened windows and peering into rooms with desks stacked against walls. The blacktop was mine if I wanted it, but usually I’d go to the soccer field, lean my bike on a fence, and sit under a goal post and read.

Finals blew, I barely knew
My graduation speech
With college out of reach,
If I don’t find a job, it’s down to Dad and Myrtle Beach
So, I’m bailing this town—or
Tearing it down—or
Probably more like hanging around

Everyone I know is acting weird
Or way too cool
They hang out by the pool
So I just read a lot and ride my bike around the school

(more…)

Disbelief, basically. No recess? You graduate to middle school and this is what you get? The very idea is enough to make you curse the world, especially if the scene is set in the late ’80s and early ’90s. In ‘School,’ Kurt Kobain sings fifteen words in two minutes and forty-two seconds—a true sonic tantrum. Enjoy!

Won’t you believe it?
It’s just my luck. (x4)

No recess! (x3)

Won’t you believe it?
It’s just my luck. (x4)

No recess! (x3)

*solo*

You’re in high school again. (x8)
No recess! (x7)

So many flavors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I like how, in the second verse, Lil Mama tells a classic story. Ms. McClarkson, the Dean at Lil Mama’s school, calls Lil Mama down to the main office. Lil Mama thinks she’s in trouble. SURPRISE! Ms. McClarkson is a FAN of Lil Mama’s bubblegum lip gloss and wants to know where to get some!

What you know ’bout me?
They say my lip gloss is cool
My lip gloss be poppin’
I’m standing at my locker
And all the boys keep stoppin’
What you know ’bout me?
They say my lip gloss is poppin’
My lip gloss is cool
All the boys keep jockin’
They chase me after school

Mac Mac, L’Oreal, yep, ’cause I’m worth it
Love the way I put it on so perfect
Wipe the corners of my mouth so I work it
When I walk down the hallway, they can’t say nothin’
Oh oh oh, my lips so luscious
The way I spice it up with the Mac Mac brushes
L’Oreal got the most watermelon crushes
That’s probably the reason all these boys got crushes

(more…)

WAIT, I’M LATE AGAIN!!!!!!!!????????? No one likes to run after the school bus—especially ’90s rap duo Kris Kross, made up of Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly and Chris “Daddy Mac” Smith. The backwards clothes didn’t aid their agility or momentum, but it’s hard not to feel for the two Chris’s. Some days the bus zooms by, and there’s nothing you can do.

I went to bed late but I didn’t think late would EFFECT ME
Early came around then late wouldn’t LET ME
Wake up—WAKE UP—so I can get dressed
I guess my body was mad ’cause I gave it no rest
And when I finally did awake it was a quarter to 8:00
Jumped in the shower and I know I was late
Stepped out, put on my jeans and my earrings
And said to myself, ‘If I miss school I’m ruined’
But I ran down hill and I RUSHED—RUSHED
I ran down the hill TRYIN’ TO CATCH THE BUS
Now I’m hopin’ to myself everything is cool
Standin’ on my block like a fool
for I’m all alone and the bus is gone
If I miss school, this weekend I’ll be at home
Can somebody come real fast to my rescue
I’m stuck at the crib and I don’t know what to do

(more…)

Remember the rush to get ready? The deliberation over sweater colors? Today’s groovy track comes courtesy of Jacqueline Taieb, a ’60s French pop singer whose morning worries still sound contemporary. Getting ready in the morning has hardly changed at all.

It’s seven in the morning, I’ve gotta get up
Oh, I’m so tired
Well, let’s put some music on; it will get me going
Don’t know, something like,
“Talkin’ bout my g-g-generation”

Can’t find my toothbrush,
Where on earth can it be?
Uh, the red one is my father’s,
the blue one is my mother’s,
the yellow one is my brother’s -
Mine must have gone with the wind

(more…)

Ahhhhh, teacher crushes—back before #badteacher exploits on the news!
Here’s your funky mid-week slump-jam groove:

I was sitting in the classroom
Trying to look intelligent
In case the teacher looked at me
She was long and she was lean
She’s a middle-aged dream
And that lady means the whole world to me

It’s a natural achievement
Conquering my homework
With her image pounding in my brain
She’s an inspiration
For my graduation
And she helps to keep the classroom sane

(more…)

Your classroom-friendly mid-afternoon slump-jam hump-day groove:

Just when I thought I finally learned my lesson well
There was more to this than meets the eye
And for all the things you taught me, only time will tell
If I’ll be able to survive. Oh yeah!

Teacher, teacher, can you teach me?
Can you tell me all I need to know?
Teacher, teacher, can you reach me?
Or will I fall when you let me go? Oh no…

(more…)