A clever way with BVs, and the perils of being up-to-date.
School is Out (not to be confused with the Alice Cooper classic of similar name) was a minor hit in 1961 for Gary U.S. Bonds, Bruce Springsteen’s mentor and mate. Bonds wrote it, but Ry Cooder gave it an insanely catchy makeover as the opening track of his 1976 live album Show Time, full of skirling sax and swirling accordion. You can find it easily on YouTube, and both versions are on Spotify.
Lyrically it’s simple, and stuffed with typical Murican High School nonsense, but it catches end-of-term and start-of-holiday euphoria perfectly:
No more books and studies
I can stay out late with my buddies
I can do the things that I want to do
‘cos all my cares are through
Well I can root for the Yankees from the bleachers
And don’t have to worry ’bout teachers
And I’m so glad that school is out
Well I’m gonna sing and shout!
‘Rooting for the Yankees from the bleachers’ means going to watch the New York Yankees play baseball, sitting on cheap, unshaded benches pitch-side.
After two verses there’s a Pre-chorus with the backing vocals leading off, BVs and lead voice overlapping and tumbling over each other like a basketful of puppies:
(School is out)
Everybody gonna have some fun
(School is out)
Everybody gonna jump and run
(School is out)
Come on people don’t you be late
(School is out)
‘Cause I just got time to take my girl out on a date
As a technique it’s quite unusual, but it adds to the song’s mood by making it feel there’s a whole happy crowd gathered around and joining in. Then the Chorus proper:
School is out at last
I’m so glad I passed
So everybody come and go with me
We’re gonna have a night with Daddy G
Gene “Daddy G” Barge, was the energetic saxophonist with the Church Street Five, Gary Bonds’ backing band. So it’s saying there’s going to be party with music and dancing. It’s also a salutary lesson: many years later and many miles removed, the reference is limiting and falls flat. It’s always worth double-checking if new lyrics mention something that will date rapidly and make a good song unsingable in a few years.
Cooder rounds it out with instrumental solos and lots of Pre-chorus and Chorus repeats, each one building the Happy.
