Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ We Don't Need No Education: A Textual Analysis of Anglo-American Popular Music Lyrics about School

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

My experience of school was generally negative. That's why Supertramp's lyrics resonated with me: "They tell you not to hang around and learn what life's about / And grow up just like them, won't let you work it out / And you're full of doubt." This study looks at how school is reflected in the lyrics of popular music, and the results are not pretty: school as monotonous, school as a prison, school as pressuring to conform, school as bullying. And more. The question we need to ask is whether these lyrics are shaping our experience of school, or whether they're reflecting it. I lean toward the latter. Related: 106 songs about school.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Apr 30, 2024 05:29 a.m.

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