School

You got to go to school and beat that bell
When the alarm clock wakes—ring, ding dong
We’re gonna start our rap about this song
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday…
The weekend’s here!
Well listen
When I was very young I used to sit around the house
Watching Oil Can Harry battle Mighty Mouse
Until my mother said, «Son, that’s not the way to be
You’ve got to go to school and learn your ABCs.»
I said, «Is that it, mom?»
She said, «That's not even half
You’ve got to go to school, you got to learn some math
You gotta learn how to count — 1, 2, 3
And then get brushed up on the history.»
My first day of school I’ll never forget. My teacher said, «Recite the alphabet.
I said, «A E M, um, L R,»
And as you can see, I didn’t get very far
The teacher said, «Son, there’s nothing to it
Before the day’s over, you’ll learn how to do it
And not only that, you’ll learn how to read
And that’s one thing in life you’ll always need.»
Well, school’s not all work; there’s fun things to do
Like gym, lunch, and recess, too
Kindergarten was easy, it was mostly play
What I was worried about was elementary
You got to go to school and beat that bell
When the alarm clock wakes—ring, ding dong
We’re gonna start our rap about this song
You got to go to school and beat that bell
When the alarm clock wakes—ring, ding dong
We’re gonna start our rap about this song
Ha! Now it started out wrong, I took another turn
I didn’t want to study, didn’t even want to learn
Didn’t want to go to class, I was always late
Because school became something that I started to hate
Started hanging with my boys; didn’t mean no harm
We was going around the school pulling fire alarms
I was a chilly homeboy, yes, I was down
Because I came to school just to mess around
I started hanging in the halls, and writing on the walls
Until I got started playing basketball
But I didn’t have a job so I couldn’t get paid
And I couldn’t play ball because of my grades
But I still used to practice each and every day
In case the coach decided to let me play
But it didn’t work out the way I planned
So I ran to a man who said he can understand
The problems I was going through
He said, «Son, it’s all about going to school.»
So I shut up, and shipped out, turned in my keys
And now I’m moving up to the big leagues: high school!
You got to go to school and beat that bell
When the alarm clock wakes—ring, ding dong
We’re gonna start our rap about this song
You got to go to school and beat that bell
When the alarm clock wakes—ring, ding dong
We’re gonna start our rap about this song
(Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, and Mike)…and Ralph!
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday…
The weekend’s here!
So check it out, check check, I’m feeling cool
'Cause I was going on to something they call «high school»
And I’m feeling funny, 'cause things aren’t the same
Wondering why nobody knows my name
That became something that I started to miss
And now that I’m here it feels like a big diss
But anyway, I had to leave, I had something to achieve
It was singing -YEAH- that’s what I wanted to do
So I got a tutor, because I’m no fool
Dropping out of school is quite absurd
And it’s up to New Edition to spread the word
Stay in school!
S-C-H-O-O-L, you got to go to school and beat that bell…
S-C-H-O-O-L, you got to go to school and beat that bell…
S-C-H-O-O-L, you got to go to school and beat that bell…
(…go to school, beat that bell)
S-C-H-O-O-L, you got to go to school and beat that bell…
S-C-H-O-O-L, you got to go to school and beat that bell…
(…go to school, beat that bell)
S-C-H-O-O-L, you got to go to school and beat that bell…
(S-C-H-O-O-L…go to school, beat that bell)
(Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, and Mike)…and Ralph!
(S-C-H-O-O-L…go to school, beat that bell)
(Repeat and fade…)