The title (and song) were inspired by a warning often said in Bowery Boys movies in which one of the characters declares to another, "School is out," meaning "to wise up." The Bowery Boys were characters featured in 48 movies that ran from 1946-1958. They were young tough guys in New York City who were always finding trouble. The movies ran on American TV throughout the '60s and '70s, eating up a lot of air time on independent stations. It was one of these TV viewings that Cooper saw. In the film, the character Sach (Huntz Hall) did something dumb, which prompted one of the other guys to say, "Hey, Sach, School's Out!" Cooper like the way the phrase sounded and used it as the basis for this song.
"School's Out" is a fixture at Cooper's concerts. He says the difference between him and guys like Marilyn Manson is that he leaves the crowd in a good mood. His shows are meant to be fun, not depressing.
The song was released in the summer of 1972, when school really was out. It's since become an anthem for summer vacation.
Cooper wrote this song with his guitarist Michael Bruce. At the time, "Alice Cooper" was the name of the band, not just the lead singer, and all members contributed to their songwriting. Bruce also wrote the group's songs "Caught In A Dream" and "Be My Lover," and co-wrote "
No More Mr. Nice Guy" with Cooper.
"School's Out" is by far Cooper's most popular song from the '70s and a concert staple, but many younger fans prefer his 1989 hit "
Poison," which has far surpassed it in streaming. Both songs reached #7 in America, Cooper's highest placing.
The chorus of children who sing on this was put together by producer Bob Ezrin. In 1979, Ezrin used another kid's chorus when he produced "
Another Brick In The Wall (part II)" for Pink Floyd. He liked the idea of hearing children's voices on songs about school. In this song, they chime in while Cooper is singing the children's rhyme "No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks." They also come in on the bridge and outro.
In a 2008 Esquire interview, Cooper said: "When we did 'School's Out,' I knew we had just done the national anthem. I've become the Francis Scott Key of the last day of school."
The School's Out album opens like a school desk and contains a pair of paper panties. This is the kind of added value you just don't get with CDs or digital media.
This song is especially popular in the UK, where it topped the chart for three weeks. It was buoyed by the protests of an activist named Mary Whitehouse, who railed against corrupting influences in Britain, like Benny Hill and the movie A Clockwork Orange. Cooper sent her flowers to thank her for the publicity.
Cooper recorded a new version of this with Swedish pop group The A-Teens in 2002. It was an odd pairing, but the A-Teens claimed Cooper did not scare them. Cooper said that was because they had never seen his stage show. The lyrics of the new version were altered from "School's been blown to pieces" to "I'm bored to pieces."
Cooper starred in a TV commercial for Staples where a young girl is forced to shop for school supplies while a Muzak version of this song plays. She looks at Cooper and says, "I thought you said School's out forever." He replies, "No, the song goes, 'School's out for summer. Nice try, though." At this point, the real version of the song kicks in.
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Suggestion credit:
Bertrand - Paris, France
On May 13, 2009, Cooper performed this song at the Arizona State University graduation ceremonies with his son Dash's band, Runaway Phoenix. Alice wore his varsity letter sweater from Cortez High (Class of '66) for the performance, which preceded a speech by US President Barack Obama. Cooper's son Dash was attending the ASU journalism school.
"School's Out" was slated for the 1992 film
Wayne's World, where Cooper was to perform it before meeting Wayne and Garth backstage. Shortly before filming began, Cooper's manager Shep Gordon changed the playbook and told the film's producers that Alice would be performing a new song instead: "
Feed My Frankenstein."
This was used in the 1996 horror flick Scream. It blasts from a stereo after the principal announces classes are suspended.
Soul Asylum covered the song for the 1998 movie The Faculty.
Cooper often breaks into the "Another Brick In The Wall" chorus ("We don't need no education...") when he
performs this song live.
Gary Graff, author of
Alice Cooper @75 shared this story on the Songfacts Podcast:
"Pink Floyd came over in 1967 and lived in the same house with the Alice Cooper Band, and Alice talks about sitting at breakfast with [Pink Floyd founder] Syd Barrett, and Syd thinks his cornflakes are singing and dancing in front of him. Pink Floyd dosed the Alice Cooper Band once before they went on stage, and they played a lot of poker together. There was a really nice history between those two bands."
