High School Never Ends
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| "High School Never Ends" | |
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| Song |
"High School Never Ends" is a song by the Texas pop punk band Bowling for Soup. The song was the first single from the group's ninth album, The Great Burrito Extortion Case, and was released on September 19, 2006. The song deals with the frustration of graduating from high school and seeing that modern popular culture is very similar to the obnoxiously superficial and materialistic culture in high school.
The tune had a prominent outside songwriter, Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and Tinted Windows, working with the band. The song was briefly featured on the January 18, 2007 episode of My Name Is Earl. Part of the song is also featured on commercials for Beauty and the Geek and also 17 Again.
Song references
The song contains many references to the pop culture of the time. Specific celebrities mentioned include Mary-Kate Olsen (specifically, her alleged eating disorder - How did Mary Kate lose all that weight?), Jessica Simpson (you'll never guess what Jessica did), Bill Gates (Bill Gates, captain of the chess team), Reese Witherspoon (Reese Witherspoon, she's the prom queen), Jack Black (Jack Black, the clown), Brad Pitt (Brad Pitt, the quarterback) and Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes (Katie had a baby so I guess Tom's straight, also a reference to his litigation against journalists/paparazzi who questioned his sexuality). The song satirizes many aspects of today's society and its scrutiny of celebrity lives.
Music video
The video starts with the members of Bowling for Soup as kids, playing the end of their song "1985" for a school talent show audition. The person running the auditions says into the microphone "Guys, don't give up your day jobs." Then they walk off the stage, and pass the popular kids, who say "You guys suck". Then, as the popular kids walk away, the young Erik Chandler says to the rest of the band "Don't worry, after high school, everything will be better."
The video then fades to present time with the band members going to their high school reunion. They arrive, instantly recognizing people from the past that bullied them. During a montage of the band members getting back at their former bullies, many flashbacks occur.
First, it shows a flashback of Gary Wiseman getting a wedgie by some bullies. Than they hang him by his underwear on the flag. Gary takes his revenge by taking the underwear of the bully and putting it over his head while he is still wearing it.
The next flashback is of Erik Chandler, getting a note reading "kick me" put on his back by a jock. Erik gets him back by putting the punch bowl sign ("Punch") on his back which starts a queue of people ready to take a punch, including a nun, a pimp and a knight in armor.
After a sequence mentioning celebrities of the time, Jaret Reddick invites on stage a popular kid who had embarrassed him at high school by pulling down his trousers in front of a girl he was obviously keen on, revealing his pink underwear. The payback is that the older popular kid is now exposed on stage as Jaret pulls his trousers down. The popular guy then explodes in embarrassment just after a strategically placed sign "too small for TV" appears over his lower body.
Finally, Chris Burney has a flashback of him getting slipped a laxative by a cheerleader and manages to get his own back by downing (in no particular order) a massive sub sandwich, a chili recovered from his trousers, a goldfish, a white mouse, gasoline, and a match. After jiggling around he then confronts the popular girl and presents the contents of his stomach upon her—by projectile vomiting.
Jaret completes the video by sticking a pick to his rather sweaty forehead.
Radio Disney edit
A separate edit of the song was recorded for Radio Disney, which altered the lyrics throughout:
- In the first verse, the line ".. all the total dicks" is changed to ".. all the popular cliques". (In most radio edits, the word "dicks" is silenced.)
- In the chorus, ".. who's having sex" is changed to ".. what's been suppressed", and ".. who gets the honeys" is changed to ".. who thinks they're funny". Also, the alternative version of the chorus which includes the line "Who’s in the club and who’s on the drugs, Who’s throwing up before they digest" is removed entirely.
- "How did Mary-Kate lose all that weight?" is changed to "How does Mary-Kate always look so great?", and "Katie had a baby so I guess Tom's straight" is changed to "Katie's with Tom, OK, I've got that straight".
Charts
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 40 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[2] | 97 |
| US Billboard Pop 100[2] | 79 |
References
- ^ Pauker, Lance (22 January 2014). "49 Phenomenally Angsty Pop-Punk Songs From The 2000s You Forgot Existed". Thought Catalog. The Thought & Expression Co. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 10 October 2014 suggested (help) - ^ a b "Artist Chart History - Bowling for Soup". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2009-05-20.