School by Nirvana - Songfacts

Album: Bleach (1989)

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Kurt Cobain wrote this about how he saw the Grunge scene in Washington like the cliques at a school. "You're in high school again," he sings. >>
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Hugh - Berkeley, CA
A seminal period for Nirvana was their 1989 tour of Europe with their Sub Pop labelmates TAD. "School" was the first song in their set, and as Sup Pop co-founder Bruce Pavitt recalls, by the end of the tour Kurt Cobain would "look out in the audience and all he could see were the kind of people who used to beat him up at school."

This was telling, and it led to songs like "In Bloom" where Cobain was singing derisively about the very people who were enjoying his songs. It also showed just how exhausted and disenchanted Cobain had become even before Nirvana signed with Geffen Records and released Nevermind.
Cobain dealt with bullying a lot as a kid, but by the time he got to high school, no one bothered with him because he was so withdrawn. "I was so antisocial that I was almost insane," he told Guitar World. "I felt so different and so crazy that people just left me alone. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had voted me Most Likely To Kill Everyone At A High School Dance."
This was used in the 2009 movie The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll, starring Lukas Haas and Jason Ritter.

Comments: 20

Zero from The Abyss, NjI think this song is great purely for the sound and the emotion Kurt and the band puts in. Technically speaking, it's a really simple song to play and the lyrics are simple and minimal. The main riff is literally 2 notes and the solo is not a good one, like all of Kurt's solos besides SLTS or CAYA or ones that simply recreate the vocal melody, it's a sloppy one made of random notes; I'm not trying to put the Kurt or the song down although it may sound like it, I love the song, and this album; I'm just saying it's really simple and that's fine. I do think that Kurt's music and lyrics got better as time went by and this album was really good, it was just the foundation for what was to come.
Karl from Seattle, WaI prefer this version, I don't like the tuning differences on the live version as much. Chad did a good job on this record as well. He's not Dave, but he didn't need to be. Chad gets hated on because he wasn't Dave, but he was a damned good drummer too.
Logan from Morrison, IlI think this song is just about how when you're in high school you can't wait to get out and become a part of the world and not face the "high school world anymore" but once you graduate you realize the world is no different than the high school life.
Aaron from Westside, Mii think this song is about him never getting a break in his life and how its like school when your teacher tells you you cant have recess. It's like his whole life is about him living in a boring school without a recess.
Gary from Somewhere, Mnthis song owns and its super easy to play too
Lance from Oklahoma City, OkKurt did not write this song about "how he saw the Grunge scene in Washington like the groups at a school." This song was written just before the grunge scene hit mainstream........Hell, even when Soundgarden was gaining early success there was not a grunge scene that was defined enough for Kurt to write this about grunge. Now if they had released this a year or two later, then it would have been questionable.
Joe from Lockport, IlThis song is so much better live cuz Dave is drummming, and he's pretty much heads and tails a much better drummer than Chad was. Too bad he wasn't in the band yet when they recorded this song.
Jon from Oakridge, OrThe live version of this is AWESOME.
Ed from Chodania, Flkurt didn't hate Smells like teen spirit. watch Live! Tonigh! Sold Out! Dave Grohl himself says " its fun to play but for most people its 'the only nirvana song' and thats upsetting" nirvana was SO much more than just SLTS
Rutgen from AntwerpForget teen spirit(what is By the way not their best song(KURT HATED IT)) School is one of the best songs from Nirvana although it has't got a lot of lyrics...I think you can see the song differt from the explanation above(Think about Kurt and how he liked to misguide his fans with his 'open' lyrics)
Matt from Millbrae, CaGod, Fear factory's version of this sucked. They were trying to be all hardcore and tough with the "No recess" line.
Doug from Pittsburgh, PaBleach is my favorite Nirvana album. This song particularly grabs me because of Kurt's amazing vocal performance ("NO RECESS!") and it's totally groovey. When I first heard it, I misheard the lyrics and thought that the bridge was "you're a nice little girl". Haha.... I think this song is a shot against the punk rock regimists like BEAT HAPPENING. They believe in thought control, Kurt Cobain liked bands such as U2 and The Knack but that is forbidden in the DIY regime. Well listen to this, Calvin.
Tom from Bloomington, MnI got Bleach (easily one of the best albums of the past 20 years) and this to me was the highlight of the album, this makes it complete. While it may have only three lines in the whole song repeated over and over, it's so addicting. I had it stuck in my head for about 2 weeks. Also, I think this probably has Kurt's best solo from what I've heard (I have Bleach, Incesticide, Nevermind and In Utero). Proves that he's not a completely lousy guitarist, this solo is pretty raunchy and is the icing on the cake for the song.
Thral from Seatle, Wathis song is great. simply great remides me of my school no recese lol no recese
Matt from Millbrae, CaThe riff sounds cool, but it's real easy to play! Anyway great song. Most people don't know, but if Bleach had gotten proper promotion, it could have taken off.
Alyssa from Sumner, WaIn his journals he made a reference to having to meet a lot of people and get along with them when he was first starting to get record deals and says "it's like highschool again"
Heather from Bristol, Vait's basicaly about school sucking but whats new im in high school and its like a penitentary
-Heather, alone in my world
Luke from Manchester, EnglandCovered by Fear Factory on their latest album 'Archetype'
The Jorge from Hell, Otheryeah i like the fact that kurt cant hit the notes at the end, it shows how much emotion he puts into the song and how real it is while at the same time it seperates him from a lot of artists.
Madison from Redondo, CaI like this song alot

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