School Is Out
Gary "U.S." Bonds
(written by Anderson, Barge, Guida and Royster--
Anderson was Bonds' real name)
(see more notes below)
A-one, a-two, a-one two three four
No more books and studies
And I can stay out late with my buddies
I can do the things that I want to do
'Cause all my exams are through
I can root for the Yankees from the bleachers
And don't have to worry 'bout teachers
I'm so glad that school is out
I could sing and shout!
CHORUS:
(School is out)
Everybody's gonna have some fun
(School is out)
Everybody's gonna jump and run
(School is out)
Come on people don't you be late
(School is out)
I just got time to take my girl out on a date
School is out at last
And I'm so glad I passed
So everybody come and go with me
We're gonna have a night with Daddy G
Go Daddy!!
(Sax solo, including the words:)
That's great!
Let's celebrate!
With a little bit of soul now!
Oh yeah!
The party's here!
CHORUS
(Sax solo)
Fade on chorus
------
One of my favorite themes of top 40 music is the concept of the "sound-alike"
follow-up to a big hit. Gary "U.S." Bonds was the king of this in 1961. His
first hit was "Quarter To Three" which was based on an earlier instrumental
tune by his band, "A Night With Daddy G" by The Church Street Five (both of
which are mentioned in the words to the song). He then followed this up with
"School Is Out" which also mentioned a night with Daddy G and had the same
"a-1-2-3-4" countdown intro. The natural follow-up was then released,
"School Is In", which was the third hit in a row to have the shout, "Go
Daddy!" right before the sax solo by Gene "Daddy G" Barge (as well as
"a-1-2-3-4", again). Funny--"School is Out" was released in late summer
1961, long after school let out for vacation, and was still going strong on
the charts well into September when "School Is In" was released (but it
didn't peak on the charts till later in the fall, long after school was back
in session). The final song in this Gary "U. S." Bonds progression didn't
have anything to do with Daddy G or school, but it did take advantage of the
late fall of 1961's nationwide fad, the twist. "Dear Lady Twist" had
essentially the same chords and tune as "School Is In."
