Ode to Schoolhouse Rock

Ever have one of those moments where a song just pops into your head out of the blue? I do–constantly. Sometimes it’s annoying. Today, it was completely awesome.

I have no idea what I was thinking, but suddenly “Conjunction Junction” from Schoolhouse Rock popped into my head. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then you were definitely born after 1985 and are not my son (who watched them all on VHS, because I couldn’t bear for him to grow up without seeing them. )

Schoolhouse Rock was this cool little “intermission” between episodes of other shows. It would be on for about 3-5 minutes and would feature these awesome songs that were both super catchy and incredibly educational. At the time, I didn’t realize that I was learning things that would stick with me forever, such as what a conjunction is and how to use it. Even better, they were accompanied by an amazing soundtrack and incredible vocals (thanks to Bob Dorough–so badass. I just looked him up. He’s still alive, at 92. That made me very happy to learn.).

Check this out:

Schoolhouse Rock also helped me memorize the entire preamble to the Constitution. How’s that for educational? And the cool part was, I loved it. How many kids do you know born after 1985 that can remember the whole preamble? (See below. You might memorize it, too, after you hear this.)

So, once I got started on this little jag today, I kept remembering other great Schoolhouse Rock episodes, like “I’m Just a Bill,” also sung by Bob Dorough (he sounds so much like BB King…love him!). As a result, I knew all about how laws were passed before I ever heard one word about it in school. Not only that, I learned about congressional gridlock! Very relevant, indeed. I know you’re *dying* to watch that one, too, so I’ll save you the trouble of looking it up. I’m accommodating like that.

(I promise this is the last one I’ll post! I just can’t help sharing these.)

If you talk to anyone from my generation (X), I guarantee they learned about their multiplication tables, interjections, and even the electoral college (!) from Schoolhouse Rock. I bet they can sing a bunch of them, too.

I haven’t been in a classroom in a hot minute, but I wonder if kids these days have anything as cool and memorable as Schoolhouse Rock. Music is definitely one of the very best ways to learn anything. Great music is even better.

What a sweet trip down memory lane. I’m going to be singing “Conjunction Junction” for the rest of the day. Yeah, I know…I’ll drive everyone around me crazy. But that will just give them the opportunity to prove how well they know how to use interjections.