School's Out for the Summer

Scan the radio long enough and you’ll hear it this time of year. A song written and sung by someone named Alice Cooper, who for the record, is a guy. I heard “School’s Out For the Summer” on the radio the other day and later saw Alice performing it on television. The song debuted in 1972 and I remember it well. Having successfully conquered second grade, it was time to cut loose. Don’t get me wrong. I liked school and didn’t complain about going. But there’s something about that last day. Ah, free at last. Every year of my youth it was the same story on that exhilarating first day of summer. Incidentally, every kid knows the first day of summer is not June 21. It’s the first weekday that there is no school. On that day- after sleeping late- my brother and I were transported to the local hangout in my hometown of Cherryville and told we would be picked up sometime in mid-August. (Only a slight exaggeration.) That hangout was called Club Carolina and it had everything. Baseball field, playground, putt-putt, shuffleboard, basketball, tetherball, ping-pong, horseshoes, snack machines, and a huge swimming pool with a high dive. There were very few adults around. Most of the lifeguards were teenagers and the majority of kids were dropped off by their parents. Couldn’t get away with that today, but things went remarkably smooth now that I think about it. The few adults in charge did an incredible job running and managing the place. The first day of summer vacation was the best. We exited the car, bade Mom farewell and sprinted to the main attraction. No, not the swimming pool with the high dive. The coveted object of our affection on that first day was the jukebox. And the day’s star was Alice Cooper. It would cost you a Snickers bar later in the day, but for a dime, you could press the magic buttons that allowed Alice to remind everyone present that there were “no more pencils, no more books, no more teachers’ dirty looks. School’s out forever!” Exaggerated and over the top, but sentimental nonetheless. And glorious. Alice himself claims that the most exciting three minutes in a child’s year are the three minutes before he goes to the tree on Christmas morning and the last three minutes of the last day of school. Euphoric. . . but temporal. Within a week or two, the lyrics of “School’s Out” became less and less prevalent on the jukebox as kids began saving their dimes for chocolate. By July 4, Alice and his song were obsolete. By the beginning of August, we realized Alice had lied to us. School was not out forever. It was about to crank up again. And though we would never admit it to our friends, we were actually relieved. Like the song, sleeping late and doing the same flips off the high dive over and over had become monotonous. And if you popped a dime in the jukebox and punched Alice’s number in early August, you were bombarded by the crowd and given an atomic wedgie. Lesson learned. Nothing lasts forever. Except for Alice Cooper’s song, which once every year, has its three minutes of distinction and then is placed back in the vault. Until next June.