Between the mean teachers and bullying classmates, school can be a scary place. Now that September has rolled around, it's back-to-school time for kiddies across the land, and that means a new round of stress and anxiety. But as always, rock 'n' roll offers solace. If you're stricken with the back-to-school blues, read this list of 5 Vicious Lyrics About School and rest quietly in the knowledge that you'll probably have a better year than the peeps described in these lines.

  • Death Cab for Cutie

    'I Will Follow You Into the Dark'

    "Catholic school, as vicious as Roman rule / I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black / I held my tongue as she told me, son / Fear is the heart of love, so I never went back"

    If you're jonesin' for a good cry, Death Cab for Cutie is often the way to go. True, those who went to public school probably didn’t have to deal with knuckle-bruisin' nuns, but the many trials and tribulations of school days — whether physical or emotional — are universal, and that gives this tune plenty of sting.

  • The Offspring

    'Come Out and Play'

    "The kids are strappin' on their way to the classroom / Getting weapons with the greatest of ease / The gangs stake out their own campus locale / And if they catch you slippin' then it's all over pal / If one guy's colors and the other's don't mix / They're gonna bash it up bash it up bash it up bash it up…"

    If you're writing about the perils of school, it's harder to go darker than by describing actual classroom violence. The Offspring do just that on 'Come Out and Play,' off of 1994's 'Smash,' reflecting some of the headline-grabbing incidents happening at the time. They also teach a valuable lesson: When you go back-to-school shopping, be mindful of local gang colors.

  • Pearl Jam

    'Jeremy'

    "But we unleashed a lion / Gnashed his teeth/
    And bit the recess lady's breast…"

    As far as music based on classroom violence goes, Pearl Jam's 'Jeremy' is pretty much the twisted Mona Lisa of the genre. Loosely based on the true story of a pupil who committed suicide in front of his classmates, 'Jeremy' still has the power to trigger goosebumps. The video, featuring a crazy-eyed Eddie Vedder, only makes it more chilling.

  • The Smiths

    'The Headmaster Ritual'

    "Sir thwacks you on the knees / knees you in the groin / elbow in the face / bruises bigger than dinner plates I I wanna go home / I don't want to stay."

    Morrissey lays it plain in the very first line: "Belligerent ghouls run Manchester schools." From there, he details just how these sadistic men charged with shaping young minds abuse their powers and strike fear into their pupils' hearts. And as if the brutality weren't bad enough, Moz's headmaster has been rocking "the same old suit since 1962." He's a bastard and a lousy dresser.

  • My Chemical Romance

    'Disenchanted'

    "I spent my high school career / Spit on and shoved to agree"

    You may need a serotonin reuptake inhibitor or two after rocking this My Chemical Romance jam. Or maybe you'll find it strangely uplifting. If you're not being spit on day in and day out, you're having having an easier time of things than Gerard Way ever did.

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