10 Best Classic Rock Songs About Teachers

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Teachers have inspired rock artists to write songs filled with admiration, rebellion, humor, discomfort, and unforgettable memories. These 10 selections focus on educators, professors, deans, and the complicated relationships between teachers and students, with songs by The Kinks, The Who, The Police, Jethro Tull, Van Halen, Elton John, and more.

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Our “10 Best Classic Rock Songs About Teachers” article showcases songs that focus on the interaction between teachers and their students. We were careful to ensure that the selections concern teachers rather than school in general. While many songs have been written about school, including Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” and The Beach Boys’ “Be True to Your School,” those songs address education more broadly. For this list, we wanted to focus more closely on teachers, selecting songs in which the subject of education centers specifically on teaching, as you will see in our first selection.

There were many songs to choose from, but we limited these lists to 10 because that is the style of the site. We hope you enjoy this one. If you know of another song that deserves a place or needs a shout-out, let us know.

# 10 – “Education” – The Kinks

We open our “10 Best Classic Rock Songs About Teachers” list with the wonderful Kinks song “Education.” The song was released on The Kinks’ 1975 album Schoolboys in Disgrace. Ray Davies makes many pertinent points about teachers and education when he sings, “Teacher, teach me how to read and write, you can teach me about biology, but you can’t tell me what I am living for, ’cause that’s still a mystery.” The recording featured Ray Davies on vocals and guitar, Dave Davies on guitar and vocals, John Dalton on bass, Mick Avory on drums, and John Gosling on keyboards.

Read More: 10 Most Underrated Kinks Songs

# 9 – “The Dean and I” – 10cc

Continuing with our “10 Best Classic Rock Songs About Teachers” list, we present a song from one of our favorite bands. 10cc’s very realistic song “The Dean and I” tells the story of falling in love with the dean’s daughter at the high school prom, getting married, and, as often happens, watching everything eventually fall apart. The song was released on the band’s self-titled debut album, 10cc. It was written by Lol Creme and Kevin Godley. The original lineup featured on this great tune included Lol Creme, Kevin Godley, Eric Stewart, and Graham Gouldman.

# 8 – “Substitute” – The Who

You could not have a rock song list about teachers without including at least one selection about a substitute. We all remember our substitute teachers and how much fun it was to walk into a classroom and see one of them. For most of us, it meant “game on.” Of course, The Who’s “Substitute” is really about being a substitute in love, not a substitute teacher, but we could not resist the title. I am sure we will hear from people who look only at the headings and do not read a single word before complaining that “Substitute” is not about a teacher. Let’s see who we get.

“Substitute” was originally released by The Who as a single in 1966. It later appeared on the 1971 compilation Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy.

# 7 – “Professor Nutbutter’s House of Treats” – Primus

This one is completely insane, and that is probably why we love it. Yes, it is a song about a teacher, specifically a professor. However, it is not about what the professor does in school; it is about all the wonderful candies he makes in his “House of Treats.” Are they really talking about candy? Probably not, but nothing in the lyrics explicitly says it is not about candy. And who does not love the name Professor Nutbutter? Are we missing something here? Most definitely. If you can figure it out, let us know. In the end, though, it is simply an awesome song. This band is crazy good.

Read More: Top 10 Primus Songs

# 6 – “Teacher, Teacher” – 38 Special

If there is one song that is definitely about teachers and can be easily proven, it would be 38 Special’s “Teacher, Teacher.” This was the theme song for the 1984 film Teachers, which starred Nick Nolte, JoBeth Williams, Ralph Macchio, and Judd Hirsch. It was actually a pretty good movie that has somewhat disappeared. Nonetheless, this is a great rock and roll tune from a great rock band that enjoyed its biggest success during the early to mid-1980s with a string of major hits.

Read More: 10 Essential 38 Special Songs

# 5 – “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” – The Police

At the halfway point on our “10 Best Classic Rock Songs About Teachers” list, we turn to the memorable Police song “Don’t Stand So Close to Me.” Many of us have probably seen the video hundreds of times, so we know what it’s about. The lyrics also spell it out clearly. The song was originally released on the band’s third album, Zenyatta Mondatta. It was issued as the lead single and reached number 1 in the United Kingdom. The recording also earned The Police a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

Read More: 10 Most Underrated Police Songs

# 4 – “Teacher” – Jethro Tull

It would be fair to say that Jethro Tull’s “Teacher” is one of the most loved songs in the band’s catalog. That opening bass line is just smoking. The way it dances with Martin Barre’s guitar riff is incredibly captivating. “Teacher” was released as the B-side of “The Witch’s Promise” and appeared on the US edition of Jethro Tull’s third album, Benefit. At the time, the band consisted of Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, Glenn Cornick, and Clive Bunker. Like many classic B-sides, the song developed a life of its own. Nowadays, it seems more people should pay attention to Anderson’s words when he sang, “Jump up, look around, find yourself some fun. No sense in sitting there hating everyone.”

# 3 – “Teacher Teacher” – Rockpile

Everyone needs a little Rockpile in their life. It is sad that the band released only one album, but what a great record it was. Of course, we also have all the music Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe gave us during their solo careers, so there is plenty of great material by these two brilliant musicians. “Teacher Teacher” was released on the 1980 album Seconds of Pleasure. Rockpile consisted of Billy Bremner, Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, and Terry Williams. “Teacher Teacher” was the lead single from the album. It was also featured in the film Bad Teacher, starring Cameron Diaz.

Read More: Top 10 Dave Edmunds Songs

# 2 – “Hot for Teacher” – Van Halen

It was a real heavyweight fight between Van Halen and Elton John for the number one spot on our list of songs related to teachers. Both songs are incredible. In the end, we gave the top spot to Elton John simply because he had been around longer. Hey, we needed some sort of criteria. If you have read many of our Van Halen articles, you have seen that we always place “Hot for Teacher” high on our lists. It is pretty much our favorite Van Halen song of all time. That video is spectacular.

For those who may not be up on their Van Halen history, “Hot for Teacher” was released on the album 1984, which appropriately came out in 1984. It was the final Van Halen studio album featuring David Lee Roth before his initial departure for a solo career. Diamond Dave returned many years later for A Different Kind of Truth.

Read More: Top 10 Van Halen Songs

# 1 – “Teacher I Need You” – Elton John

We close our list of 10 classic rock songs about teachers with Elton John’s superb track “Teacher I Need You.” With magnificent lyrics by Bernie Taupin and music by Elton John, “Teacher I Need You” stands out as one of the best tracks on the marvelous album Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player. It is amazing that a song this good was never released as a single. But that is the story with Elton John. There are so many great songs buried on his 1970s albums that never saw the light of day as singles because he kept releasing music at a breakneck pace. Ask any Elton John fan to name a favorite song from Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player, and “Teacher I Need You” will be right up there with “Blues for Baby and Me.”