For many music enthusiasts, catchy songs come from carefully curated Spotify playlists, but for us, they often originate in the classroom.
Catchy songs come from a variety of classes: from memorizing the Periodic Table of Elements in 5th grade to cramming the Preamble to the Constitution for 8th grade social studies, our experiences with different school songs have varied depending on its tune and content. Here are our reviews of some we learned in school.
Sung in the tune of the nursery rhyme “Pop! Goes the Weasel,” this song is essential to both your well-being and mathematics career. It will most definitely help you remember the “2a” in the denominator in classes from Algebra 1 to AP Calculus BC — both of us admit to playing the tune in our heads during our calculus classes. To put it simply: This is an ultimate classic — one that we can’t get rid of and continues to pay dividends.
Rating: 4/5 Falcons
Featured in the series “Schoolhouse Rock,” this retro song has not withstood the test of time. Honestly, it sounded much better in memory, when we used it to understand exactly how a bill is passed. AP Gov students would probably agree. The singing is often just talking, and when there is a melody, it is frequently out-of-tune. It is just not as catchy as we remembered, and while it does carry accurate information about how a bill is passed, the information has not stuck.
Rating: 2.5/5 Falcons
We were unable to find the original YouTube video that was played in teacher Joshua Marks’ 8th grade Social Studies class in Redwood Middle School — one that was based on the tune of “Ten Little Indians.” While the original song was racist, the adapted Presidents version was an excellent tool to memorize loads of presidents and the order in which they were in charge.
The alternative to Marks’ version we found (linked above) is less catchy but includes all of the presidents’ first names, which is useful to distinguish the Adams, Harrisons, Bushes, Johnsons and Roosevelts. The original Presidents song, though, will allegedly help you win lots of bets in bars when you successfully name all 47 presidents.
Original Song Rating: 5/5 Falcons
New Song Rating: 3/5 Falcons
Another song in the series “Schoolhouse Rock,” this song is often memorized by students in government or social studies classes. We were forced to stand in a circle and sing this in 8th grade, and we must admit, it was memorable. Unlike “I’m Just a Bill,” the Preamble Song is catchy, patriotic and easily one of the best songs of our middle school years. After all, who doesn’t want to form a “more perfect union,” “establish justice” and “ensure domestic tranquility-y-y!”
Rating: 4.5/5 Falcons
Back in 5th grade, Sanyukta was forced to memorize this for a performance at the science fair (she readily agreed to do so). To date, this AsapSCIENCE creation still remains imprinted in her memory and has helped her a LOT on Chemistry Honors tests (with staying unfocused). Sadly, she never properly memorized the last 20 elements — the names were too long and the song raps through them, but regardless, the song is good for memorization and will ensure you’ll never sulfur remembering your ions.
Rating: 5/5 Falcons
In our expert opinions, ASAP Science cooked this up (Get it? Cooking? Pi?). The song uses the instrumentals of a classic — “In the Hall of the Mountain King” by Edvard Grieg — and is accompanied by dramatic graphics. Many have used this song to compete in Pi-digit-naming competitions with varying levels of success. Still, it’s a good tool to use to flex your “math” knowledge on your friends, and again, may win you some bets in bars (according to past teachers).
Rating: 4/5 Falcons
This song might be the most song-like of all of them. It carries a new, unique tune (which might actually be a mashup of many songs from artists like Katy Perry). While it isn’t as catchy, it’s very informative as it includes information about all of the states’ capitals and their critical industries. It’s too much of a bop to be a true memorization song though, so its rating drops a little bit for us.
Rating: 4/5 Falcons
The song recently underwent an update — now it has lengthened the duration of the letter “N” and ruined the childhood memories of millions of students learning English. Still, the original song will forever remain in our hearts. Gen Z is grateful. The new song (as much of the internet has agreed) is terrible — but the old one … well the old one is too perfectly nostalgic to not have a perfect score. On another note (Ha! Get it?), Sanyukta can smoothly recite the alphabet backwards thanks to middle school choir warmups.
Original Song Rating: 5/5 Falcons
New Song Rating: 1/5 Falcons
Elementary and Middle School were very nostalgic times of our lives. Generations of students have used these songs to memorize educational (or random) information, and we take pride in being part of one of those generations.
