The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Four years, you think for sure
That's all you've got to endure
All the total dicks, all the stuck-up chicks
So superficial, so immature
And then when you graduate
You take a look around and you say, "Hey, wait!"
This is the same as where I just came from
I thought it was over, oh, that's just great
The whole damned world is just as obsessed
With who's the best dressed and who's having sex
Who's got the money, who gets the honeys
Who's kinda cute and who's just a mess
And you still don't have the right look
And you don't have the right friends
Nothing changes but the faces, the names and the trends
High school never ends
Whoa-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, hey
Whoa-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, hey
Check out the popular kids
You'll never guess what Jessica did
And how did Mary-Kate lose all that weight?
And Katie had a baby, so I guess Tom's straight
And the only thing that matters
Is climbing up that social ladder
Still care about your hair and the car you drive
Doesn't matter if you're sixteen or thirty-five
Reese Witherspoon, she's the prom queen
Bill Gates, captain of the chess team
Jack Black, a clown, Brad Pitt, the quarterback
Seen it all before, I want my money back
The whole damned world is just as obsessed
With who's the best dressed and who's having sex
Who's in the club and who's on the drugs
Who's throwing up before they digest
And you still don't have the right look
And you don't have the right friends
And you still listen to the same shit you did back then
High school never ends
Whoa-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
(High school never ends)
The whole damned world is just as obsessed
With who's the best dressed and who's having sex
Who's got the money, who gets the honeys
Who's kinda cute and who's just a mess
And I still don't have the right look
And I still have the same three friends
And I'm pretty much the same as I was back then
High school never ends
Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
High school never ends
Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
High school never ends
Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
And here we go again
Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
That's all you've got to endure
All the total dicks, all the stuck-up chicks
So superficial, so immature
And then when you graduate
You take a look around and you say, "Hey, wait!"
This is the same as where I just came from
I thought it was over, oh, that's just great
The whole damned world is just as obsessed
With who's the best dressed and who's having sex
Who's got the money, who gets the honeys
Who's kinda cute and who's just a mess
And you still don't have the right look
And you don't have the right friends
Nothing changes but the faces, the names and the trends
High school never ends
Whoa-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, hey
Whoa-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, hey
Check out the popular kids
You'll never guess what Jessica did
And how did Mary-Kate lose all that weight?
And Katie had a baby, so I guess Tom's straight
And the only thing that matters
Is climbing up that social ladder
Still care about your hair and the car you drive
Doesn't matter if you're sixteen or thirty-five
Reese Witherspoon, she's the prom queen
Bill Gates, captain of the chess team
Jack Black, a clown, Brad Pitt, the quarterback
Seen it all before, I want my money back
The whole damned world is just as obsessed
With who's the best dressed and who's having sex
Who's in the club and who's on the drugs
Who's throwing up before they digest
And you still don't have the right look
And you don't have the right friends
And you still listen to the same shit you did back then
High school never ends
Whoa-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
(High school never ends)
The whole damned world is just as obsessed
With who's the best dressed and who's having sex
Who's got the money, who gets the honeys
Who's kinda cute and who's just a mess
And I still don't have the right look
And I still have the same three friends
And I'm pretty much the same as I was back then
High school never ends
Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
High school never ends
Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
High school never ends
Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
And here we go again
Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
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This song is great, haha. I still laugh over the Tom line.
The song's pretty much self explanatory, it's about hating high school and wanting to get out, but when you do you realize the whole world is pretty much the same.