"We Rule the School" as written by and Murdoch/colburn/cooke/geddes/jackson/campbell....
On a beech tree rudely carved
Nc was here
Why did she do it?
Was she scared or sad?
On a beech tree rudely carved
Nc loved me
Why did she do it?
Was she bored, or pushed
Do something pretty while you can
Don't be a fool
Reading the gospel to yourself is fine
Do something pretty while you can
Don't be afraid
Skating a pirouette on ice is cool
On a bus stop in the town
"We rule the school"
Written for everyone to see and read
On a bus stop in the town
"We rule the school"
Written for everyone with eyes in their head
Do something pretty while you can
Don't fall asleep
Driving from California to new york
Call me a prophet if you like
It's no secret
You know the world is made for men
You know the world is made for men
You know the world is made for men
Not us
Nc was here
Why did she do it?
Was she scared or sad?
On a beech tree rudely carved
Nc loved me
Why did she do it?
Was she bored, or pushed
Do something pretty while you can
Don't be a fool
Reading the gospel to yourself is fine
Do something pretty while you can
Don't be afraid
Skating a pirouette on ice is cool
On a bus stop in the town
"We rule the school"
Written for everyone to see and read
On a bus stop in the town
"We rule the school"
Written for everyone with eyes in their head
Do something pretty while you can
Don't fall asleep
Driving from California to new york
Call me a prophet if you like
It's no secret
You know the world is made for men
You know the world is made for men
You know the world is made for men
Not us
Lyrics submitted by girlboyrevolt, edited by fathousefly, adngai, zarageorge, olivia1051
"We Rule the School" as written by Isobel Campbell Christopher Geddes
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Love this song.
The song is about leaving your impression on the world. The reflective lines at the beginning seem to be incredibly moving without even meaning to be. The listener, as well as Murdoch himself, wonders who "NC" is. As "NC" is no-one in the band (I base this on the fact that no band members have these initials), this impression in a tree is supposedly unrelated to Murdoch; he is simply viewing it and wondering the history behind it. This appears to inspire some sense profundity in Murdoch, as he decides to write a song telling us to replicate this and make our mark on the world ourselves.
One of Belle and Sebastian's greatest songs - Tigermilk, If You're Feeling Sinister, and The Boy With the Arab Strap are, in my opinion, their greatest albums. I wished they still wrote songs like that!
I think that's what the song suggests. Live. Leave a mark that only makes sense to you. Be good later, you're free and young and can do beautiful things with that.
Suicide is presented in the first to stanzas - the difficulties of an artistic/sensitive person dealing with an often cruel, selfish world. The line "was she pushed?" sets up the song for this tension with other types of people who are thicker-skinned and less reflective/artistic.
The next two stanzas are about having the courage to be yourself - to do things even if you don't fit in with others.
"We Rule the School" on the bus stop was metaphorically written by men - those without sensitivity who grab what they please.
The last stanza is self-explanatory.
As always, just my opinion.
And then
"Was she scared? Was she pushed?" Not "was she scared, or sad" and "was she bored or pushed"
Also, the skating a pirouette on ice and the gospel verses should be reversed. (Skating comes first in the song.)