[Intro: New Edition]
Education!
(Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, and Mike)...and Ralph!

[Chorus: New Edition]
S-C-H-O-O-L
You gotta go to school and beat that bell
When the alarm clock wakes—ring, ding dong
We're gonna start our rap about this song

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday...
The weekend's here!

[Verse 1]
[Ralph Tresvant]
Well listen
When I was very young I used to sit around the house
Watching Oil Can Harry battle Mighty Mouse
Until my mother said, "Son, that's not the way to be
You've gotta go to school and learn your ABCs."

[Michael Bivins]
I said, "Is that it, mom?"
She said, "That's not even half
You've gotta go to school, you gotta learn some math
You gotta learn how to count - one, two, three
And then get brushed up on the history."
[Ricky Bell]
My first day of school I'll never forget. My teacher said, "Recite the alphabet."
I said, "A E M, um, L R,"
And as you can see, I didn't get very far

[Ronnie DeVoe]
The teacher said, "Son, there's nothing to it
Before the day's over, you'll learn how to do it
And not only that, you'll learn how to read
And that's one thing in life you'll always need."

[RB] Well, school's not all work; there's fun things to do
[RT] Like gym, lunch, and recess, too
[RD] Kindergarten was easy, it was mostly play
[MB] What I was worried about was elementary

[Chorus: New Edition]
S-C-H-O-O-L
You gotta go to school and beat that bell
When the alarm clock wakes—ring, ding dong
We're gonna start our rap about this song
S-C-H-O-O-L
You gotta go to school and beat that bell
When the alarm clock wakes—ring, ding dong
We're gonna start our rap about this song
[Verse 2]
[RT] Ha! Now it started out wrong, I took another turn
[MB] I didn't want to study, didn't even want to learn
[RB] Didn't want to go to class, I was always late
[RD] Because school became something that I started to hate
[NE] Started hanging with my boys; didn't mean no harm
[RT] We was going around the school pulling fire alarms
[MB] I was a chilly homeboy, yes, I was down
[RB] Because I came to school just to mess around
[RD] I started hanging in the halls, and writing on the walls
[MB] Until I got started playing basketball
[RT] But I didn't have a job so I couldn't get paid
[MB] And I couldn't play ball because of my grades
[RB] But I still used to practice each and every day
[RD] In case the coach decided to let me play
[NE] But it didn't work out the way I planned
[RT] So I ran to a man who said he can understand
[MB] The problems I was going through
[RB] He said, "Son, it's all about going to school."
[NE] So I shut up, and shipped out, turned in my keys
And now I'm moving up to the big leagues: high school!

[Chorus: New Edition]
S-C-H-O-O-L
You gotta go to school and beat that bell
When the alarm clock wakes—ring, ding dong
We're gonna start our rap about this song
S-C-H-O-O-L
You gotta go to school and beat that bell
When the alarm clock wakes—ring, ding dong
We're gonna start our rap about this song
(Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, and Mike)...and Ralph!
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday...
The weekend's here!

[Verse 3]
[RT + MB] So check it out, check check, I'm feeling cool
[RB] 'Cause I was going on to something they call "high school"
[RD] And I'm feeling funny, 'cause things aren't the same
[RT + MB] Wondering why nobody knows my name
[RB + RD] That became something that I started to miss
[RT + MB] And now that I'm here it feels like a big diss
[RT + MB] But anyway, I had to leave, I had something to achieve
[RB + RD] It was singing -YEAH- that's what I wanted to do
[NE + MB] So I got a tutor, because I'm no fool
[RT] Dropping out of school is quite absurd
[NE] And it's up to New Edition to spread the word
Stay in school!

[Outro: New Edition]
S-C-H-O-O-L, you gotta go to school and beat that bell...
S-C-H-O-O-L, you gotta go to school and beat that bell...
(S-C-H-O-O-L...)
S-C-H-O-O-L, you gotta go to school and beat that bell...
(...go to school, beat that bell)
S-C-H-O-O-L, you gotta go to school and beat that bell...
(S-C-H-O-O-L...)
S-C-H-O-O-L, you gotta go to school and beat that bell...
(...go to school, beat that bell)
S-C-H-O-O-L, you gotta go to school and beat that bell...
(S-C-H-O-O-L...go to school, beat that bell)
(Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, and Mike)...and Ralph!
(S-C-H-O-O-L...go to school, beat that bell)
(Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, and Mike)...and Ralph!
(S-C-H-O-O-L...go to school, beat that bell)
(S-C-H-O-O-L...go to school, beat that bell)
(S-C-H-O-O-L...go to school, beat that bell)