I know I do not like Disney songs, but these are great. In the 1970s and 1980s these were between the ABC shows targeted at children. The creators assumed that no one really cared about them, but when their viewers grew up they learned their viewers actually often only watched the shows for the songs between them, and they were released to video where I saw them.
Number 10: I’m Just a Bill
Here is an iconic song about the government that is sometimes use in college to explain it. Besides that it has an easy to root for protagonist an audience surrogate. The congressmen are funny, and it is very catchy.
Number 9:Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla (The Pronoun song)
For the most part this song is just really funny.
Oddly they play this song in the VHS before the noun song, despite mentioning nouns many times here. Still it also has some really good visuals like them all getting on the bus.
Number 8: Naughty Number Nine
Sadly, I cannot honestly call this the ninth best song. Unlike “I’m Just a Bill” this has a villain protagonist that we keep waiting to see the mouse have the last laugh, and it finally happens at the end when he escapes, after it looks like the segment is already over. He went through so much pain, and it shows a small victory can be all that is needed, while still helping me learn nines better.
7. No More Kings
As a history major I have known since second grade there are some historical inaccuracies in here, but this song and realizing the inaccuracies helped me remember them. Besides that it has the revolution, but focused more on gathering the troops than fighting (more on that later), and why they decided to fight.
6. Victim of Gravity
This song is always great for a laugh with how many problems the protagonist has, and it is great. The visuals are good for both humor and what the world would be without gravity.
Again the humor really makes this song.
5. My Hero Zero
I know I have heard this analogy a few times, but this is the best discussion of zero as a super hero. It did not really teach me anything except for cavemen using math, but it has such great music, and super thin necks (look at him above).
4. Telegraph Line
I do not think many other fans like this as much as I do. It has a very catchy chorus, and the verses tell a clear story that unlike “Victim of Gravity” has a clearly happy ending from the nervous system. I think this is the most educational video in Science Rock, even if it is dated.
3. Interjections
This is the funniest School House Rock song. It is one funny and unexpected visual and interjection after another.
2. Shot Heard ‘Round the World
This one is about The Revolutionary War. Obviously it is exciting, and with the exception of parts of the Bunker Hill part is very accurate with a romanticized view for America. It will keep the audience remembering some major parts like France entering the war, Yorktown, Bunker Hill, The Old North Bridge, and crossing the Delaware.
1. Tyrannosaurus Debt
I do not think this is many other people’s favorite song. Money Rock is not too popular, but every Schoolhouse Rock fan has something in it they enjoy like “This for That,” or “Where the Money Goes.” This is the song that made me keep playing this video over and over as a nine year old trying to understand the national debt. It was not until I looked through some fifth grade textbooks I found another source talking about it, so I had previously assumed that being the world’s largest economy the US was debt free. Now I knew they had a debt of over five trillion dollars (now we wish it was that small). I watched it over and over to see if the ending was talking about it starting to shrink or just hope for the future. This is their most educational video and the scariest one.
Schoolhouse Rock are some of the only music videos I enjoy, as they knew to entertain and then education could come. Besides nostalgia they are fun to watch and remember how much edutainment they had.
The Animation Historian 