High School Never Ends - Main Version - Explicit

In this song, the band states that even after high school ends, life doesn't really change. While many times the biggest losers in high school turn out to have the most success in life, the superficial concerns and pack mentality continue on for some time, which can be frustrating for someone looking for something more in the real world. The concept that "high school never really ends" is a belief that people don't really change, that those who are privileged and popular tend to stay that way while traits like intelligence and kindness are not properly valued.

Bowling For Soup lead singer Jaret Reddick writes their songs and runs the band. Many of his best songs come very quickly, but this one took a while. When Songfacts spoke with Jaret in 2010, he explained: "'High School Never Ends' was a two-day process, because it was me and Adam Schlesinger from Fountains of Wayne sitting in a room trying to combine two ideas into one. He really wanted to do a song about tabloids and stuff like that, and I really wanted it to be more. I had the 'high school never ends' line for a couple of years, and I wanted it to be more about life. And so the idea was, Okay, let's combine those things. And I think we were successful at it. But again, his mind works completely different than mine, so it took a couple of days."

Like much of Bowling for Soup's output, this is a fun, goofy song, but to some people it really hits home. Reddick explains that while he now has a wonderful family and a successful band, he draws from the turmoil and pain of his youth for inspiration in writing songs, and many of these songs affect young people. Said Jaret: "Sometimes it can be a funny song that just hits some sort of a chord with somebody. It can be really anything, but most definitely the ones when I write about being young. Even 'High School Never Ends,' for example. I'll get kids that are like, 'I just want to get out of here!' I understand what you're saying."