Am  G  F  C


[Verse 1]
  Am
I wasn't taught how to get a job
    G
But I can remember dissecting a frog
  F
I wasn't taught how to pay tax
C
 But I know loads about Shakespeare's classics
Am
I was never taught how to vote
             G
They devoted that time to defining isotopes
         F
I wasn't taught how to look after my health
         C
But mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell


[Verse 2]
Am
Never spent a lesson on current events
  G
Instead I studied The Old American West
F
I was never taught what laws there are
C
I was never taught what laws there are
         Am                                               G
Let me repeat—I was not taught the laws for the country I live in

But I know how Henry the VIII killed his women
  F
Divorced beheaded died, divorced beheaded survived
F
Glad that's in my head instead of financial advice


[Verse 3]
Am
I was shown the wavelengths of different hues of light
    G
But I was never taught my human rights
  F
Apparently there's thirty, do you know them? I don't
        C
Why the hell can't we both recite them by rote?
       Am
I know igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks
      G
Yet I don't know squat about trading stocks
       F
Or how money works at all—where does it come from?
C
How does the thing that motivates the world function?
Am
  Not taught to budget and disperse my earnings
G
I was too busy there rehearsing cursive
       F                                                           C
Didn't learn how much it costs to raise a kid or what an affidavit is

But I spent days on what the quadratic equation is:
Am                                         G
Negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared

Minus 4ac over 2a
         F
That's insane, that's absolutely insane
     C
They made me learn that over basic first aid


[Verse 4]
   Am
Or how to recognize​ the most deadly mental disorders
     G
Or diseases with preventable causes
                F
Or how to buy a house with a mortgage
                            C
If I could afford it 'cause abstract maths was deemed more important
       Am                                          G
Than advice that would literally save thousands of lives
                      F                                                        C
But it's cool, 'cause now I could tell you if the number of unnecessary deaths caused by that choice was prime
      Am
Never taught present-day practical medicines
          G
But I was told what the ancient Hippocratic method is
 F
“I've got a headache, the pain is ceaseless
              C
What should I take?”

Um... maybe try some leeches?
       Am
“Could we discuss domestic abuse and get the facts
   G
Or how to help my depressed friend with their mental state?”
F
Um... no, but learn mental maths
             C
Because “you won't have a calculator with you every day!”
     Am
They say it's not the kids, the parents are the problem
     G
Then if you taught the kids to parent that's the problem solved then!
F
 All this advice about using a condom
    C
But none for when you actually have a kid when you want one
    Am
I'm only fluent in this language, for serious?
    G
The rest of the world speaks two, do you think I'm an idiot?
 F
They chose the solar over the political system
          C
So like a typical citizen now I don't know what I'm voting on
Am
  Which policies exist, or how to make them change
     G
Mais oui, je parle un peu de Francais
      F
So at 18, I was expected to elect a representative
      C
For a system I had never ever ever been presented with


[Chorus]
Am
  But I won't take it
          G
I'll tell everyone my childhood was wasted
              F
I'll share it everywhere how I was “educated”
      C                                         Am
And insist these pointless things don't stay in school


[Outro]
G  F  C
Am  G  F  C