Music Review: Kim Wilde "Schoolgirl"

Schoolgirl
Album: Another Step
Year: 1986

Kim Wilde wishes the best for her young niece in the toothsome "Schoolgirl."

Blissful guitars and synthesizers imitating steel drums open the single, creating a superior tone.
Wilde "whoa, oh's" and then starts the first verse. She has watched her niece learn how to walk and talk. Now, she's finally entering her first year of elementary school. She hopes her niece will forever see the world through her innocent eyes.

"It's something else to see the way you're growing/From a sweet little baby to a grown up girl/And I pray though darlin' I've no way to knowing/That you'll discover a beautiful world."

When Wilde picks her up from school, she asks her niece what she did learn. She asks her niece what she wants to be when she grows up. Her niece answers many things: a vet, a princess, and a lawyer! Wilde laughs and says to her that everyone in her family can't wait to find out, either.

"As you skip down the street/And hold your books so tightly/Tell me what are you learning in your ABC/Are you dreaming off all the many things you might be/You know that we're just waiting to see."

In the chorus, Wilde says she is driven to better herself each time she sees her niece. Her niece has her entire life right in front of her and she's filled with potential.

"Schoolgirl/You're such an inspiration/Schoolgirl/And you're as fresh as the breeze/You've got the whole world/Just waiting for you/You're really something, something to see."

Wilde tells the her there will be terrible days in her life. She will get in trouble for something she may not have did. She may get a failing grade. Eventually, it will try to disillusion her. Wilde says life doesn't have to be cruel and miserable. Despite some rough spots, the world is still capable of being kind.

"It's easy to worry in a world of trouble/When there's nothing but bad news/Trying to bring you down/But life doesn't have to be an uphill struggle/There's still some wonderful things to be found."

After the chorus, Wilde adlibs "did doo did did" with the fake steel drums. A choir joins her for the bridge as she says adults have a lot of emotional baggage. They've been scarred from past events in their lives. Every day, it seems like the world picks itself back up again, only to destroy itself later. She notes that it isn't right.

"There is sadness and confusion in our hearts/And the world prepares to fight/
As it tears itself apart - it isn't fair."

The synthesizers (now, actually synthesizers) roll by in anticipation. Then, a reflective acoustic guitar has a short solo.

The chorus is sung three times to end the single.

"Schoolgirl," while well-intentioned, is spurious. Naturally, she wants her niece to remain innocent as long as she can. However, it's as though Wilde wants to hide her from anything negative. Unfortunately, Wilde doesn't even believe what she's saying herself.

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