"I educated myself. To me, school was boring"
About this Quote
A musician admitting school was boring can sound like a humblebrag, but Van Morrison’s version lands more like a diagnosis: the official pipeline didn’t match the way his mind gathered meaning. “I educated myself” is a quiet flex, yet it’s also defensive. It pre-empts the usual sniffy question aimed at artists who didn’t thrive in classrooms: Are you untrained, unserious, lucky? Morrison answers with a different credentialing system - one built from records, late-night listening, obsessive repetition, and the kind of self-directed apprenticeship that music culture has always respected more than diplomas.
The subtext is less anti-intellectual than anti-institutional. “School” isn’t learning; it’s the administered version of learning: schedules, standardized achievement, someone else deciding what counts. Calling it “boring” isn’t a childish complaint so much as a statement about friction. Boredom here signals misalignment between a rigid curriculum and a kid wired for sensation, rhythm, and the immediate feedback loop of playing, hearing, revising.
Context matters: Morrison comes out of mid-century Belfast, where class, opportunity, and cultural legitimacy weren’t evenly distributed. Self-education becomes both necessity and rebellion, a way to claim agency in a world that sorts people early. The line also reinforces the mythology around singular artists: the idea that real schooling happens off-campus, in the stacks of your own curiosity. It’s a romantic story, but Morrison’s phrasing keeps it blunt enough to feel earned rather than inspirational-poster cute.
The subtext is less anti-intellectual than anti-institutional. “School” isn’t learning; it’s the administered version of learning: schedules, standardized achievement, someone else deciding what counts. Calling it “boring” isn’t a childish complaint so much as a statement about friction. Boredom here signals misalignment between a rigid curriculum and a kid wired for sensation, rhythm, and the immediate feedback loop of playing, hearing, revising.
Context matters: Morrison comes out of mid-century Belfast, where class, opportunity, and cultural legitimacy weren’t evenly distributed. Self-education becomes both necessity and rebellion, a way to claim agency in a world that sorts people early. The line also reinforces the mythology around singular artists: the idea that real schooling happens off-campus, in the stacks of your own curiosity. It’s a romantic story, but Morrison’s phrasing keeps it blunt enough to feel earned rather than inspirational-poster cute.
Quote Details
| Topic | Learning |
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