We Don’t Need No Education

Pink Floyd’s massive 1979 hit(1), “Another Brick in the the Wall, Part 2,” annoyed(2) a
generation of teachers as children chanted(3): “We don’t need no education.” The
band Pink Floyd had originally been formed in the 1960s when its members were
architecture students, so it’s not as if they weren’t educated(4) themselves. Surely
they ought to know better(5): English does not use double negatives.

So why did Pink Floyd get it “wrong?” Probably, it was a deliberate grammatical
error, an ironic comment on the failure of the education system. Also, it sounds
better. It’s hard to imagine millions of children singing: “We don’t need any
education.”

More importantly, the dialects that use this alternative grammar are cool(6). In
Standard English (often called Queen’s English or Received Pronunciation), we only
use a double negative for a positive meaning. If I say, “Don’t just say nothing,” I
am making an emphatic request: “Please say something!”

But in less privileged dialects across the UK and US, the double negative has always
been common. It is just one of the non-standard features(7) of many regional
dialects characteristic of the working classes of Britain and America.

I got the blues

So how, in the twentieth century, has this alternative grammar become the
language of song-writing? The slaves of the Deep South in the United States mixed
working-class language with creole influences. When the church bands of New
Orleans started improvising jazz, they used the language of the old spirituals, the
songs that slaves had sung in order to survive. Ever since, the language of black
America, oppressed but vibrant, has dominated popular music.

Sam Phillips, the man who discovered Elvis Presley in Memphis, Tennessee, was
“looking for a white boy who sounded black,” when he found him. The Beatles
spoke with English accents, but sang as if they were from the Mississippi Delta. Pink
Floyd’s name comes from two old blues singers from Georgia, Pink Anderson and
Floyd Council. Rap and hiphop use the slang of city streets – the language of
minorities and therefore of protest. It’s alternative. It’s rebellious. And it sounds
good(8).

So a strange phenomenon has occurred(9). In the past, the middle classes tried to
speak Received Pronunciation, to improve their social standing. Nowadays, this
snobbery has become inverted. The language of the ruling classes is frowned
upon(10). Rock music instead aligns itself with the common man(11) against privilege.
Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones led the way by dropping his middle class tones(12)
for a cool Cockney accent. Ever since, pop stars have tried not to sound
unfashionably posh(13).

You wanna? You gotta!

Why did the Beatles write “I wanna hold your hand” instead of “I want to…”? It’s
smoother(14), it’s conversational, it’s the language of young people. Oasis too used
contractions in “You Gotta Roll With It.” Prince anticipated e-mail and text
messaging(15) by shortening his song titles: “Nothing Compares 2 U(16).”
The most obvious alternative word is “ain’t,” the convenient negative of the whole
present tense of “am” and “have.” Today it is considered ungrammatical, even if it
was once common in aristocratic speech. Elvis sang “You Ain’t Nothing But A Hound
Dog(17).” In Roger Miller’s country hit, “King of the Road,” he sings, “I ain’t got no
cigarettes.” Why? Because “I haven’t got any cigarettes” just wouldn’t sound right.

Elvis also sang the classic, “You Done Me Wrong.” Anyone could tell he’s making a
mistake. It should be “You did me wrong” or “You’ve done me wrong.” Yet many
native English speakers frequently make such “errors.” Scottish footballers tend to
say, “He’s took the ball, he’s ran up the pitch (18), and he’s went and scored(19).”
Haven’t they confused the past participles (taken, run, gone) with the past simple
forms? Well, yes – in Standard English.

The grammar problem

Songwriters, from Pink Floyd to Eminem, are often blamed for spreading (20) bad
language and poor grammar among today’s young people.

Yet grammar receives little attention in schools, while spelling is constantly tested.
Ask a Brit about the present perfect and they will think you are talking about
Christmas gifts. Phrasal verbs and countable nouns are a mystery to us.

Meanwhile, access to alternative accents and dialects is increasing. When, in the

1980s, Robert McCrum, William Cran and Robert McNeil were preparing their BBC
television series (and, subsequently, best-selling book), The Story of English, they
were amazed to find young English girls using the latest black American slang.

Nowadays children learn not only from parents and teachers, but from music, films
and the internet.

Variety

Perhaps such diversity is a good thing. Johnny Darlington, who teaches at the
School of Oriental and African Studies in London, says, “Dialects are not good or
bad – just different from one another. It is the mark of a civilised society that it
tolerates different dialects, just as it tolerates different races, sexes and religions.”

Maybe it’s time to stop worrying. It’s hard to imagine the shock when the Rolling
Stones released “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” – less over Mick Jagger’s gyrating
hips(21) than a well-educated English boy using a double negative. But would Mick
Jagger have created the same sensation if he had sung, “I can’t get any
satisfaction”? Perhaps not. Such songs have changed the way we think. We’re
happy for our children to sing along with “You Ain’t Never Had (22) a Friend Like Me”
(Aladdin) and “Wouldn’t Have Nothing(23) If I Didn’t Have You” (Monsters Inc).

Jazz, rock and rap have changed the way we regard dialects. Alternative grammar
is not just acceptable but cool. Maybe we don’t need no education after all.