Tom & Jerry - Hey, Schoolgirl (1957)

“Tom” and “Jerry” had known each other ever since childhood, having grown up just three blocks apart in Queens, New York. While still in elementary school, sixth grade, they were both cast in the Alice in Wonderland school play. Later, they attended Parsons Junior High and Forest Hills High School. In their junior year, 1957, the pair began performing as “Tom & Jerry,” using the record company-appointed stage-names of Tom Graph and Jerry Landis. Although they had been writing songs together as early as 1955, it wasn’t until 1957 that they recorded their first song, heard below, which became a big hit. Dedicated to becoming “rock and roll” singers, the duo tried various aliases and band names, such as Tico & the Triumphs, with only lukewarm success. Upon completing high school, the pair split and went to different colleges, later reuniting in the Greenwich Village scene, having both been infatuated with the growing folk movement. From there, the duo began recording again, but decided to use their real names: Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, from then on known together as Simon & Garfunkel.

Released in 1957, this song was written by both Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel for Sid Prosen at Big Records. Featuring the B-Side “Dancin’ Wild,” the song reached number forty-nine on the charts and sold over one hundred thousand copies. As confirmed by Simon and Garfunkel, and rather apparent from the recording, the duo was heavily influenced at the time by The Everly Brothers. “Tom & Jerry” performed the song on American Bandstand, hosted by Dick Clark, after the rise in its popularity.



Tom & Jerry - Hey, Schoolgirl (1957)

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Lyrics:

Woo, boppa-loocha-bah
You’re mine
I say woo, boppa-loocha-bah
You’re mine

Hey, schoolgirl in the second row
The teacher’s lookin’ over
So I gotta whisper way down low
You say, “woo, boppa-loocha-bah”
“Let’s meet after school at three”

She said, “Hey, baby, there’s a’one thing more”
“School is over at half past four”
“Maybe when we’re older, then we can date”
Ooh, “Let’s wait”

Hey, schoolgirl in the second row
The teacher’s lookin’ over
So I gotta whisper way down low
You say, “woo, boppa-loocha-bah”
“Let’s meet after school at three”

She said, “Hey, babe, I got a lot to do”
“It takes me hours when my homework’s through”
“Someday we’ll go steady, so don’t you fret”
Ooh, “Not yet”

Hey, schoolgirl in the second row
The teacher’s lookin’ over
So I gotta whisper way down low
You say, “woo, boppa-loocha-bah”
“Let’s meet after school at three”

Then she turned around to me with that gleam in her eye
She said, “I’m sorry if I passed you by”
“I’m gonna skip my homework, gonna cut my class”
“Bug out of here real fast”

Hey school girl in the second row
Now we’re goin’ steady
Hear the words that I want you to know
Well it’s, “Woo, boppa-loocha-bah, you’re mine”
I knew it all the time

Woo, boppa-loocha-bah, ah ha, you’re mine
Woo, boppa-loocha-bah, ah ha, you’re mine
Woo, boppa-loocha-bah, ah ha, you’re mine
Woo, boppa-loocha-bah, ah ha, you’re mine
Woo, boppa-loocha-bah, ah ha, you’re mine…