I love this song, not only for the beautiful sounding melody, or the fact that it's the introduction to Another Brick in the Wall part 2, but for the message it conveys. Even though this piece of music is quite short, its message rings loud and clear. It seems that Roger Waters is reminding us that in the hell known as public school, the teachers never seemed to give up on making the student's life as difficult as possible.
For example, even though I am a sysadmin by trade, due to an ignorant bastard of an "information technology" teacher being such in my last years of high school, I have no computer-related courses on my transcript. Fortunately, my employers to date have looked through the illusion of education transcripts and hired me based on raw skill.
Mr. Waters continues on to dictate that while these "teachers" have the run of the place at school, when they get home, they are but children themselves. Left to be beaten to death by something they cannot, and never will control. Thus, as time goes along, the teachers get more and more savage as they have to put up with more thrashing. Inside, they regret having made a poor choice through marriage, but they are now bound by vow and force to remain with their horrible choice until the end of their pitiful lives.
They have no option but to take it all out on the helpless children at school. A pathetic existance, indeed.
The last curve ball that Roger throws at us is the title itself. School is supposed to be the happiest time for a child. It is a time where they can discover what they want to do with themselves while they meet friends, participate in fun activities, and get educated. Unfortunately, this modern school system has corrupted itself in that it's now run by a mob of tyrants and dictators not unlike that of Hitler's time. Instead of being the happiest days, they are now the worst days.
Several things were missed in the lyric node above, however:
At the beginning:
*Helicopter flyby FX*
~You! Yes, YOU! Stand still, laddie!~
At the end:
~Ooooooo oooo oo~
~OOOOooo oooo oo~
~Ooooooo oooo oo~
~OOOOooo oooo oo~
~Ooooooo oooo oo~
~OOOOooo oooo oo~
~OOOOOOoooooooo!~
Leading into:
~We don't need no education...~