I can't sleep when I think about the times we're living in
I can't sleep when I think about the future I was born into
Outsiders dressed up like Sunday morning
With no Berlin wall what the hell you gonna do

It's a new year, I'm glad to be here
It's a fresh spring, so let's sing
In 2080 I'll surely be dead
So don't look ahead, ever look ahead
It's a new year, I'm glad to be here
It's a fresh spring, so let's sing
And the moon shines bright on the water tonight
So we won't drown in the summer sound

If you find me I'll be sitting by the water fountain
Picket signs, letdowns, meltdown on Monday morning
But it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright
It's alright
Cause in no time, they'll be gone, I guess I'll still be standing here

It's a new year, I'm glad to be here
It's a fresh spring, so let's sing
In 2080 I'll surely be dead
So don't look ahead, ever look ahead
It's a new year, I'm glad to be here
It's a fresh spring, so let's sing
And the moon shines bright on the water tonight
So we won't drown in the summer sound

Yeah, yeah, we can all grab at the chance to be handsome farmers
Yeah you can have twenty-one sons and be blood when they marry my daughters
And the pain that we left at the station will stay in a jar behind us
We can pickle the pain into blue ribbon winners at county contests

It's a new year, I'm glad to be here
It's a fresh spring, so let's sing
In 2080 I'll surely be dead
So don't look ahead, ever look ahead
It's a new year, I'm glad to be here
It's a fresh spring, so let's sing
And the moon shines bright on the water tonight
So we won't drown in the summer sound

Yeah, yeah, we can all grab at the chance to be handsome farmers
Yeah you can have twenty-one sons and be blood when they marry my daughters
And the pain that we left at the station will stay in a jar behind us
We can pickle the pain into blue ribbon winners at county contests



Lyrics submitted by zumpiez

Track duration: 05:23

"2080" as written by Christopher E Keating, Anand Mathew Wilder, Ira Wolf Tuton

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


2080 song meanings
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36 Comments

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  • 0
    My Opinion:I am a total cynic and so my interpretation is cynical. This song is about apathetic, vaguely unsatified, fearful people who would rather bury their heads in the sand then do something NOW about the terrible state that the world is in. It speaks to money and spending that money to live the idyllic 1950s lifestyle,using precious resources and populating the earth with children who will have nothing left in the future. All of those uncomfortable feelings - outsiders, pickets, meltdowns - become bearable if we don't look TOO closely. There is nothing joyful about this song, unless the old adage, ignorance is bliss, is true. Reminds me of Modest Mouse's "We've Got Everything". Love this song BTW.
    Flag caw013on January 03, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is basically about the state the world is in.
    It is referencing everything from war, to global warming; "With no Berlin wall what the hell you gonna do..." The singer is probably speaking about how everything is being destroyed.
    "Cause in no time, they'll be gone, I guess I'll still be standing here" could quite easily be talking about how we as people let everything that is wrong in the world, happen.
    However, there is an undertone of joy as; "Yeah, yeah, we can all grab at the chance to be handsome farmers, Yeah you can have twenty-one sons and be blood when they marry my daughters;" the lyrics could potentially be speaking about the joining of families through partnerships such as marrage. I think the line also referneces the fact that our time in this way of life, which is somehwhat careless as it stands, is limited and therefore refers to people as; "farmers," due to that way of life being a distant memory in the lives of our ancestors. Those times were also regarded as a; "simpler way of life and therefore paralells what we have created, or indeed, destroyed. This therefore is then put into a perspective we could better undertsnad.


    Sorry abou the length; i was just suprised at the array of answers as this seemed obvious to me, in the snese I didn't think many others would interporate differently.

    now it's 2:23, my grammar's getting terrible.
    :]
    Flag noecommenton February 16, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I was really hoping the lyrics would go "It's a New Year, and it left me here". Oh well.
    Flag Joshjosson December 25, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song makes me think of Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood. In the book, there's this group of hippies who live in communes and hope to create a better world after society collapses. They keep singing even as the world ends around them. I don't think there's any actual connection there... just my personal association.

    Good song, anyways.
    Flag Tamarackon December 15, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i know this.....kurt vonnegut once said "the year was 2081, and everyone was finally equal"
    ...take what you will form that but I believe he is stating he knows the things he strives for, socially, will always be just out of grasp (whatever they may be)
    Flag derekjw203on August 25, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Wow, on both parts, the epicness and refrain of the song and the upilifting,breath of fresh air, interpretations on behalf of the fellow listeners part. I usually only lurk within this sight and sadly am disapointed when slapped in the face with the pathetic, just "miss the point", perspectives on great songs when me and my firends wish to address the probability of what the chance might be that people are getting the same thing we are out of the music. Although, that is not the case here. Thank you.
    Flag desidiosusinsurgoon June 13, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:2080 is the amount of total work hours in a year if you work the standard 40 hour work week in America.

    Just sayin'....
    Flag obsidoxon April 01, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I LOVE THIS SONG!!! IN MY TOP 10 EVER
    Flag cookieodoon February 05, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:To me, this song could be about like... someone's status as almost as permanent observer of the world, which results in his wistful musings on returning to a simpler (though, as others noted, really more complicated) way of life.

    I think both verses are references to the conflicts that humans are prone too, which are primarily artificial in modern times, particularly in industrialized nations where resource distribution issues are completely unnecessary. The third and fourth lines in the first verse, "Outsiders dressed up like Sunday morning - With no Berlin wall what the hell you gonna do" stress that two of the main sources of modern conflict, religion and war, are absolutely absurd to him (if we accept that he can't sleep because he's worried, or stressed, or simply unable to comprehend... Squeegy brought up that sometimes people can't sleep because they are excited, but this doesn't make much sense with the rest of the verse, or the second verse).

    But with the chorus, he acknowledges that this world IS beautiful, this life is amazing, and brutally short, so he will enjoy it. He lets this world envelope him, he is taken in by it... he is trying to enjoy all different aspects of life, the visual, the audio, the emotional. The moon draws attention so that he simply isn't drowned by the "summer sound" (how easy is it to fall asleep listening to those wonderful sounds?). But even here, the wanting to not drown acknowledges, to some degree, that we can't just drift...

    The second verse reinforces his permanence (even if it is just in his state of mind) against the impermanence of everyone else. Those who protest, those who are disappointed, those who simply cannot handle it-- they come and go, while he stays, waits, and watches. Is this his acceptance? They move on, while he does not... are they moving on to other sources of stress, while he is working on his understanding?

    It's hard to tell if there's actually criticism of these people in this verse. Is he just noting their existence, is he asking something of them? I can't tell.

    The lines about farmers do seem to indicate some sort of return to a pre-industrial, dense urban living. But there are negative connotations with this (for most people at least), and he is acknowledging this with the lines of "twenty-one sons" (unless this is very specifically referring to something I am unaware of), as in a family that large people will be emotionally drained and won't have the resources to continue, given the world population.

    It's like he's saying, "There are so many damned problems in this world, but I love my life and the beauty of everything around us. Is there not some way we can return to some of the simpler aspects, while retaining the benefits of modern technologies?" (that last part may be inherent in the with the "twenty-one sons" thing)

    He just watches, and tries to understand, and wishes for a better way.

    Flag ReMiXinon January 13, 2010   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:Sometimes people can't sleep because they are excited, rather than worried. I think it is two sides to the same coin, to both be excited and afraid of the future. The future will be both wonderful and horrible - that's the way things are. And he didn't ask for this future - he was born into it.
    Maybe it's tongue in cheek, but maybe there is something about this new year that he is glad to be here about... Damn, he is at least happy to leave his pain behind...
    Flagged Squeegyon November 04, 2009   Link

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