The world is spinning too fast,
And I'm buying Nike shoes
To keep myself tethered
To the days I tried to lose.
My mamma said to slow down,
I must make my own shoes
And stop dancing to the music
Of Gorillaz in a happy mood
Keepin' my groove on

[Chorus]
Here you go!
Get the cool,
Get the cool shoeshine
Get the cool,
Get the cool shoeshine
Get the cool,
Get the cool shoeshine
Get the cool,
Get the cool shoeshine

There's a monkey in the jungle
Watching a vapor trail
Caught up in the conflict
Between his brain and his tail
And if time's elimination
Then we've got nothing to lose,
Please repeat the message,
"Its the music that we choose!"
Keepin' my groove on...

Bring it down now, it comin' back out!

[Chorus: x2]



Lyrics submitted by tallmanjak

Track duration: 03:28

"19-2000" as written by Damon/hewlett Albarn

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


19-2000 song meanings
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89 Comments

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  • +2
    My Interpretation:I think the song is actually quite simple.

    As David Alban said the song is about the change in the world from 1900-2000s
    and the title is the biggest hint.
    The song is simply about growing into the changing trends in the world and how time is moving so fast. Its all about getting accustomed to change in the new world, hence the lyrics "The world is spinning too fast" and "Get the cool shoeshine"

    IMO.
    Flagged Anidubeyon September 18, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:CommanderCorn is right. Checking with an artist is a good way to keep in that way.

    1st stanza
    The lyrics on the board are wrong in spots. Its actually "lead Nike shoes" and "Keep a mild groove on"
    1-3 lines: "end of the world", world is spinning too fast and he's buying heavy shoes to stay on.
    4: the past, if you've ever heard The Clash's 'Sean Flynn' you know the past can be an intense subject to write on. Here the narrator says he tried to lose the past. He's been moving on but now he's losing his nerve.
    5-7: Here the character's mother who is the one pushing him/ to get good shoes so as to not be flung off into oblivion. If you haven't noted the connection between the title and the whole new way/new generation subject matter yet, now is a good time to note it.
    Mom says the world is ending and you need to stop spending your time dancing, enjoying life, dancing to that Gorillaz devil music and make your shoes.
    8: "Keep a mile groove on" is what they tell him. That's much as your allowed to do.

    The cool shoeshine is for his neat-o end of the world prevention boots.

    3rd stanza
    Here's a helpful fact: almost every time 'Gorillaz' sing about a monkey, it means person/people.
    1-2: monkey means person, jungle means congested environment where monkey/person would live means big city. vapor trail means gun-smoke.
    3-4: The conflict between his brain and tail is his guilt troubling him over the after life. Considering he just metaphorically or fictionally but none the less forcefully killed someone, this is fair. His head going up. His tail going down.
    5-6: these lines take philosophies on eternity and turn them on each other. If you go to hell when you run out of time alive, you're eliminated, then you won't be eliminated because eternity is a whole bunch of time.
    Flag funkitup4yaon June 30, 2011   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:"The world is spinning too fast
    I'm buying lead Nike shoes
    To keep myself tethered
    To the days I try to lose"

    Here he is talking about how he is living in the past, but at the same time life still keeps moving on... So it's like he doesn't want to forget something something that happened that time is clearly trying to heal.


    "My mama said to slow down
    You should make your shoes
    Start dancing to the music
    Of Gorillaz in a happy mood"

    Here it's saying that life is what he makes it, and because of this he should move on and be happy.

    "There's a monkey in the jungle
    Watching a vapour trail
    Caught up in the conflict
    Between his brain and his tail

    And if time's elimination
    Then we got nothing to lose
    Please repeat the message
    It's the music that we choose"

    These stanzas are talking about the people who try to find meaning in every aspect of life. It's saying that it's not about why things happen in life, but instead, it's about what you do with the time that is given to you.
    Flag CountMichXon April 05, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think the mom saying you must make your own shoes is kinda tellin 2D to fend for himself rather than relying on consumerism
    Flag dj17on March 03, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:If anyone is curious the Japanese subs in the song are かっこいい靴磨き欲しい。or kakkoii kutsu migaki hoshii. Why they chose this is uncertain, because literally translated it means I want cool shoe shine. The Kanji 欲 means want or greed. Since I did not see anyone translate it I thought I would ^^
    Flag keiren1on October 17, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:In the video it shows a hostile anlien craft comming from the church after they pass by it.
    many churches have an obsession with astronomy...coincidence?
    It is well known that religion can be used to control people by instilling fear into them an their offspring.
    If an alien race millions of years ahead of us decided to take over the world they wouldnt use the massive armies and death machines humans use to fight their wars. they would know the best way is to kill slowly without being noticed in plane sight. corrupting our governments, minipulating our economy, causing war within the human race as a whole, and destroying the minds of the very impressionable young.
    an entire civilization enslaved and not a single mortality on the victorious side.
    buying "lead nike shoes to keep me teathered to the days ive tried to lose" shows that materialism binds us to the worst parts of our nature i.e. greed
    Flag themanwhoknewon October 08, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:To me the first verse is saying that he's using possessions to give his life a meaning, and his mother is telling him he needs to make his own meaning instead of buying one. The dancing to Gorillaz thing could be a joke about how some of their happy music is really clubby and less serious.

    Then the chorus (with the nonsense vocals and general upbeat attitude) is something else telling him to make his shoes look good, to keep up with the possessions.

    Not sure about the second verse but the monkey watching a vapor trail seems like he's watching a jet go overhead.

    (of course this is all probably wrong.)
    Flag nehcmikeon August 09, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:To me this song is wanting to hold on to the things that are slowing us down, like old technology, and stuff. To me, it's saying, Gorillaz is cheerful, and wants to create a cheerful song, no matter how melancholy the song is in a subtext. Get the cool shoeshine? it's related to the song itself, with the lead nike shoes bit, but also... well, because they CAN. Gorillaz just can.

    My best guess. this is my first review, after all. :P
    Flag miasaki666on July 01, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:To me this song is wanting to hold on to the things that are slowing us down, like old technology, and stuff. To me, it's saying, Gorillaz is cheerful, and wants to create a cheerful song, no matter how melancholy the song is in a subtext. Get the cool shoeshine? it's related to the song itself, with the lead nike shoes bit, but also... well, because they CAN. Gorillaz just can.

    My best guess. this is my first review, after all. :P
    Flagged miasaki666on July 01, 2010   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning:This song has been stated by Damon Albarn, (lead singer, and writer.) that the song is about the change of century's between the 1900's and the 2000's. Thus, the title "19-2000"
    Flagged CommanderCornon April 25, 2010   Link

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