Founder Ian Parton, born in Wales, was previously involved in a band called Dig The Slowness. The band is split 50/50 by gender, with a female frontwoman Ninja, drummer (Chi Fukami Taylor), and multi-instrumentalist (Kaori Tsuchida, who replaced Steidinger in Autumn 2005).
Initially The Go! Team was ostensibly a solo project for documentary film director Ian Parton, whose debut release was the "Get It Together EP", released in 2000 by Leicester-based Pickled Egg Records. This received airplay from legendary DJ John Peel, but following this, legal wrangles meant that it would be another three years before their next release, the "Junior Kickstart" EP in 2003.
Their album "Thunder, Lightning, Strike" was released on the Memphis Industries label in September 2004, and has received widespread critical acclaim. In 2005 it was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, which coincided with the international release of a "legal" version of the album wherein samples which could not be cleared for use had to be removed. The album was co-produced and mixed by Ian's brother Gareth Parton at The Fortress Studios and Bluestone in London. Prior to the album's release, Ian Parton had failed to clear any of the samples used in the album, believing it wouldn't attract much attention. However, the album received widespread critical acclaim upon release. Following the album's unexpected success, the Parton brothers later had to work with a musicologist to write around or recreate samples they could not use. The revised album was reissued with two additional bonus tracks in the United Kingdom and the United States the following year. The album peaked at number 48 on the UK Albums Chart in February 2006.
Their song "Bottle Rocket" was used as the theme on an advertising campaign for RTÉ Sport in 2005 on the Irish TV channels RTÉ One and RTÉ Two. Another of their songs, "Huddle Formation" is currently being used in an advertising campaign for the Honda Civic, "We Just Won't Be Defeated" is also being used in current Target commercials, and "Get It Together" is the title song of the official soundtrack for 'LittleBigPlanet' which is a PlayStation 3 game.
Album discography:
* Thunder, Lightning, Strike (2004)
* Proof of Youth (2007)
* Rolling Blackouts (2011)
* The Scene Between (2015)
* SEMICIRCLE (2018)
* Get Up Sequences Part One (2021)
* Get Up Sequences Part Two (2023)
www.thegoteam.co.uk
The Go! Team is not to be confused with Calvin Johnson's (Beat Happening, co-founder of K Records) and Tobi Vail's (Bikini Kill, Spider and the Webs) 1980's band, The Go Team. For information on The Go Team, see the Wikipedia entry. Last.fm currently redirects scrobbled tracks for The Go Team to this page (assuming that users omit the exclamation point by accident).
Buy Nothing Day
The Go! Team Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Nothing will tomorrow
No one took the system
'Cause the world was out of bounds
Action is a strategy
There's just no getting 'round
But I would never lose my head tonight
'Cause when it's all coming back
Kick-start the motor
Circle the track
Over and over
Don't plan at all
'Cause making it up is so natural
We don't know for sure
But this is the law
We'll never come back here tonight
Running out of luck
Running out of money
Running for the subway
Isn't gonna make it girl
Won't start revolutions
But we're giving it a whirl
But I would never lose my head tonight
I would never lose my head tonight
'Cause when it's all coming back
Kick-start the motor
Circle the track
Over and over
Don't plan at all
'Cause making it up is so natural
We don't know for sure
But this is the law
We'll never come back here tonight
'Cause when it's all coming back
Kick-start the motor
Circle the track
Over and over
All coming back
Kick-start the motor
Circle the track
I'll never come back here tonight
No I would never lose my head tonight
I would never lose my head tonight
The Go! Team's song, Buy Nothing Day, speaks to the frustration and disillusionment that many young people feel with the consumerist culture of their society. The lyrics are an anthem for those who reject the idea of endless consumption and materialism, and choose to live a simpler, more purposeful life. The opening lines, "Nothing came today, Nothing will tomorrow", speak to the emptiness that many people feel despite the constant acquisition of goods and the perpetual cycle of production and consumption. The song goes on to highlight the futility of trying to change the system, as "No one took the system, 'Cause the world was out of bounds". Action is seen as a strategy, but there is ultimately no getting around the fact that the consumerist culture is pervasive and entrenched.
Despite this, the song's message is one of hope and resilience. The chorus, "Cause when it's all coming back, kick-start the motor, circle the track, over and over", suggests that even in the face of overwhelming cultural pressure, there is always room to break free and find meaning and purpose in life. The song's protagonist is determined to live according to their own principles, despite the temptations and pitfalls of modern life. They see making it up as natural and don't plan at all, but they know that this is the law, they'll never come back here tonight.
Overall, Buy Nothing Day is a thoughtful and inspiring meditation on the modern condition and what it means to resist conformity and live life on one's own terms.
Line by Line Meaning
Nothing came today
I didn't receive anything today
Nothing will tomorrow
I won't receive anything tomorrow either
No one took the system
No one tried to change the system
'Cause the world was out of bounds
Because some things are impossible to change
Action is a strategy
Taking action is a way to strategize and create change
There's just no getting 'round
There's no avoiding the fact that we need to take action
But I would never lose my head tonight
I won't panic or lose focus tonight
'Cause when it's all coming back
When things start to make sense again
Kick-start the motor
Get back into action
Circle the track
Keep going around the same issue
Over and over
Repeating the same actions
Don't plan at all
Sometimes it's better to just go with the flow
'Cause making it up is so natural
Being adaptable and improvising is natural for us
We don't know for sure
We don't have all the answers
But this is the law
This is how things are right now
We'll never come back here tonight
We won't be in this exact situation again
Running out of luck
Things aren't going our way
Running out of money
We're running low on resources
Running for the subway
Trying to catch the train
Isn't gonna make it girl
It won't be enough to solve all our problems
Won't start revolutions
We're not trying to start a revolution
But we're giving it a whirl
We're giving it a try anyway
All coming back
Everything is starting to make sense
I'll never come back here tonight
I won't be in this exact situation again
No I would never lose my head tonight
I won't panic or lose focus tonight
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Ian David Parton
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
emerckx53 emerckx53
After 35 years of listening to indie music this song is firmly in my top 5 of all time. What a pop tune. What an original band. Music is beautiful.
Norm Dykstra
Recently discovered this band, you're right it's an incredibly perfect pop tune. And it's not even their best song!!!!
Norm Dykstra
Blowtorch and Bottle Rocket (video version ) are even better!
DG
emerckx53 No shame in that. This song couldn’t be more infectious.
Ian Finney
Timeless superlative indie. An endorphin rush every time I hear it.
LittleFishChan
Ten years ago I remember reading on Pitchfork that The Go! Team dropped a new single, called “Buy Nothing Day.” I listened to the track and WOW it hit me like a truck of confetti. I repeated this song all day that day and it has been in permanent rotation ever since. I wish I came across stuff this good more often, what a fantastic find this was.
Aurist
I HAVE LISTENED TO THIS SONG LIKE A HUNDRED THOUSAND TIMES SINCE IT CAME OUT AND IT IS STILL AS PERFECT AS THE FIRST TIME I LISTENED TO IT
atomic
this is pure joy.... i feel motivated to change my life after hearing this
Joe Postove
As good OR BETTER than anything out there for a long long time!
LOVE The Go! Team!
Pax Callow
this is still one of my very favorite songs ever. it just gives me so much simple happiness.