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).
Hold Yr Terror Close
The Go! Team Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Here, the future is ever so near
Why should we all be alone
Every night on the way home
This time, we should be starting again
Get up and counting to ten
Seeing you combing your hair
You know it could be better than that
But wait until tomorrow morning
Learning to be you is what hurts most
Close your eyes and hold your terror close
Out here,
I hear you come in loud and clear
I carried you 'till it got dark
And then walked you home through the park
You're right, strangers are easy to like
Thunder and lightning will strike
Make a move, you'll get that mac
Echoes who don't answer back
Just please, give me a chance to say no
But wait until tomorrow morning
Learning to be you is what hurts most
Close your eyes and hold your terror close.
In "Hold Yr Terror Close," The Go! Team offers a reflection on the fragility of relationships and the loneliness that haunts us in our daily lives. The opening line sets the scene for the song: "Here, the future is ever so near." It's a statement about how time feels in those moments when we feel stuck, unsure of where to go next. The song then transitions into a message about the importance of connection and community, with the line "Why should we all be alone?" suggesting that we are all in this together, despite our fears and insecurities.
The imagery in the song is vivid and evocative. We see the singer walking home at night, observing others and feeling unseen himself: "Seeing you combing your hair / Pretending that no-one is there." There's a sense of longing here, for something more fulfilling, for a deeper connection with others. This desire is echoed in the repeated refrain to "wait until tomorrow morning," with the implication that we can find hope in each new day.
Ultimately, the song feels like a plea for empathy and understanding. The line "Learning to be you is what hurts most" suggests that we are all struggling to find our place in the world, and it's often an uphill battle. The outro, with its repeated refrain to "Close your eyes and hold your terror close," feels like a call to self-compassion in those moments when we feel most alone and vulnerable.
Line by Line Meaning
Here, the future is ever so near
The singer believes that the future is very close and will arrive soon.
Why should we all be alone
The singer asks why everyone should feel lonely.
Every night on the way home
The singer refers to a routine of going home every night.
This time, we should be starting again
The artist believes that now is the time to start fresh and try again.
Get up and counting to ten
The artist urges the listener to pick themselves up and try to calm down by counting to ten.
Seeing you combing your hair
The singer is observing the listener combing their hair.
Pretending that no-one is there
The listener is pretending to be alone while combing their hair.
You know it could be better than that
The artist believes that the situation could be improved upon.
But wait until tomorrow morning
The artist suggests waiting until the next day to try and improve things.
Learning to be you is what hurts most
The artist believes that the hardest thing is learning to be oneself.
Close your eyes and hold your terror close
The listener is advised to close their eyes and confront their fears.
Out here, I hear you come in loud and clear
The artist hears the listener's arrival clearly.
I carried you 'till it got dark
The singer helped the listener until it was dark outside.
And then walked you home through the park
The singer walked the listener home through a park.
You're right, strangers are easy to like
The singer agrees that strangers are easy to get along with.
Thunder and lightning will strike
The artist warns of an impending storm.
Make a move, you'll get that mac
The artist suggests that the listener can achieve something if they take action.
Echoes who don't answer back
The singer is referring to echoes that do not reply.
Just please, give me a chance to say no
The singer is requesting the opportunity to refuse something.
But wait until tomorrow morning
The artist suggests waiting until the next day to make a decision.
Learning to be you is what hurts most
The artist believes that the hardest thing is learning to be oneself.
Close your eyes and hold your terror close.
The listener is advised to confront their fears and hold onto them closely.
Contributed by Elijah P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.