The Go! Team are a Brighton, United Kingdom-based six piece band (with two … Read Full Bio ↴The Go! Team are a Brighton, United Kingdom-based six piece band (with two drummers) whose songs are a mixture of action theme songs, cheerleader chants, noise pop guitars and early hip-hop, with a hint of '70s funk. On record their songs are often pieced together largely from samples, although live the songs are performed mostly with live instruments. The band also combines indie rock and garage rock with a mixture of funk and Bollywood soundtracks, double Dutch chants, old school hip-hop and distorted guitars. While live vocals are handled mostly by lead vocalist Ninja, vocals on record also feature sampled and guest voices.

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).

The Power Is On
The Go! Team Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Watch who's comin' at you
Why? who's got the power?
Watch who's comin' at you
If you might allow her
Watch who's comin' at you
Why? who's comin' through?
One, a bit right then we got two
Watch who's comin' at you

But don't fuss
Watch who's gonna get you back on the bus
Watch you change your light bulb
Then you take a shower
Watch who's comin' at you
Why? who's got the power?

If you hear us say "come USA"
There ain't no way the gangstas say
Why hello, hello, H-E-L-L-O
Well I need you I want you to know its A-OK

Falcons, falcons, falcons, falcons
Blood stripe falcons

"I woke up this morning out the door,
I told the guy who's at the door,
I took the morning to read the paper,
See if the news was all okay"

Watch who's comin' at you
Why? who's got the power?
Watch who's comin' at you
If you might allow her
Watch who's comin' at you
Why? who's comin' through?
One, a bit right then we got two
Watch who's comin' at you
But don't fuss
Watch who's gonna get you back on the bus
Watch you change your light bulb
Then you take a shower
Watch who's comin' at you
Why? who's got the power?

Lets go
Lets go
Lets go
Watch who's.
Got the.
Power.

Lets go
Lets go
Lets go
Watch who's.
Got the.
Power.

Falcons, falcons, falcons, falcons
Blood stripe falcons.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to The Go! Team's "The Power Is On" seem to be a warning to the listener to be aware of who holds power in their lives, whether it be a person, group or institution. The repetition of "watch who's coming at you" emphasizes this warning, and the repeated questioning of "why? who's got the power?" suggests a sense of urgency to figure out who is in control. The lyrics also touch on ideas of community and support, with lines like "watch who's gonna get you back on the bus" and "lets go" implying a sense of togetherness and shared strength.

The chorus is particularly catchy and highlights the upbeat, party-like feel of the song, with its repetition of "let's go" and "watch who's got the power." The use of the word "falcons" several times throughout the song is likely a reference to the Atlanta Falcons football team, who have a distinctive red and black uniform (hence the mention of "blood stripe falcons"). The line "If you hear us say 'come USA'" may be a nod to the band's British origins and their desire to connect with American audiences.

Line by Line Meaning

Watch who's comin' at you
Be wary of who is approaching you

Why? who's got the power?
Determine who holds the authority

If you might allow her
If you permit it to happen

Why? who's comin' through?
Who is making their entrance?

One, a bit right then we got two
One person is followed by another

But don't fuss
Don't worry

Watch who's gonna get you back on the bus
Observe who will assist you in returning to the bus

Watch you change your light bulb
See that you replace your light bulb

Then you take a shower
Next, prepare to bathe

If you hear us say "come USA"
If we suggest coming to the USA

There ain't no way the gangstas say
Gang members will not say it