Disco 2000

Pulp

Oh, we were born within an hour of each other
Our mothers said we could be sister and brother
Your name is Deborah (Deborah)
It never suited ya
And they said that when we grew up
We'd get married, and never split up
Oh, we never did it, although I often thought of it

Oh, Deborah, do you recall?
Your house was very small
With wood chip on the wall
When I came 'round to call
You didn't notice me at all

And I said, "Let's all meet up in the year 2000
Won't it be strange when we're all fully grown?
Be there two o'clock by the fountain down the road"
I never knew that you'd get married
I would be living down here on my own
On that damp and lonely Thursday years ago

You were the first girl at school to get breasts
And Martyn said that you were the best
Oh, the boys all loved you, but I was a mess
I had to watch them try and get you undressed
We were friends, that was as far as it went
I used to walk you home sometimes but it meant
Oh, it meant nothing to you
'Cause you were so popular

Deborah, do you recall?
Your house was very small
With woodchip on the wall
When I came 'round to call
You didn't notice me at all

And I said, "Let's all meet up in the year 2000
Won't it be strange when we're all fully grown?
Be there two o'clock by the fountain down the road"
I never knew that you'd get married
I would be living down here on my own
On that damp and lonely Thursday years ago

Do it
Oh, yeah
Oh, yeah

Now Deborah, do you recall?
Oh, your house was very small
With wood chip on the wall
And when I came 'round to call
You didn't notice me at all

And I said, "Let's all meet up in the year 2000
Won't it be strange when we're all fully grown?
Be there two o'clock by the fountain down the road"
I never knew that you'd get married
I would be living down here on my own
On that damp and lonely Thursday years ago

Oh, what are you doing Sunday, baby?
Would you like to come and meet me, maybe?
You can even bring your baby
Ooh ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
What are you doing Sunday, baby?
Would you like to come and meet me, maybe?
You can even bring your baby
Ooh ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh


Lyrics submitted by 3ssence

Disco 2000 Lyrics as written by Jarvis Branson Cocker Candida Doyle

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

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Disco 2000 song meanings
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43 Comments

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  • +3
    General Comment
    if i was deborah, i would be kicking myself to death to have passed up a chance to be with jarvis cocker.
    ImInLoveWithMyWallson March 31, 2005   Link
  • +3
    General Comment
    I hate to tell you that the 'fountain down the road', at least the one that most fans assume Jarvis Cocker was talking about, no longer exists. It was demolished and paved over before the year 2000. This is the first song I ever loved and Jarvis is returning to Sheffield this week to gig his new solo album. :D
    razzmatazzon February 14, 2007   Link
  • +3
    General Comment
    This is probably the saddest song I know. To me it's about everything you lose growing up. All the possibilities that not only vanish but mutate into something discomforting and strange. I disagree with those who hold out hope at the end. I take "what are doin' Sunday, baby?" as a last absurd nail in the coffin. She's married and has kids. She has a life now that couldn't have less room for him if she tried. The hope is all in the tone. It's not that things will get better. It's that the way he's singing about it, he knows that it's just how life works.
    citycomeawalkinon October 06, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment
    This song is completely crushing, it's the classic story of how two people were so close together, but when the time to make plans and decisions in their lives (popularity, dating), they went in opposite directions. Later, though they come to talk to each other occasionally: "I used to walk you home sometimes but it meant Oh, it meant nothing to you, cause you were so, popular " Later he talks to her again, and they agree to make a pact to meet up in the year 2000 at "2 o'clock, by fountain down the road". Sadly, she's gotten married, and had a baby, without ever realizing his unrequited love for her. It could have been him with her, but fate had different plans, leaving him to probable bachelordom for the rest of his life do to his sadness and yearning for Deborah. The song never states it, but the reference to the baby and "what're you doin' Sunday baby" may mean that Deborah and her husband have split, and that a new beginning might hstart between the two. Or at least that's what I like to think. :)
    Cameron Butleron March 06, 2005   Link
  • +2
    General Comment
    disco 2000 is up there with the few most beautiful and saddest songs i have ever heard - it makes me cry, with the lyrics and then the meaning added on to it - it's all so sad.
    N/U/T/T/Y/?on February 15, 2006   Link
  • +2
    General Comment
    deborah sounds like a right asshat
    jugbandcoinon December 08, 2006   Link
  • +2
    General Comment
    Sad indeed. I especially find touching the implication that while once upon a time he was obsessed with her and had childish fantasies about marrying her, etc., in adulthood he's mellowed and is so nostalgic, and perhaps his life is so empty now, that it would blow his mind just to see her for an hour over tea.
    lola500on December 18, 2006   Link
  • +2
    General Comment
    IMO the best part of the song is where he says he remembers every single thing, then asks her if she remembers the small house/woodchip again, as if it's the only shared memory she might possibly remember. Sad indeed.
    dave_1987on December 20, 2008   Link
  • +2
    Memory
    Have a look at my blog mymyelomajourney.wordpress.com from the real Deborah in Disco 2000 just had a great party together!
    TheDeborahon July 16, 2013   Link
  • +2
    Song Meaning
    The song is about Jarvis Cocker's childhood friend Deborah Bone. When Deborah was 10 she moved from Sheffield to Letchworth but she remained friends with Cocker, who sang the song at her 50th Birthday party. Bone was also an award-winning British mental health nurse who received an MBE for her work for "her services to children’s mental health" in 2015. Unfortunately she was affected by the bone marrow cancer multiple myeloma. She died at home on 30 December 2014, the day her MBE was announced. She was only 51 years old. She is survived by her husband Colin and daughters, Pollyanna (who also works for the National Health Service) and Jem, and a grandson, with a granddaughter on the way. She and Cocker may never have been more than friends but their friendship was strong and every time I hear this song I stop for a minute and think about this woman and how Cocker must feel every time he hears or performs this song.
    Donnoon December 13, 2016   Link

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