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Disco 2000 Lyrics
Well 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 you
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 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
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 and that's 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
And now it's all over
You've paid your money and you've taken your choice
And I know we'll never meet again
But Deborah, I just wanted you to know
I remember every single thing
Oh 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
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
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.
Our mothers said we could be sister and brother
Your name is Deborah, Deborah
It never suited you
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
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
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 and that's 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
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
And now it's all over
You've paid your money and you've taken your choice
And I know we'll never meet again
But Deborah, I just wanted you to know
I remember every single thing
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
Would you like to come and meet me maybe?
You can even bring your baby, 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.
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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.
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.
@Donno Aw thank you for sharing that. How sad and how lovely at the same time.
@Donno Aw thank you for sharing that. How sad and how lovely at the same time.
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 Butler Definitely yes! This is how I've always seen it. She's a single mother now and he hopes there's a chance, but he knows there probably isn't. The whole song is so tragic. Brilliant and tragic.
@Cameron Butler Definitely yes! This is how I've always seen it. She's a single mother now and he hopes there's a chance, but he knows there probably isn't. The whole song is so tragic. Brilliant and tragic.
if i was deborah, i would be kicking myself to death to have passed up a chance to be with jarvis cocker.
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.
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
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.
deborah sounds like a right asshat
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.
Deborah was the hot popular girl at high school. Jarvis lived next door to her and they were friends because their mothers were friends. Sometimes (once maybe?) she let him walk her home but she would not have sat next to him in class or dated him or anything because he was a nobody and she was popular. Nevertheless he had fantasies about them growing up, getting married and being together. After high school they went their separate ways and then some time in the future he sees her again and she has been married but is now a single mother and has lost her looks etc etc but he still loves her and tells her he accepts her as she is ("you can even bring your baby") and hopes they can now be together.
I love this song!