Shoot Down the Stars

"Shoot Down the Stars" is the third single from the album As Cruel As School Children by hip-hop/rock band Gym Class Heroes. The video premiered on May 11, 2007 on Fueled by Ramen's YouTube channel, and is now in rotation on MTV and Fuse TV.

Music video

The music video for the song is shot much like that of an average 1980s film, as evidenced by the film quality. The video features what appears to be a younger version of Travis McCoy (played by Jacob Perez) facing the trials and tribulations of school. In the beginning of the video, McCoy is break dancing for his fellow classmates. As he walks to class, he gets mugged by some students, as one of his friends watches. When he goes to class, one particular student throws spit balls at McCoy while the teacher is not paying attention. When McCoy fights back, his teacher takes notice and makes him put his head against the chalkboard. Following class, he continues to get mugged. During recess, McCoy is found writing lyrics with the modern day McCoy rapping next to him. The younger Travis starts singing with a younger Matt McGinley playing drums behind him. An onlooking Disashi Lumumba-Kasongo notices this and grabs his guitar, playing along to McCoy's lyrics. Eventually, Eric Roberts joins the band and they enter into the school talent show. Four acts perform before the band. A ballerina does a dance routine (which receives applause from the audience), an aspiring magician stirs a magic wand in his hat - although this is all he does (which receives mixed reactions from his peers), a young boy makes weird gestures with his hands (which receives booing from the audience), and finally, the same group of kids that mugged McCoy early in the video break dance (which receives uproarious applause). Finally, the band performs and gets cheers as well. Both acts become finalists, and the band wins the competition. The video ends with the older and younger versions of the band performing in the school yard.