the shadow- I don't need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better

A shadow is obstructed by an object. It occupies all of the space behind an opaque object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, or reverse projection of the object blocking the light. The term has been used to represent such an event for millennia, long before 1999-2000.
An astronomical object casts human-visible shadows when its apparent magnitude is equal or lower than -4. Currently the only astronomical objects able to produce visible shadows on Earth are the sun, the moon and, in the right conditions, the planet Venus.