There She Goes

"There She Goes"
Single by The La's
from the album The La's
B-side	"Come In, Come Out" "Who Knows" "Man I'm Only Human" "All by Myself"
Released	October 31, 1988 October 22, 1990 (re-issue) September 20, 1999 (2nd re-issue) March 31, 2008 (3rd re-issue)
Recorded	1988 Woodcray Studios, Wokingham
Genre	Alternative rock, power pop, jangle pop
Length	2:31
Label	Go! Discs (GOLAS 2)
Writer(s)	L.A. Mavers
Producer(s)	Bob Andrews
The La's singles chronology
"Way Out" (1987) "There She Goes" (1988) "Timeless Melody" (1990)
The La's singles chronology "Timeless Melody" (1990) "There She Goes" (1990) "Feelin'" (1991) Music sample There She Goes

"There She Goes" is a song written by British singer/guitarist Lee Mavers and recorded first by Mavers' band, The La's.

In May 2007, the NME magazine placed the song at number 45 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever.^[1]

Lyrics and meaning

Structurally, the song is very simple and contains no verses, only a single chorus repeated four times and a bridge. The song borrows from The Velvet Underground's "There She Goes Again", particularly the accents that separate the choruses.^{[citation needed]}

"There She Goes" has gained a reputation for being about the use of heroin, possibly as a result of the lines "There she goes again... racing through my brain... pulsing through my vein... no one else can heal my pain". Several newspapers ran articles about The La's and their apparent ode to heroin. When asked about the rumour in 1995, the group's bassist John Power replied, "I don't know. Truth is, I don't wanna know. Drugs and madness go hand in hand. People who you've known all your life... they're steady, then they're not. But you can't ponder, 'cause it kills you, la."^[2] However, in the 2003 book In Search of The La's: A Secret Liverpool by MW Macefield, ex-La's guitarist Paul Hemmings denied the rumour and added, "Jeremy Fisher, you don't know what you are talking about." In an interview with the BBC, lead guitarist for the single John Byrne also denied the rumour, stating "It’s just a love song about a girl that you like but never talk to."

Release and reception

The first version of the song, produced by Bob Andrews, was released by The La's in 1988, and again on 2 January 1989, but failed to chart. Andrews' production of the song was remixed by Steve Lillywhite in 1990 for inclusion on their debut album The La's. This remixed version was issued as a single on 22 October 1990 and hit number 13 in the UK charts (and later hit number 49 in the U.S.). It was the biggest success The La's were ever to enjoy and remains the song for which the band is chiefly remembered.^{[citation needed]}

In May 2007, NME magazine placed "There She Goes" at number 45 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever.^[1] In 2008, it was also re-released as a vinyl single for its 20th anniversary.

Music video

There are two music videos for this song. The first music video which was released in 1988 was recorded by a camcorder and was shot in a countryside in the band's hometown of Liverpool, England. It shows the band performing the song in an alleyway, a hill or mountaintop and some footage of their concerts is shown. The band are also seen in a park. The video ends with the drum logo being shown.

The second music video which was released in 1990 was a more professional one. It was recorded with a TV camera and was shot in Los Angeles, California. It shows the band performing in a street and a town and in a ghetto with footage of a woman in her 20's or 30's in the video. They are also shown performing with city buildings behind them; one of revealed to be the U.S. Bank Tower. The lead guitarist, Peter Camell and drummer Neil Mavers are revealed to be the two new members. The video ends with the woman's face being shown.

Use in media

It has appeared on several film soundtracks, including The Parent Trap; Fever Pitch; Girl, Interrupted; Gilmore Girls' "Pilot"; Cold Case, and So I Married an Axe Murderer (where both the original and Boo Radleys version appear).

For several seasons in the 1990s the song's distinctive guitar riff was used as backing for the 'Goal of the Month' clips on BBC TV's Match Of The Day.^{[citation needed]}

The song appeared in the 20th episode of the British television comedy-drama Shameless.

The song was used as the theme music for the 1999 BBC docusoap, Holiday Reps.

It has been used by the BBC news programme Newsnight over five times between 1990 and 2013, as of latest. Mostly as soundtrack to whenever they showed Margaret Thatcher leaving 10 Downing Street after she resigned in 1990. It was last used when the show did a special tribute to her death, the day she died in April 2013.

Formats and track listings

• All songs written by L.A. Mavers.

Other reissues

Personnel

The La's^[3]

• Lee Mavers – guitar, vocals
• John Power – bass, backing vocals
• John "Boo" Byrne – guitar
• Chris Sharrock – drums
• Barry Sutton – guitar (on "All by Myself")
• Paul Hemmings – guitar (on "Way Out")
• John "Timmo" Timson – drums (on "Way Out")
• Peter "Cammy" Camell – guitar (on "Man I'm Only Human" and "There She Goes" John Leckie version)
• Iain Templeton – drums (on "Man I'm Only Human" and "There She Goes" John Leckie version)

Production^[3]

• Bob Andrews – producer
• Dave Charles – engineer
• Jeremy Allom – engineer, producer (on "All by Myself")
• Mike Haas – engineer (on "All by Myself")
• Steve Lillywhite – producer, mixing (on "Freedom Song"), remixing (on "There She Goes" 1990 version)
• Mark Wallis – additional producer, engineer (on "Freedom Song")

Other personnel

• Ryan Art – design

Chart performance

1988 release

1990 release

Cover versions

• The Boo Radleys recorded a version used in the soundtrack to So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993).
• Robbie Williams included the song as a B-side to "No Regrets" (1998).
• The Wombats included the song as a B-side to "Kill the Director" (2008).
• You Am I performed the song on their "Let's Be Dreadful" tour (2008).
• Kevin Montgomery includes the song on the album, True (2007)
• Beat Crusaders includes the song on Musicrusaders (2005)
• The song "She Never Came Back" by College has the line "There She Goes", sung in the same way as The La's.
• Sixpence None The Richer covered the song on their self-titled album.

Sixpence None the Richer version

"There She Goes"
Single by Sixpence None the Richer
from the album Sixpence None the Richer
Released	April 14, 1999
Format	CD, Radio airplay
Recorded	1999
Genre	Alternative rock, pop rock
Length	2:43
Label	Squint/Elektra
Sixpence None the Richer singles chronology
"Kiss Me" (1999) "There She Goes" (1999) "I Can't Catch You" (2000)

Sixpence None the Richer released a cover version of the song in 1999 as the second single from their self-titled album, Sixpence None the Richer. The band's rendition of the song reached no. 14 on the UK Singles Chart, the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the top 10 of Billboard's Adult Top 40 chart.

This version of the song is featured in the opening sequence of the episode "The Opening" (season 3, episode 9) of HBO drama Six Feet Under, when a female character shuts herself in the garage in her activated car, while listening to the song on a cassette.

Track listing

1. "There She Goes" – 2:42
2. "There She Goes" (Ben Grosse mix) – 2:42
3. "Kiss Me" (acoustic version) – 3:12

Chart performance

References

External links