There She Goes

Album: The La's (1988)
Charted: 13 49
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Songfacts®:

  • "There She Goes" is a song with one crazy story, so hang on. It was written by the Liverpool singer and guitarist Lee Mavers, and recorded by his band The La's. The La's released it on their only album, titled The La's. "There She Goes" was released as a single, not once, not twice, but four times!

    The first release scratched the UK Singles chart in 1988 at #51. The second release in 1990 was the peak, with #13 on the UK Singles and also charting in the US. The third release was in 1999, and it charted the UK Singles at #65. The fourth release was in 2008, on vinyl only for the song's 20th anniversary, and charted again at #181.
  • While rumors persist that this song was inspired by "There She Goes Again" by the Velvet Underground, no definitive evidence supports it. The songs do have a similar theme and similar lyric styles, but completely different music. On the other hand, the common knowledge that this song is about heroin seems to be a sure bet. "Racing through my brain" and "Pulsing through my vein" exclude just about everything else, and newspapers in England ran stories about The La's "ode to heroin." La's bassist John Power gave a rather evasive answer when asked about it, while La's ex-guitarist Paul Hemmings flatly denied it.

    La's frontman Lee Mavers is a pretty enigmatic character. If you examine them closely, you'll find a lot in common with Velvet Underground's Lou Reed: Both had limited success with their first band but a steady cult following since, both are evasive of the media and reclusive, both are rumored to have written songs about drugs and to be heavily into drugs, and both are widely cited by other music artists as an influence out of step with their commercial success.
  • Covers of "There She Goes" include those done by Sixpence None the Richer, Robbie Williams, The Wombats and The Boo Radleys. Film soundtrack appearances include The Parent Trap, Fever Pitch, Girl, Interrupted and So I Married an Axe Murderer.
  • This song was an ironic airplay favorite in the UK when Maggie Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister in November 1990.
  • The La's mainman Lee Mavers is a legendary perfectionist. The legend goes that he didn't want the vintage studio equipment cleaned so the dust that had accumulated on it from the 1960s would remain.

Comments: 8

  • David from AmericaLmfao guessing Syd is some guy from the 60s who thinks literally everything from before and after the 60s and his era is a cover of a 60s song. Classic selfish Boomer mentality.
  • Syd from CaliforniaHow can you say there is no definitive evidence that this is a cover of Velvet Undergrounds, There She Goes Again? Its nearly identical in the beat and words. Give a band their credit! Lou Reed is better anyways.
  • Jd from DetroitThis song is 100% without a doubt ode to heroin use and addiction and nothing else. Obviously the personification of heroin use has been around forever so it’s easy to mistake a song as a love song as artist use metaphor and allegory to construct a facade that appears wholesome and sweet until further inspection. The lyrics that seal this songs fate as a classic drug inspired song, “there she blows” and “pulsing through my veins” among others too but those two lines erase any misconceptions. There she blows is/has always been a common IV drug use refrain referring to the moment blood is drawn into the syringe after successfully penetrating and locating a vein to inject. Then the sensation of the warmth pulsing literally through you veins and as stated in the song across the brain, leaving users with indescribable sensations of euphoria giving them feelings they can’t contain. “She calls my name, she pulls my train, no one else could heal my pain, chasing down my lane” four lines which all perfectly embody the junkie life, being beckoned by your addiction, your addiction literally becoming your driving force in life, the lie that your addiction heals all other pain, the chasing of the initial high! Too those fortunate enough to think this is a love song be thankfully because this is a cheery, upbeat pop song describing heroin addiction and nothing else written by someone with intimate and firsthand experiences of injecting the drug. People can lie and dismiss the lyrics which don’t fit the love song description but it truly is a classic song that explicitly is about IV heroin drug use written by someone who knows what a shooting gallery is, and carries a bag with a spoon, lighter, cotton swabs, and clean water at all times.
  • Bruce from AustraliaThis is such an awful song. It's catchy but once you realise it's 90% the same line, repeated 30 times, it gets annoying.
  • Mr. Bill from Kansas, UsaIt was also used in the movie So I Married an Axe Murderer.
  • Patti from BrownThis song was also used in the pilot episode of "Gilmore Girls." It was playing while Lorelei was walking down the street.
  • Gerard from Anytown, MdThe song is also featured on the 1997 Carl Reiner movie, "That Old Feeling" during the scene where the Danny Nucci and the Paula Marshall characters are locked in the hotel room together and in an attempt to get get police attention down on the sidewalk below to get them our of the room toss fruit at them from the balcony.
  • Peter from Coventry, United KingdomA very nice song.
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