Tag Archives: there

#1350: The La’s – There She Goes

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Probably like a large majority of people in the world, I heard ‘There She Goes’ before actually learning about who made the tune. I can remember it being used in a TV advert that was repeated numerous times in the early ’00s. The company – I feel like it was a furniture one for some reason – only used the song’s main refrain, and if just that and a few guitar chords were able to stick in my head and get me singing randomly on some days then it must have been a good one. Just a little aside here, those first few lines I wrote in 2017 when I began what turned into the post for ‘I Can’t Sleep’. I’ve been waiting for this day to arrive for eight years, and now I can finally get this out of the ‘Drafts’ section. Anyway, yeah, ‘There She Goes’. It’s by The La’s. It’s their signature song, a jangle-pop masterpiece written by Lee Mavers. The released version on the band’s self-titled album is 35 years old. Its origins go further back to the tail-end of the ’80s. But it never gets old. Just sounds so fresh every time.

Where do I even start with this one? I feel like ‘There She Goes’ is a tune that everyone should know. But as the years go on, there’s gonna be this whole generation who come in and wouldn’t even know who the band is, let alone the song. If there’s anyone reading who weren’t aware of both, what do you think now? Sounds great, doesn’t it? What I’ve come to like about ‘There She Goes’ is that it’s essentially a chorus repeated nearly from start to finish, with I guess a bit of a bridge happening in the middle when the song goes into a minor key for a few moments. But even then, the lyrics remain on the same rhyme pattern/train of thought. It’s got a beautiful melody, sung by Mavers with the falsetto on the “There she goooes” and the raspier tone on the “can’t conta-e-ain” phrases. Bass guitarist John Power joins in with the countermelodies in the backing vocals. And it’s all united by that earworm of a guitar riff. Melodies galore, and good ones too. You really can’t go wrong.

And all of this comes to the main question set up by the lyrics. He is singing about a girl, or is he singing about heroin? The answer… is yes. I’m sure a lot of people just go with the latter because how many songs out there are about liking women? It’s the “cooler” interpretation. The whole thing’s for sure set up as as a two-and-a-half minute double entendre, though. Whatever the song’s about doesn’t affect how I feel when I listen through, which is usually a combination of happiness and satisfaction. How Lee Mavers felt about the song is another thing. I read he much preferred the single version, released a few years before in 1988. And while trying to find that perfect sound when recording the album, the band tried out versions with producers John Leckie and. Mike Hedges. And those are just the ones that have been officially released. There are probably other mixes floating out there somewhere. That album version’s always sounded fine to me.

#1349: Pixies – There Goes My Gun

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I have a feeling this song has the same sort of rep as the last one I wrote about a couple days ago. ‘There Goes My Gun’ isn’t the shortest song on Pixies’ Doolittle, but it’s pretty close to being so. It looks more like something to warm you up before getting into the meat of ‘Hey’ that follows. Might be considered something of a track of low importance. I’m not sure, I’m not within many circles who have Pixies in their listening radar who could verify whether that last sentence is the case or not. On Spotify, it does have the second lowest number plays on the album, so I’ll have to take that as some kind of consensus. But when it comes to me, I enjoy the hell out of it. Again, one of my favourites on this particular album, which some reading may find peculiar. Maybe not. I don’t know what to tell you. Sometimes it’s those short, unassuming numbers on certain albums that turn out to be the standouts for me.

The track is one of very few words/lines. They are as follows: “Yoo hoo”, “There goes my gun” – which as a chorus is repeated a number of times – “Look at me” and “Friend or foe”. Very economical, indeed. A prime example showing you don’t need much into order to make a song. Least in terms of the lyrics. According to frontman Black Francis/Frank Black/Charles Thompson, the song is a scene where the narrator is yelling each verse into a sort of dark abyss/expanse of space before proceeding to shoot their gun as they continue to get no kind of response. That’s certainly a unique situation for inspiration of a song. I like the track for its minor-keyness, which doesn’t make it sound sad but more threatening like something’s about to jump out the shadows and strike, and for its heavy swinging motion. I feel like I’ve written a lot about swinging feels in songs lately. What’s this one in, 12/8? That can be the best time signature.

Doolittle is an album full of unhinged vocal performances by Francis. ‘There Goes My Gun’… actually might be one that comes a little lower on that spectrum. Maybe in the middle. But he does provide a great contrast of yelling in the verses and switching to the melodic singing for the choruses. And then in those, Kim Deal responds to Francis’s ‘there goes my gun’ line… by repeating the same phrase, but with that sweet tone of hers in comparison. Those Francis-Deal vocal back-and-forths the highlight of many a Pixies song. It’s no different here. David Lovering’s pounding those drums, feels like there’s an extra oomph in those toms. Joey Santiago’s bending a string to make for an unusual guitar riff. And I don’t think I truly appreciated this song until I watched a video where I saw what Francis was doing on the rhythm guitar, particularly during the choruses. I’m sure it was the video, below, of them at Glastonbury in 1989. He goes on a run down the guitar neck before sliding up again and resolving into the minor-chord of the verse. Just adds that extra movement in the music. Thumbs up, thumbs up.

#650: …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead – It Was There That I Saw You

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‘It Was There That I Saw You’, the (almost) opener of Trail of Dead’s 2002 album Source Tags & Codes still gets me pumped today. I listened to the full album for the first time about five years ago and ended up pleasantly surprised by the entire thing. There’s this grand mystical vibe that the music and lyrics give out throughout which some may find pretentious but I found bearable at least.

But ‘I Was There’ starts it all off with this calming introduction that suddenly explodes into a ball of energy with crashing drums and exhilarating guitar work. It is during this moment that singer Conrad Keely comes into frame singing about the time he became enamoured by someone (I’ll assume a lady) and had some great times with her before eventually losing touch. He is left wondering what he has been up to in the time that have been apart.

It’s endearing stuff. But then the fast music suddenly stops and transitions into this slow breakdown – with a melody taken from the preceding track ‘Invocation’ – that builds and builds in intensity, repeating that melody endlessly before transitioning back into the fast music you were hearing almost two minutes ago. Ahhh… it feels so good when that happens. You can experience it too!

It’s a dynamic track that pulls and pushes and takes a few turns here and there. It’s an exciting listen. It’s a great album, I say.

#614: Arctic Monkeys – If You Were There, Beware

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‘If You Were There, Beware’ was always a highlight of mine from Favourite Worst Nightmare. Bought that album from Woolworth’s in about the first or second week it was released in April 2007. It was a big deal. A year and a bit had just passed and the biggest UK band of 2006 had come back with their second record. I think it’s always been my favourite album by the group. It was a bit like their first album but very beefy in its production. And the songs are good too.

Anyway, ‘This House Is a Circus’ seamlessly transitions into ‘If You Were There’ – one of the best moments on Nightmare – and the latter begins with an unforgettable riff that drew 12 year old me to it immediately. All the other instruments join in for the emphatic introduction which eventually give way to Alex Turner’s vocals for the first verse. All this time I’ve never put any thought into what the song was about; the vocal melody is so infectious that it just never came to mind. Though reading up on the lyrics (and just seeing fan interpretations) it’s somewhat agreed that it’s about the British tabloid press and the vulture-like manner in which they gather information from celebrities or the people they’re involved with.

Looking back on Arctic Monkeys’ discography now, it’s not so surprising that the band followed this up with Humbug a couple years later. I have a vague memory of people being slightly put off by the change in sound they undertook. Though evidence of what was to come was in this song all along. Matt Helders carries the track with some fantastic drum work, really leading the track’s rhythm when the song slows down just over a minute in. And overall the song’s direction changes so many times it’s as if there are four songs in one. It’s a mammoth of a song and maybe, just maybe, one of their most ambitious at that point.

My iPod #519: The Beatles – Here, There and Everywhere

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Speaking of The Beach Boys and Pet Sounds, “Here, There and Everywhere” was a track by The Beatles that was very much influenced by the sound the former were able to achieve on that album. Left in amazement by the song “God Only Knows“, Paul McCartney was inspired to write something that was able to match the emotional impact and lightness in execution, resulting in a song that would be placed fifth in the tracklisting of Revolver, released in the summer of 1966.

In contrast to the rich and plentiful instrumentation that is present throughout Pet Sounds, “Here, There and Everywhere” incorporates a more minimalistic approach. Apart from the usual band setup are only percussive finger-clicks and smooth ‘oohing’ backing vocals that add to the song’s close and intimate feel.

Paul sings about wanting his partner to be wherever he is, appreciating the small things she does that seem to make his life that bit much better. He promises that he will always stand by her side in return. The track is a tender love song, able to depict that perfect moment one feels when they have found their perfect match.