When asked about the rumor, John Power, bassist for the English band, The La’s, said “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.”

Conversely, lead-guitarist John Byrne, vigorously denied the rumor and added “It’s just a love song about a girl that you like but never talk to.”

That’s a whole lot of ruminating over a song so simple that it contains no verses and has only a single chorus, repeated four times with a bridge…“There She Goes”  That it borrows heavily from The Velvet Underground’s “There She Goes Again” is certainly no surprise, nor is the speculation that it’s a short deliberation on heroin intoxication.

I prefer to hold with the “love song about a girl” camp but the “drugs and madness” crowd do have a compelling point about the connotations that leap to mind with lyrics like “racing through my brain” and “pulsing through my veins.”

Written by La’s front man, Lee Mavers, an initial version of There She Goes was released as a single in 1988 and failed to chart, but a remix was included on the group’s eponymous debut album, The La’s, in 1990, reaching Number 13 on the UK charts and Number 49 on the U.S. Billboard charts.

Today’s selection is a cover by Sixpence None the Richer, that was included on their eponymous (love that word) third album, Sixpence None the Richer in 1997, peaking at Number 7 on the U.S. Billboard charts.

Formed in the early 1990s and with clear Christian leanings, Six Pence None the Richer is a Texas band whose name is derived from a story found in C.S. Lewis’ theological tome, Mere Christianity.  I’m sure you’ll agree that when lead singer, Leigh Nash sings it at least, “There She Goes” is all about the girl.

LISTEN TO TODAY’S SELECTION – Thursday 10 May

There She Goes

There she goes

There she goes again

Racing through my brain

And I just can’t contain

This feeling that remains

There she goes

There she goes again

Pulsing through my veins

And I just can’t contain

This feeling that remains

There she goes (there she goes again)

There she goes again (there she goes again)

Racing through my brain (there she goes again)

And I just can’t contain

This feeling that remains

There she goes

There she goes again

She calls my name

Pulls my train

No one else could heal my pain

And I just can’t contain

This feeling that remains

There she goes (she calls my name)

There she goes again (she calls my name)

Chasing down my lane (she calls my name)

And I just can’t contain

This feeling that remains

There she goes (there she goes again)

There she goes (there she goes again)

There she goes