There She Goes (1988) – The La’s

There She Goes is a juicy Power Pop song which comes in an assortment of flavours since it was so widely covered. It was the theme song for the Gilmore Girls pilot, but I first heard it in the alternative comedy movie – So I Married an Axe Murderer starring Mike Myers. Sure, it’s bubblegum late-’80s music, but it carries hints of the alt-rock sound that was about to take the music world by storm. Despite relying on a repeating chorus and refrain, it remains the indie group’s most well-known song. There She Goes also seems to borrow elements from The Velvet Underground’s 1967 track There She Goes Again – similar in theme and lyrics, though musically quite different.

I still find the Liverpool rock group’s song a catchy pick me up about simple love, although the Forbes article below suggests there may be something sinister lurking within – like heroin. Lines like “there she blows again/pulsing through my vein” seem to reinforce that notion. However Lee Mavers, the reclusive front-man and main songwriter of The La’s, which broke up years ago, refuted the idea. Mavers eventually did get into heroin, although not until the 1990s after he had written There She Goes”.

From Songfacts:
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.

The 1980 – 1990’s group The La’s were not just a pop band according to the article below:
Don’t let the light, breezy melody of “There She Goes” fool you. The guitarist Eric Clapton noticed the band, particularly Mavers, in 1991 when they became mainstream popular. “The only thing I’ve really liked (recently) is a guy called Lee Mavers…he’s got a stance and a style that I think is tremendous,” Clapton told Rolling Stone, suggesting that The La’s pack a lot more punch than just pop.

“I saw them do a thing on TV with [Mavers] on acoustic guitar, and the bass player with an acoustic bass,” continued Clapton, “and they did ‘There She Goes,’ and it was so strong. I think that’s what it’s about for me…the craft.”

[Verse 1]
There she goes
There she goes again
Racing through my brain

[Refrain]
And I just can’t contain
This feelin’ that remains

[Verse 2]
There she blows (There she blows again)
There she blows again (There she blows again)
Pulsing through my vein (There she blows again)

[Refrain]
And I just can’t contain
This feelin’ that remains

[Verse 3]
There she goes
There she goes again
She calls my name, pulls my train
No one else could heal my pain

[Refrain]
But I just can’t contain
This feelin’ that remains

[Verse 4]
There she goes
There she goes again
Chasing down my lane

References:
1. ‘There She Goes,’ By The La’s: About Simple Love Angst, Or More? – Forbes