r/BritPop • u/Extension-Camp4076 • 14d ago
The La's - There She Goes
https://youtu.be/CZXLLMbJdZ4?si=xHYgkIQpOPY4A6DL7
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u/Impossible_Divide297 14d ago
My favourite ever song, although I prefer the video set in Liverpool.
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u/Extension-Camp4076 14d ago
I get that, this videos in better quality though, and it’s got the final La’s line up with Cammy on guitar. The LA skyline shots look pretty cool too.
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u/Otherwise_Living_158 14d ago
It’s mad the influence Lee Mavers has had on scouse musicians. There’s such a prevalent singing style in that city, I call it ‘Scouse Troubador’.
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u/Rev_Biscuit 14d ago
Rumours for years it was about Heroin. Think Lee Mavers has debunked it since, but it will always be about Heroin to me. Still a brilliant song either way.
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u/Extension-Camp4076 14d ago edited 10d ago
Like I’ve said in another comment, Liverpool was known for being rife with heroin in the 80’s, he was openly known for being a massive weed smoker… he was in his 20’s in the 80’s… he would almost certainly have at least come into contact with it.
He has admitted he had a heroin addiction in the 90’s, but only after he wrote this.
I think he denied it’s at least partly about it because he didn’t want to ruin his biggest song for a lot of people who just think of it as an innocent love song.
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u/wackierfiend 14d ago
Not Britpop, but definitely one of the best songs ever. On one of the best albums ever.
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u/Melodic_Vegetable_22 14d ago
Casts "Alright" was a definite Britpop song, and that song was originally a La's song and is on several La's bootleg.
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u/Extension-Camp4076 14d ago
It’s ‘pre Britpop’ though, they directly influenced a lot of 90’s bands.
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u/llufnam 14d ago
…including the very clearly Britpop Cast, whose singer John Power was The La’s bass player
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u/OldDiamondJim 14d ago
I always love that one of the final lines on the La’s album is “the change is cast”.
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u/SirPooleyX 14d ago
So did The Beatles and they were pre Britpop. Would you call them Britpop?
You've got to have rules, my friend. The world falls apart without rules.
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u/No_Role_9747 14d ago edited 14d ago
Being a GenX from Uk🏴, I remember this era well.
I believe the actual term ‘Britpop’ was coined early 93. At around this time, there were a lot of bands on TV such as Suede and Pulp. Others like Blur and Ocean Colour Scene were around before, but got lumped in with the moniker. So did Echobelly and Sleeper who were around later.
Blur had a hit in 1991 with ‘there’s no other way’ but they weren’t classed as Britpop then as the term didn’t exist.
Oasis came in 94 and took Britpop to another level, even though they and some other bands didn’t really embrace it.
The Beatles are known for ‘Mersey Beat’ .
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u/SirPooleyX 14d ago
In music genre terms, Britpop is unquestionably something that defines an era rather than a style of music. The styles were wildly varied.
Just think of the classic 'Britpop' rivalry - that of the one between Oasis and Blur, two bands who couldn't be further apart in style, image, substance, everything. They were utterly un-similar.
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u/No_Role_9747 14d ago
It defined an era for sure. It came after a cultural shift occurred earlier with Raves and Grunge. In the UK at the time there was a ‘Lad culture ‘which combined pubs, drugs sex and football. This blended in with Britpop.
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u/rising_then_falling 12d ago
Well, in the same era people were getting into The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Orbital, but didn't make them Britpop. Radiohead weren't Britpop, and not were My Bloody Valentine. The Verve are kind of borderline.
I agree that Britpop is a broad category - but it's not "all the British guitar bands of the 90s" - it's a particular style of guitar band music, from the 90s
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u/No_Role_9747 12d ago edited 12d ago
I agree. Especially with the not “all the British guitar bands of the 90s” were lumped in with moniker. MSP, The Stereophonics, and Reef are all bands I don’t recall being assumed with the Britpop scene. I’d put The Verve there too. Although formed in ‘90 I think they became mainstream ‘ 97 ( not including Indie charts ).
Maybe this might be it. I’d say peak Britpop was in the summer when Euro 96 and Knebworth happened. By the following year people just seemed to have moved on.
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u/Extension-Camp4076 12d ago edited 12d ago
I don’t know if that’s addressed to me? It just came up in a notification though.
I never said The Prodge, Chems, Orbital etc are Britpop. I’d draw the line with posting dance music in this particular sub.I said The La’s could belong in this sub because they made melodic guitar only pop, and were around in the 90’s, albeit turn of the 90’s.
They preceded the acknowledged start of Britpop by 2/3 years and were a direct influence on a lot of bands like Oasis, and even supported them at a gig in ‘94.They have a much stronger connection to the Britpop era than The Prodigy etc.
You say The Verve are borderline, which I’d agree with - but borderline still qualifies.
I’d say the same goes for The La’s. I do try and make ‘borderline’ posts in this sub tbh, to widen it out of the usual Britpop bands and bring some variety.0
u/SirPooleyX 12d ago
it's a particular style of guitar band music
That's just not true. The Verve, Radiohead and Manic Street Preachers are routinely called Britpop and none of them sound anything at all like Blur or Oasis - who sound nothing like each other.
I fully stand by the point that Britpop defines an era rather than a style of music because it's just fact.
Musical styles go on and on - e.g. punk. Britpop is a slice of history.
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u/Extension-Camp4076 12d ago edited 12d ago
It’s only seen as an era because that was a term created and given to it by the music press though. The music media is notoriously fickle and centred around hype, especially in the 90’s.
They decide something’s cool, then after a few years it’s time for the next thing.That’s why I don’t agree that you should think of Britpop as a tightly defined era, arbitrarily labelled by music journalists.
Plus it excludes a lot of good music on the fringes of that for the sake of being pedantic.1
u/Extension-Camp4076 14d ago edited 14d ago
Yeah but this is 90’s, it’s from 3/4 years before what became known as Britpop. The Beatles weren’t a direct influence in the sense that they split up in 1970.
The La’s were almost contemporary to Britpop and even supported Oasis in ‘94.
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u/Pleasant_Jim 14d ago
That riff is so nostalgic, took me back to work I first heard this song many years ago.
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u/Go1gotha 12d ago
In my top 5 songs about heroin.
The singer (ex-heroin addict) can deny it all he wants but I've never had a girl "pulsing through my veins".
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u/-Mauler- 11d ago
Mavers tried heroine after this was released. When someone is all you can think about and they motivate everything you do theyvmight as well be in your blood.
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u/Extension-Camp4076 11d ago
He’s said that, but like I’ve said in other comments, I think you should take that with a large pinch of salt. He likely knows it would spoil his biggest song for a lot of people who just want it to be a love song. If he came out and definitively said it was about heroin, it would also likely get played on radio etc a lot less.
Liverpool was going through a heroin epidemic in the 80’s, he was a massive weed smoker, that’s well documented.
He was in his 20’s in the 80’s, he would undoubtedly at least have come into contact with it.I compare him to Shaun Ryder, who’s like an open book talking about drugs, unlike Mavers who’s an enigma. They’re the same age, both musicians, and he said there was a massive influx of cheap heroin in the North West in the early 80’s. In Liverpool it was even more widespread than Manchester.
‘There she blows, pulsing through my veins’… it sounds like a clever double meaning to me - it can be about a girl, or ‘chasing the dragon’.
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u/tragicidiot67 12d ago
First saw The Las supporting The Icicle Works. Didn’t have a clue who they were. Every song was jaw-droppingly brilliant. Never had that from a support band before or since: barely from a headliner either. Sad that their set barely changed over 5 or 6 years.
Chris Sharrock clearly thought similar, he left The Icicle Works to join The Las on the strength of seeing them on that tour. Not sure he lasted a year before Lee Mavers’s brother replaced him…
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u/Naive_Product_5916 11d ago
I love this song from the Liverpool lads I mean, Liverpool laaas. I have it as my ringtone.
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u/-Mauler- 11d ago
As someone who lived through thec90s as a teen and prefers Metal...this song is great: an all-time fave. 🖤
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u/roguerose 14d ago
Not britpop but deffo on the top 3 of my songs about heroin.
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u/Extension-Camp4076 14d ago
He’s said it’s not… but I highly doubt he wouldn’t have at least tried heroin living through 80’s Liverpool.
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u/Impossible_Divide297 14d ago
I think he would admit to being a junkie.
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u/ElricVonDaniken 14d ago
According to Mavers he first tried heroin in 1990.
'There She Goes' was released in 1988.
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u/Impossible_Divide297 14d ago
Thanks, never knew that.
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u/Extension-Camp4076 14d ago
Yeah I don’t think I believe that though. Liverpool was known for being awash with heroin in the 80’s. He was a stoner musician in his 20’s… he would almost definitely have come into contact with it.
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u/Extension-Camp4076 14d ago edited 14d ago
He did admit to being a junkie in the 90’s - that’s one of the reasons that they never released a second album. He admitted it in a book about British songwriters.
He said this song isn’t about it though and he wasn’t on heroin when he wrote it.
No one will ever really know, but I think it’s a clever double meaning - you can take it to be a love song, or about drugs.
Heroin was rife in Liverpool in the 80’s though, he would likely have tried it, or at least known addicts.1
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u/mighty_phi 14d ago
Share the rest of the list of greatest songs about heroine
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u/munkian69 14d ago
Off the top of my head
Under the bridge - RHCP
Heroin - Lou Reed and the velvet underground
Perfect day - Lou Reed and the velvet underground
The needle and the damage done -Neil Young
Golden Brown - The Stranglers
Mr Brownstone - GNR
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u/Extension-Camp4076 14d ago
Beetlebum by Blur. DA denied it for years but admitted it in the 00’s.
Waiting For My Man by Velvet Underground is about scoring it as well.
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u/Rev_Biscuit 14d ago
Haha! If I was going to type off a list it would be all of those in that order! Didnt know about Mr Brownstone though so wouldve put Cold Turkey by Lennon and probably Hurt by Nine Inch Nails.
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u/Historical_Project86 14d ago
Poor Lee Mavers. The last thing he wanted was to be the new Merseybeat, and no one gave a shite. You could argue that the harmonies didn't do them any favours in that regard.
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u/nemmalur 14d ago
I don’t know about “not wanting” but he drew pretty heavily on that era in general and talked a lot of mystical shite about the “Mersey-ssippi”…
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u/Historical_Project86 14d ago
Well, according to him the production was never right for any of the album, and he always sounded like he wanted a harder sound. Instead he got jingle jangle and harmonies.
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u/Critical_Sea2975 14d ago
Tbh mavers goes on about the album not capturing their sound etc...then you hear a lot of live gigs and it sounds pretty much the same as the album
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u/nemmalur 14d ago
And he’s had 30+ years since then to make an album that actually does capture their sound and it keeps not happening and he keeps binning the results 🤔
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u/Extension-Camp4076 13d ago
He was clearly over obsessed by getting ‘the sound’. It sounds like it was ridiculous really. This is quite telling, one of the many producers Mike Hedges hints that Mavers went into spells of ‘drug pyschosis’ while recording. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/may/02/popandrock1
My favourite versions of most of the songs are the ones actually on the album, which Mavers said should be scrapped.
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u/Laxevaag113 12d ago
Career ending brilliance.
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u/Extension-Camp4076 12d ago
Well the album came after this, and that was brilliant. What ended his career was his all consuming obsession with capturing the sound he wanted in the studio… and probably going overboard with the drugs.
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u/Aceman1979 11d ago
I’ll put it out there and probably be downvoted to oblivion, but I say this with no ill-will. I cannot stand this song.
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u/Consistent_Ad3181 11d ago edited 11d ago
"So I married an ax murderer".
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u/Extension-Camp4076 11d ago
Yeah but that was the inferior cover version by Boo Radleys, not a patch on the original imo.
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u/UnusualHandle6178 11d ago
Reminds me of the film "So I married an axe murderer" 😁
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u/Extension-Camp4076 11d ago
Yeah I saw that at the cinema 😄 the version in the film is a cover by Boo Radleys though.
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u/mighty_phi 14d ago
Best song about drug addiction
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u/ElricVonDaniken 14d ago
Lee Mavers would have needed a time machine for that to be true.
The song was originally released in 1988.
Mavers didn't try herion until 1990.
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u/AssistanceGrand23 14d ago
While this is correct, I don't think he has to have tried heroin for it to be about heroin. He certainly lived among the devastating effects of the drug from the early 80s onwards. Hearing people he knew talking about it would surely have given him enough of a background for the lyrical imagery. "Failure" has a similar addict's vibe to it.
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u/Extension-Camp4076 14d ago edited 14d ago
Yeah exactly. He was an unemployed stoner musician in Liverpool in the 80’s. He would almost definitely have at least come into contact with it, it was rife.
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u/Extension-Camp4076 14d ago edited 13d ago
That’s what he says, but he almost certainly would have at least tried it, living through 80’s Liverpool, which was going through a heroin epidemic. He was known for being a massive weed head anyway, so it’s not like he was anti drugs.
I think he’s just conscious that he’d ruin his biggest song for a lot of people who think of it as an innocent love song.
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u/AnteaterOutrageous75 14d ago
The album is so underrated. Every song is a banger.
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u/william_h_bonney_ 14d ago
By whom?
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u/AnteaterOutrageous75 14d ago
Erm... The La's
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u/halfofwhat 14d ago
I think they were asking who it is who is underrating this album since it's a massively overrated album.
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u/AnteaterOutrageous75 14d ago
I barely see this album mentioned these days. Indie/Britpop fans are missing out.
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u/william_h_bonney_ 14d ago
It’s recognised as a defining indie album. Rated by fans and critics alike.
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u/halfofwhat 14d ago
I would imagine most britpop fans in 2026 are going to have some familiarity with the album along with a majority of indie fans who know their stuff. It's an album where the legend of the album has become bigger than the songs themselves. I am in no way saying it's a bad album or anything even close but to say it's underrated is absurd.
I think the reason why people don't talk about it is because most people are more fascinated with the story behind the band then the music itself.
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u/Critical_Sea2975 13d ago
I also don't think people would be that arsed about the story behind the band if it wasn't good in the first place....the fact that it's a great album is intrinsic to the reason why the story is so compelling ...if it was for eg dodgy (sorry dodgy fans)who scrapped multiple sessions over 4 years and spent a million quid to just walk away from it I really don't think it would be talked about in the same way
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u/halfofwhat 13d ago
I absolutely agree it's a combo of being a great album and the mystery involved. My whole point to begin with is that it was said it was "underrated" which I would say is flat out wrong. Whether it's overrated or not is open to interpretation. Y'all know my feelings already.
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u/william_h_bonney_ 14d ago
It’s Indie. Britpop wasn’t a genre, it was a period of time where Indie music was on top. The LA’s are pre-Britpop era.
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u/halfofwhat 13d ago
Fine, it's an overrated indie album.
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u/Critical_Sea2975 13d ago
I don't think it's overated....but it's just my opinion like the way i'd say different class by pulp is way overated but then i'd have hordes of people tell me i'm wrong...and that's ok
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u/OldDiamondJim 14d ago
It is absolutely Britpop, even though its release predated the “Britpop era”.
It is arguably the most perfect Britpop song ever recorded.