Modern Rock Tracks No. 1s - The Sundays and "Here’s Where the Story Ends"
The Sundays make heartbreak sound beautiful and bracing
Note: For today’s Substack, I’m both excited and honored to present this guest post from Mark Blankenship, author of The Lost Songs Project. His Substack is all about rediscovering top 10 hits from a wide variety of genres which have been discarded throughout music history and are often forgotten or vaguely remembered. Mark has covered pop music for The New York Times, Variety, and iHeartRadio, among others, and co-hosts the podcast “Mark and Sarah Talk About Songs.” Check out Mark’s work on The Lost Songs Project, and take some time out to enjoy this excellent review of the latest Modern Rock Tracks chart topper from The Sundays. —Matt
The Sundays - “Here’s Where the Story Ends”
Weeks atop the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart: 1 (May 26, 1990)
Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers during this time:
Madonna - “Vogue” (5/26/90, 2 total weeks)
There’s just so much beauty in the alternative rock of the late 80s and early-to-mid 90s. In between their bouts of hard rock yowling, grunge bands like Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins delivered lush songs like “Daughter” and “1979.” Portishead added supper-club sophistication to their electronic beats, and Mazzy Star proved you could make something pretty from a dirge-like style.
And of course, beloved bands like The Smiths, R.E.M., and 10,000 Maniacs all built their careers on songs that, whatever their subject matter, were reliably gorgeous. The Sundays were part of their scene, with a Smiths-like penchant for writing catchy toe-tappers about their misery. This is apparent on “Here’s Where The Story Ends,” their biggest American hit.
The somewhat cryptic lyrics suggest that singer Harriet Wheeler is trapped in the memory of a disastrous love affair that still brings her shame. Something happened in a shed that she’s not proud of. She made some cutting remarks to her former partner about only loving him for his books. In the chorus, she sings about having “a little souvenir” of that “terrible year,” and it’s up to us to decide what that means. Is the souvenir her emotional baggage? A baby? A scar? A snow globe? The specifics are less important than the ache.
And yet the song is delightful. The sunny acoustic guitar could soundtrack a karaoke video of people spinning around on a beach. The chorus melody, enhanced by a steady bass and a chiming electric guitar, is instantly hummable. And Wheeler’s vocal is somehow both ethereal and powerful. She sings in a high register, but she’s never breathy, which is often what makes a vocal like that feel wan. Instead, she’s got the power to sustain yearning notes that suggest what a lonely woman would sing on a windy moor.
All this makes the song magical. Pitchfork put it at #194 on their list of the Best Songs of the 90s, where writer Ben Cardew called it an “irresistible ode to moping around in your bedroom” with a “titanically strong” melody that feels bigger than the decade in which it was made. That’s about right. The mix of sadness and loveliness makes “Here’s Where the Story Ends” the kind of record that lets you celebrate being sad. It approaches melancholy with bracing energy, because the truth is, heartbreak can be a perverse reminder you’re alive. Especially when we’re young, the pain of romantic loss is almost pleasant, because it assures us we’re joining a long, storied legacy of the beautifully distraught. Really, who wouldn’t want to spend a few days being despondent if it meant getting to sound as a good as The Sundays?
And let me stress that The Sundays in particular are the one who make “Here’s Where The Story Ends” work so well. The song wasn’t originally released as a single in their native England, but in the late ‘90s, the dance music duo Tin Tin Out hit the British top 10 with a cover featuring the singer Shelley Nelson. It’s perfectly fine, but it lacks the urgency of the original, just like a recent cover by American Idol’s Crystal Bowersox lacks Wheeler’s vocal force. The remakes underline that The Sundays’ recording is gentle but not weak.
Their beautiful-but-muscular style helped them stay popular for several more years. They reached the top 10 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart with “Love” (#2 in 1992) and “Summertime” (#10 in 1997, from their final album), and they scored two gold albums in the United States. But for Gen X-ers, the band is probably best remembered for their cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses,” which soundtracked a disturbing-yet-iconic sex scene in the 1995 movie “Fear.” Some of us will never forget Mark Wahlberg putting his finger on exactly what Reese Witherspoon needed in that roller coaster. The fact that a plaintive song by The Sundays accompanied the naughty behavior only made it juicier.
Thirty years later, The Sundays are decently remembered, considering they never became superstars. “Here’s Where the Story Ends” has been streamed over 36 million times, and their “Wild Horses” cover is close behind. This is proof, perhaps, that modern rock fans are often hungry for a lovely alternative.
Rating: 10/10
Chart Check: A look at other notable MRT chart songs from this time period
“Hey Venus” by That Petrol Emotion: This is one of the songs that inspired me to create my newsletter The Lost Songs Project. It’s an absolute monster of a pop-rock anthem that was created by some of the guys from the legendary Northern Irish band The Undertones (“Teenage Kicks”). This song peaked at #9 on the MRT chart.
“Book of Dreams” by Suzanne Vega: This was the big MRT hit from Days of Open Hand, Vega’s follow-up to her blockbuster album Solitude Standing. It’s shimmery and charming, and it makes perfect sense in a top 10 that also includes The Sundays. Plus, Shawn Colvin sings backing vocals, creating a nice connection to the singer-songwriter boom of the late 90s. “Book of Dreams” peaked at #8 on the chart.
“Pure” by The Lightning Seeds: This is one of my all-time favorite alternative rock hits. I will never be tired of it. It had already peaked at #8 by the time “Here’s Where the Story Ends” topped the chart, but I will take any opportunity to celebrate its poppy genius. If you’ve ever enjoyed a song by The Postal Service or Death Cab for Cutie, then treat yourself to “Pure.”
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