Isn’t it funny no matter how dour or depressing the lyrics may be “In a pool sinking, water fills my mouth, sole victim of your own terror, cold flesh as the air runs out” Harriet’s voice still makes you smile. Even as she sings of drowning, you feel this irrepressible smile spread across your face – nothing she sings could make you feel depressed.

I was in Lowe’s Hardware Store last week (July 20, 2010) and “Here’s Where the Story Ends” came on the store radio. I started laughing and dancing in the aisle, it must have been quite a sight to see a 40-year-old acting like a teenager, but I thoroughly enjoyed the moment.

Thank you Sundays.

Peace,
Israel

I discovered The Sundays music in the fall of 2007 when I was a freshman in high school. Whatever day that was, I went shopping with my mom at Bannana Republic.’Here’s Where The Story Ends’ was playing on the speakers and I instantly fell in love with Harriet’s voice and the band’s music. I got home and listened to every song I could. I think it was 2 years ago when I got Reading, Writing and Arithmetic and Static and Silece for Christmas. Best gifts ever.

(I was devistated when my motherboard died last year and I lost a couple of rare songs – ‘Don’t Tell Your Mother’ and ‘What Do You Think.’)

It’s 2010 now, I am a senior, and I still play the two albums I have in my car almost every day.

I just discovered them a few months ago and as cheesy and dramatic as it sounds, their music truly has breathed a new life into me in so many ways. Even when the lyrics are on the dour side, there’s just something about Harriet’s voice and the band’s sound that’s just so revitalizing and welcoming. I would love so much to have the opportunity to see them in concert and to experience a new Sundays album properly. I always take comfort in seeing the comments here, knowing I’m not alone and that so many people are still infatuated with the Sundays after so many years, or (like me) are still discovering them and becoming instantly smitten.

Funny story how I got introduced to the Sundays. I remember loving a band called Sixpence None The Richer so much, during my graduation at Primary School. I listened frequently to a song called ‘A Million Parachutes’ and never tired from it. I’d literally run home just to listen to the song on the computer (I was never able to afford an mp3 player or an Ipod) and I’d always be sad as I moved houses and never got to see my dear friends again, cause we just parted ways and disconnected. Possibly the reason why I loved the Sixpence None The Richer song so much. Then come one day, I grew tired of the song (I still love it), but I wanted to hear a band which was similar in terms of style music. I tried all of them and this included the Sundays, which was frequently who they were compared to.

Strangely enough, I never liked the ‘old’ Sixpence None The Richer, which was what 2/3rd of the Sundays whole discography was akin to. So when I first listened to Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, I was generally kind of lukewarm towards it. Only Here’s Where The Story Ends appealed to me, as it seemed timeless and most ‘Sixpence-like’ through the whole record. Blind was worse, where I couldn’t really ‘get into’ any of the songs (i was young back then, and I was still quite happy listening to the junk that’s present in the radio which seems to be quite prevalent from all those years ago, where it’s beats and nonsensical lyrics over meaningful and great sounding songs).

Finally I gave up and didn’t listen to a lot of music for awhile. And then it was about 3 years ago, where I was kind of disheartened that there wasn’t a lot of bands that were good, in the sense of being incredibly emotive through lyrics and a beautiful voice.

Then I rediscovered the Sundays through a youtube video of if I remember correctly an A Camp video (a band who features the woman who sings in The Cardigans) where even those she spoke Swedish and I couldn’t really understand, I think she talked about one of her inspirations being The Sundays and their song My Finest Hour. It was at that point where I thought to myself, “wow that is an amazing song!”, cause it despite it being quite full of hope, there was an incredible sadness, a longing that I could relate to completely. And Harriet’s voice just resonated within me that I even ended up crying (which i never really do). Funnily enough I had no recollection of the Sundays then, as it was 3 years after my first listen to Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. Having bought the records already, I sat down and listened to it again, and completely fell in love with them straight after.

I listened to Static and Silence first, where all the tracks were reminiscent to very mainstream, adult-contemporary pop, which I loved but there was something special about The Sundays, I could never pinpoint. A sense of magic would just spiral in my mind and my heart whenever I listened to their songs. A great favourite of mine was ‘Cry’ where there was a sad point in my life where I had to say another tearful farewell to someone I held dear to my heart, while songs like ‘Summertime’ gave me so much hope for times where I felt distressed over things never going my way. And ‘When I’m Thinking About You’ is the song I hear every day, when I meet someone who brightens my spirits through an ordinary day through their presence and nature alone. What wonderful songs they all are!

I worked my way through backwards, listening to Blind next and instantly falling in love with songs such as ‘Goodbye’, ‘Love’, ‘Medicine’ and their cover of ‘Wild Horses’. The listening experience, was breathtaking, where the reverberation and ethereal quality of the arrangements and Harriet Wheeler’s voice was nothing but spectacular. Finally, I had listened to Reading, Writing and Arithmetic again and unlike before, I quickly got into the songs, where there were standouts such as ‘Skin and Bones’, ‘Here’s Where The Story Ends’, ‘Can’t Be Sure’, ‘You’re Not The Only One I Know’, ‘My Finest Hour’ and ‘Joy’, but much like all The Sundays albums, every song is like an experience and it is from this incredible band that I got through so much from the past 2 years till now, where I am still listening to their amazing music.

I guess what makes this funny, is that unlike many, I didn’t like them much to start off with, but from what I figured out, The Sundays are very much a band where they ‘grow’ on you. Every listen, you become more interested and more enchanted by their beautiful music. The jangly guitar, the little intricate details you can pick up through a very focused listen and the gentle relaxation and elation that you feel at the beginning to the end of a song.

I’m so incredibly happy for discovering their music yet again, they are an incredible band. And I must show gratitude to the band and fans alike for sharing their songs, enthusiasm and moments which has been a blessing into this world.

C.

The words was “It’s that little souvenir of a terrible year” and is now my deep better song of the world. Thanks Sundays, and some day you will return to us. The universe is waiting the voice and the guitar…

cheers

Jeff from Oxford (USA)

Anyway, I found 20+ concert pics of a very young, cute Harriet on a Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?aid=-1&view=all&oid=129395942996&s=0&hash=6dd109faee968ec49018a7f32817a7b8
Also a nice CD signing event pic:
http://sk-sk.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3265334&op=2&o=global&view=global&subj=2381314742&id=729447720

Happy birthday, Harriet. I love you just as much today as I did more than a decade ago.