Here's Where The Story Ends

I see it as meaning the following;

A girl is in a relationship with a boy, but ends it thinking there was nothing strong between them. She looks back on the year they had, and realises that it's only after she's ended the relationship she's realised just how much she loved being part of it. Little things around her make her remember what happened (souvenirs), things reminding her of the 'time in the shed' (a private event between them, perhaps the first time they kissed or had sex) and the time spent with him, things she took with her without realising how much they would remind her of him.

Now as she walks down the street she sees people together, people with purpose all seeming to look down on her, and she feels as though she has no real connection, as though they are part of an exclusive club of which she is not a part. But when she remembers the time spent with the boy, it was their own little exclusive club, and she smiles, and realises she ended it to try and find some relationship more akin to what she sees in the people around her, and yet because she ended it feels more alone and distant than she ever did. And now all she is left with is a cynical view of the world, and the time she spent with him is over, and that's where the story ends, and reality returns.

Just how I see it :) It's a beautiful song that captures moments between friends and lovers perfectly, those memories you don't see as golden until you lose what it was that made you the way you were, and look back and smile, yet realise it's lost. Ah :)

I think this song is about a person who is aliented from society ("I'm on the outside") due to her inability to resolve past issues. She undergoes an emotional journey when rehashing the events that took place during this time of her life.

Her feelings flow from regret/guilt ("I never should have said the books that you read were all I loved you for"), to embarrassment/vulnerability ("The memories of your shed make me turn red") and to blame/accountability ("The devil in me said go down to the shed").

She eventually sees the humor/irony and the good things that came from the situation. For example, during most of the song she states that the "little souvenir" "makes my eyes feel sore" and "makes me wonder why," whereas the lyrics near the end state that the little souvenir "makes me smile inside." Moreover, as another reviewer stated she refers to the once "terrible" year as "colorful" towards the end of the song.

As much as she wants to be completely upset, she can't. Life is bittersweet. Sometimes it takes time to process things and appreciate the value of past experiences. I think the title, "Here's where the story ends," means letting go of resentment, attitudes, memories, and/or relationships.

It's a great song and record. She's an excellent singer. I know Harriet Wheeler's friend Tara Kooperman. As a New York songwriter for 18 years ('80's-'90's) who's also the same age as Harriet, I can tell you how these things are made. She probably had the title and then made a poem. The "little souvenir" represents a child, but most likely is also a book, since during the break-up fight in the storyline, she tells him that all she really loved was that he was cultured and he probably gave her the book as a first present. In "the shed", she likely gave him unconventional sex many times. (plural: "memories"). The character's now more mature and blushes at how much she desired him. It's a sad, yet pretty tune from 20 years ago! Thanks for keeping it alive. (Chappell sure forgot they have it in their catalog.) Great arrangement by her (now) husband and his melody is obviously coaxed by her vocal range and musical ideas.

It reminds me of a brief relationship I had when I was 18. I think she dated this boy who she thought was more witty and social than her and all the people around them, like his friends maybe, as well. She's thinks down on herself...she's "on the outside" and she can't find the right things to say...everything she "wanted to say was wrong". She was smart and loved that he was smart, but felt like she wasn't smart enough for him. But when they were alone..."down in the shed"...he liked her just fine and she gave in and was with him and they connected. But they never could connect outside that shed and after a "terrible year" of trying to connect and fit in with him and his friends, she gave up and the story ended.

I'm afraid I seem to vaguely remember an interview from the time where she said it was about an abusive relationship (maybe with someone older?) thus the shame the victim feels and the surprise in the shed.

Now it reminds me of The Reader (Der Vorleser).

The change from 'It's that little souveneir of a terrible year' to 'colourful year' should happen in everybody's life - fantastic song words. What happened in the shed?

This song is from around 1993. The Sundays have been on hiatus since the early 90's. So it couldn't be about the tsunami. Unless Harriet has psychic powers. Scary! This is a great song. So addictive; melancholic in a llight and bouncy way.

maybe the little souvenir is a little case of the chlamydia. hee, hee. i like this song.

I think this song isn't about a particularly serious relationship, but rather something the character viewed as more of a fling. I understand the shed to be a brief sexual encounter. I think the souvenir in question is an actual book. The souvenir makes her eyes sore, not from crying, but perhaps in a more literal sense of looking at it too long, thinking about what happened. She loved the guy this song is about, not in a literal sense, but in a she was interested in him sense. After all it was only for his books, so it couldn't have been real love. She liked him because of his taste in books, but all she really wanted in the end was the brief sexual encounter. He must have thought there was more to it, and was heart broken when he realized it wasn't. The shame the character feels is from everyone hearing from that guy what she did to him, and her probably feeling somewhat guilty about it. She has "a reputation" now. By the song's end however, she's over it and doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks. She's ready to put the experience behind her and move on. She had sex with a guy she didn't really care about. So what.

I feel this song is about the disconnect you can feel with the world when you are in your teens. Prob with a hint of depression as well. The singer is feelings like she does not belong. Then there is this other person, who apparently likes her...when nobody else did and when she felt she could not connect with people. But at the time she could not accept that and pushed him/her away. Afterwards she always felt ashamed about her behavior, because this was a highlight in a year that otherwise was terrible. Now that she is older she has let go of some of that guilt, and can also see it for what it was....a special connection that still means a lot to her because it helped her in a very difficult time.