"Can't Be Sure" is the 1989 debut single by the British

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and su ...

group

The Sundays The Sundays were an English alternative rock band, formed in the late 1980s, which released three albums throughout the 1990s. The band's beginnings came with the meeting of singer Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin while attending ...

. It was the first (and in the United Kingdom, only) single to be released from their album '' Reading, Writing and Arithmetic'', which was released a year later. The B-side was "I Kicked a Boy", which also appeared on the album. The 12" single contained an additional, non-album track, "Don't Tell Your Mother". The single reached number 45 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and number 74 in Australia, and it was voted number one in John Peel's

Festive Fifty The Festive Fifty was originally an annual list of the year's 50 (though the exact figure varied above and below this number) best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. It was usually do ...

for 1989.

Lyrical content

The song's lyrical theme is "desire", treated as a general concept rather than being directed towards anything or anyone in particular. :''And did you know desire's a terrible thing?'' :''The worst that I can find'' :''Did you know desire's a terrible thing?'' :''But I rely on mine.'' By the song's closing refrain, the song's narrator appears to have come to terms with, if not necessarily resolved, the dichotomy: :''And it's my love, And it's my life'' :''And though I can't be sure if I want any more'' :''It will come to me later.''

Charts

References

1989 debut singles The Sundays songs Songs written by Harriet Wheeler 1989 songs Rough Trade Records singles UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles {{1980s-single-stub