Peak
14
Weeks
19
Score
2,132
Chart Year
1991
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This 1990 single from The Rembrandts' self-titled debut LP hit the charts around the world and got the group's career off to a big start. It peaked at #14 in the US and charted in many other countries as well, hitting the Top 10 in France, Austria, and Germany. The lyrics are about a man who's in a dead-end relationship with a woman who used him for a casual fling and spurned his efforts to make it serious. The song ends with the woman returning to the man for another try, but he says that while he had fun with her, it's too late for anything more and "that's just the way it is." >> Aside from being the duo's first single, it was also the first song they - Danny Wilde and Phil Solem - wrote together as the Rembrandts. According to Wilde, they wrote most of it in 2 1/2 hours and honed the lyrics for two weeks. "For Phil and I, the song's meaning is something we can relate to personally," he told the Pennsylvania publication The Morning Call in 1991. "When we do the live show, we have one person Phil and I sort of dedicate the song to, a woman named Leah who we double dated. No, it wasn't really double dating. She was going out with both of us at the same time without either of us knowing it. We haven't seen her since 1980." Wilde on the moment Leah discovered her secret boyfriends knew about each other: "Phil and I both walked into a shoe store in 1979. We both said, 'Hi, Leah.' Her jaw dropped when she saw us together." This was used in two episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210: "One on One" (1990) and "It's Only a Test" (1991).
Do you remember once upon a time When you were mine The stars above were bright and new I pulled them down for you Just when I fell in love again You said that all good things must end Baby, that's just the way it is Baby Baby, that's just the way it is Baby I never had a head for solitaire It's so unfair That I'd should have my chance and lose Feel like I've been used to help you Through another night You spelled in out in black and white Baby, that's just the way it is Baby Baby, that's just the way it is Baby The tides that had once carried you away They bring you back again today Time has washed away my pain You'll find that things have changed And disappeared without a trace You can't get back what you've erased And I say Baby, that's just the way it is Baby That's just the way it is Baby, that's just the way it is Baby That's just the way it is Baby, that's just the way it is Baby Baby, that's just the way it is Baby Baby, that's just the way it is Baby Baby, that's just the way it is Baby Baby, that's just the way it is Baby Baby, that's just the way it is Baby
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feb 9, 1991 | 89 | 37 |
| 2 | Feb 16, 1991 | 68 | 58 |
| 3 | Feb 23, 1991 | 53 | 73 |
| 4 | Mar 2, 1991 | 49 | 77 |
| 5 | Mar 9, 1991 | 42 | 84 |
| 6 | Mar 16, 1991 | 34 | 92 |
| 7 | Mar 23, 1991 | 33 | 93 |
| 8 | Mar 30, 1991 | 28 | 98 |
| 9 | Apr 6, 1991 | 23 | 103 |
| 10 | Apr 13, 1991 | 22 | 104 |
| 11 | Apr 20, 1991 | 18 | 108 |
| 12 | Apr 27, 1991 | 14 | 112 |
| 13 | May 4, 1991 | 22 | 104 |
| 14 | May 11, 1991 | 37 | 89 |
| 15 | May 18, 1991 | 47 | 79 |
| 16 | May 25, 1991 | 60 | 66 |
| 17 | Jun 1, 1991 | 72 | 54 |
| 18 | Jun 8, 1991 | 83 | 43 |
| 19 | Jun 15, 1991 | 95 | 31 |