Great Songs from My Favorite Year in Music: 1985, Part 30

'Til Tuesday - "Voices Carry



(Single Release: March 1985)
I fell deeply and hopelessly in love with Aimee Mann in 1985. Guess what? 26 years later, and I'm still deeply and hopelessly in love with Aimee Mann. I've followed every step of her career since that stellar debut, Voices Carry. The voice, the look, the sound, the hair, I was head over heels about all of it. According to legend, the original version of this hit single, pegged unfairly as a "one hit wonder" (the whole album is great, trust me), had a lesbian slant to it. The song was being directed at a female companion rather than an overbearing male. But, I suppose pressure from the record company had Aimee and her bandmates change it, which, in turn, spawned a great video, but also somewhat presaged a later rebellion against the industry. Mann's transformation within the song, from the more calm, reserved, and quiet narrator, to the energetic, spirited, pissed off, and scorned woman was, and still is, powerful. Plus, Mann got to show off some fairly astounding acting skills in the video. The closing visual, of Mann ripping off her formal hat, exposing the spiky coif and rattail, making a stand and a scene all at the same time, amidst a crowd of the stuffy "elite," will stick with me forever, like a grade school crush. Maybe because that is exactly what it was. I have a friend who always thought Mann was singing "This is scary" instead of "Voices Carry," which always makes me laugh. But, in 1985, and stretching up until today, I've actually known every single lyric of the song. Though she may look back in embarrassment at stuff from this era (as I've heard her intimate on podcasts such as Comedy Bang Bang nee Death Ray), I still revere everything she's created. In fact, ever since iPods have existed in my house, "Voices Carry" has never been removed from it.