Artist: 'til Tuesday Video: In all its glory.
“Voices Carry” is quite simply a great song. From ‘til Tuesday’s debut album, it is their most successful single, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band recorded three albums together, breaking up in 1988. In 1993, Aimee Mann began a successful solo career that continues to this day.
The song is about an abusive relationship. It features a woman struggling with her desire to express herself and her wishes to please her boyfriend, who wants to control every aspect of her behavior. Quite a bold narrative choice and certainly not the typical 80’s pop song.
The video is absolutely classic. It won the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in 1985. The greatest and most famous scene takes place in Carnegie Hall. Mann shocks the stoic audience by singing at full volume, causing deep embarrassment to her controlling boyfriend.
From start to finish the video is packed with unintentional comedy. It features awesome spoken-word sections from Mr. Control Freak in the intro and before the bridge. “You know, this little hobby of yours has gone too far!” He mercilessly ridicules her musical aspirations. The degree to which he is a complete asshole makes Aimee Mann’s final rebellion that much more satisfying.
This is the last song in the streak of favorites that began with “Smooth Operator” at #77. Unfortunately, the tide is about to turn.
I loved that video. Well, I still do.
ReplyDeleteIt was one of the first times I was ever exposed to the fact that pretty women were often attracted to douchebags. Yes, they can be sweet and surprise you with a necklace...but other times, they show up and try to tell you to give up on your dreams. And engage in rough foreplay (at least rough enough to stay in MTV rotation circa 1985) after you've gone on and done your own thing anyway.
I definitely took notice of the video at the time.