Though we’ll always stand up for the 1980s as a massive decade in the history of music, it’s fair to say there are many hits from that era that don’t hold up all that well. And then there’s ‘Til Tuesday’s “Voices Carry,” which sounds as fresh and relevant today as when it was first released in 1985.
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What is the song about? What inspired Aimee Mann, ‘Til Tuesday’s lead singer and chief songwriter, to compose it? And how did the song’s unforgettable video play into its success? Hush, hush, now, so we can tell you the story of “Voices Carry.”
Tuesday Has a Feel
‘Til Tuesday always gets lumped in with other ’80s one-hit wonders, but that’s never felt fair. For one, they did hit the Top 40 again with “What About Love,” the lead single off their sophomore album (Welcome Home) in 1986. And that label also diminishes all that Aimee Mann has done as a solo artist, as she has become one of the most celebrated singer/songwriters of her era.
But the label sticks because “Voices Carry” was such a riveting song when it arrived in 1985. ‘Til Tuesday had formed a few years earlier in the Boston area. They received their big break when they won a local battle of the bands-style contest on a radio station, which greased the wheels for them to be signed to a major label (Epic Records).
Mann wrote the lyrics to all of ‘Til Tuesday’s songs, while she and the rest of the band (Robert Holmes, Joey Pesce, and Michael Hausman) composed the music. Hausman and Mann had ended a romantic relationship around the time they made their debut album, which informed many of Mann’s lyrics on the record. But not (at least directly) the title track and breakout hit.
Hearing “Voices”
Aimee Mann explained to Conan O’Brien the origins of “Voices Carry”:
“I wrote it about a friend of mine—a male friend—who was talking about a relationship where the girl didn’t want to be affectionate with him in public, like, ‘Keep your voice down, don’t tell people we’re going out.’ The reason I related to that story was because of my history.”
Mann flipped the script on that a bit, painting the portrait of a girl who’s being held at arm’s length by her emotionally rigid boyfriend. She wonders if he’s hiding the reasons he wants her to stay quiet about her feelings.
The iconic video for the song added another layer of meaning. In that clip, Mann is suffering from verbal abuse at the hands of a boorish oaf. She gets her revenge by singing at the top of her lungs in the audience at a performance, shocking the high-society crowd with her look and behavior.
Behind the Lyrics of “Voices Carry”
“Voices Carry” shows that, even though she was just starting out as a recording artist, Mann’s ability to deliver cutting couplets was already in place. Her narrator finds herself caught betwixt and between: I’m in the dark, I’d like to read his mind / But I’m frightened of the things I might find. Her efforts to get close to him are rebuffed by his constantly shushing her: Hush, hush, keep it down now / Voices carry.
Mann hints at a bad temper awaiting her character if she speaks up: Because I know all the trouble I’ll get. She’s unable to express herself: Oh he tells me tears are something to hide and something to fear. In the middle eight, she finally admits to herself he’s only happy with her when he’s holding her back: He wants me, but only part of the time / He wants me if he can keep me in line.
In the final moments of the song (which the video uses to great effect), this guy’s exhortations become much more uncouth: He said shut up, he said to shut up / Oh God can’t you keep it down? ‘Til Tuesday’s “Voices Carry” ended up being an anthem of empowerment by bringing to light all the slyly sinister ways some people would try to tamp that power down.
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Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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