Mann attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out to sing with her first punk rock band, the Young Snakes; the band released the EP Bark Along with the Young Snakes in 1982, and a compilation album was issued in 2004. In 1983, seeking a return to "sweetness and melody", she co-founded with Berklee classmate and boyfriend Michael Hausman the new wave band 'Til Tuesday, which achieved minor success in 1985 with its first album, Voices Carry. The title song is said to be inspired by Hausman and Mann's breakup; the video became an MTV staple, winning the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist, though Mann's signature spiky hair would lead some to dismiss the group. Mann performed with the rock band Rush on the song "Time Stand Still" (from Hold Your Fire, 1987), singing backup vocals and appearing in the music video. With Mann playing an increasingly important role in songwriting, 'Til Tuesday released two more albums, Welcome Home and Everything's Different Now. On the final album and tour, musician Jon Brion joined the band, which broke up in 1990 when Mann left to start her solo career.
Around the time of the first album's release, Mann began a romantic relationship with Jules Shear; they broke up before the final 'Til Tuesday album, which contained the song "J For Jules". Professional relationships from the band would continue: Hausman later became Mann's manager, and Brion produced her first two solo albums.
Solo career
In 1993, Mann released Whatever, her first solo album. Promotion suffered due to the collapse of her label, Imago. While only a small hit, the album was critically praised, and paved the way for her next release, 1995's I'm with Stupid, through Geffen Records. Again, reviews were positive, but sales were weak.
Mann had met musician Michael Penn in the 1980s and with comparable songwriting styles and record-industry woes to share, they struck up a friendship during the recording of Stupid, which blossomed into romance and their 1997 marriage. Around this time Brion produced her album Bachelor No. 2, but Geffen saw no hit singles in the material and ordered her back to the studio. The album languished while Mann and the label fought.
Meanwhile, iconoclastic film auteur Paul Thomas Anderson, for whom Penn and Brion had composed a soundtrack, became a close friend. Mann gained greater public recognition in 1999 — indeed, more than anything else since "Voices Carry" — when she contributed eight songs to the soundtrack of Anderson's Magnolia, including the Academy Award-nominated song, "Save Me". Anderson deliberately worked from Mann's lyrics to create the film's characters and situations. Due to this exposure, Mann became sought after to contribute to soundtracks, a success made ironic by the music industry's indifference.
Independence
Fed up with both ineffectual promotion and artistic meddling by her record label, an experience documented in her song "Calling It Quits", she struck out on her own and founded SuperEgo Records in 1999. Mann self-released Bachelor No. 2 in 2000 (see 2000 in music), having negotiated a contract release from Geffen, and though initially only sold at concerts and via her website, the album became successful, allowing her to secure retail distribution through SuperEgo. The album, which included some songs from Magnolia and new material, was widely admired and Mann's "more indie than indie" success was carefully noted by other musicians.
Mann, Penn, Brion, Fiona Apple, and other musicians had by this time developed a subculture around the Largo nightclub in L.A. Penn and Mann formed a concept called Acoustic Vaudeville to recreate it on tour in California and eventually on an irregular, ongoing national tour. The Acoustic Vaudeville shows intermix music and stand-up comedy; among the comedians joining them for individual shows were Janeane Garofalo, Patton Oswalt, and David Cross.
Aimee continued her solo career with Lost in Space (2002), a somewhat more sombre album in the same vein as Bachelor No. 2. In 2004 her website released the Lost in Space Special Edition, which featured a second disc containing six live recordings, as well two B-sides and two previously unreleased songs. In November of that year Live at St. Ann's Warehouse, a live album and DVD recorded at a series of July 2004 shows in Brooklyn, came out; the two discs were sold packaged together in either a CD jewel case or a DVD case.
Mann described her next album, The Forgotten Arm (2005) as a concept album set in the '70s about two lovers who meet at the Virginia state fair and are now on the run. The Joe Henry-produced album, which was recorded mostly live and has few overdubs, was released May 3, 2005. The album reflects Mann's interest in boxing in its illustrations as well as its title, derived from a boxing move in which one arm is used to hit the opponent, causing him to "forget" about the other arm, which is then used to deliver a harsher blow. The album received weaker reviews overall, with critics impressed at the totality but unimpressed with any individual songs.
In October 2006 Aimee released 'One More Drifter in The Snow', an album of Christmas songs. All bar one of the songs, 'Calling on Mary' were covers of holiday classics.
Mann's independence from the industry led her to more explicit political stances. She joined Artists Against Piracy, a group formed to act against the illegal downloading and file sharing of copyrighted music from the Internet. Mann, Penn and Hausman took their experience with SuperEgo to found the independent music collective United Musicians, which is based on the principle that every artist should be able to retain copyright ownership of the work he or she has created, in contrast to normal music industry contracts.
June 2008 brought the release of '@#%&*! Smilers,' a collection of songs featuring greater use of keyboards. Aimee's set at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in the same month featured a number of selections from the new album as well as a number of her concert standards. Aimee and her band covered Elton John's 'My Father's Gun' as part of the set.
All Over Now
Aimee Mann Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You a cavalier
Inch became a light year
It was pathetic
Oh you can write the play
And every word I say
But I don't have to stay
To see the credits
'Cause it's all over now
Yes it's all over now
And I'm free
I was one of few
Who'd stick up for you
And so you never knew
You were a punch line
I could not convince or trust you
To pick up on my hints, must you
Leave your fingerprints
On everything I called mine
Well that's all over now
Yes it's all over now
And I'm free
Yes I'm free
From your interference
Which had the appearance
Of making it clear that
It's got nothing to do with me
It's got nothing to do with me
It's got nothing to do with me
It's got nothing to do with me
And I warn you now
The velocity I'm gathering
In Aimee Mann's song "All Over Now," she reflects on a past relationship that has come to an end. The opening lines, "Though I let you steer, You a cavalier, Inch became a light year, It was pathetic," suggest that she allowed her partner to take control of the relationship but the distance continued to grow between them. The next lines, "Oh you can write the play, And every word I say, But I don't have to stay, To see the credits," reveal that she is aware of the manipulation in the relationship but she has decided it's time to end things.
The chorus, "Cause it's all over now, Yes it's all over now, And I'm free" highlights Mann's relief at the end of the relationship. The following lines reveal that Mann had been loyal to her partner and stood up for him even when others had not. However, her partner failed to understand or appreciate that and continued to disrespect her possessions and identity. The second verse concludes with the line, "Well that's all over now, Yes it's all over now, And I'm free, Yes I'm free," signifying the definitive end of the relationship and Mann's newfound freedom.
In the third and final verse, Mann acknowledges that her partner's interference in her life only served to distance himself from her. "From your interference, Which had the appearance, Of making it clear that, It's got nothing to do with me," suggests that he was unable to recognize and respect her boundaries. The final repetition of "It's got nothing to do with me" seems to be Mann's way of telling herself and her partner that she is moving on and that his actions have no effect on her now. The final line, "And I warn you now, The velocity I'm gathering," is a powerful statement indicating that Mann is moving on strongly and is not looking back.
Line by Line Meaning
Though I let you steer
Although I allowed you to take control
You a cavalier
You were reckless with my heart
Inch became a light year
Time with you seemed to drag on forever
It was pathetic
Our relationship had become sad and pitiful
Oh you can write the play
You have the power to control the story of our relationship
And every word I say
You can manipulate my words to fit your narrative
But I don't have to stay
I have the freedom to leave
To see the credits
I don't need to stick around until the end
'Cause it's all over now
Our relationship has ended
Yes it's all over now
There's no going back
And I'm free
I'm liberated from the burden of our relationship
I was one of few
I was one of a small number of people
Who'd stick up for you
I defended you
And so you never knew
You were unaware
You were a punch line
You were the subject of jokes
I could not convince or trust you
I couldn't persuade or rely on you
To pick up on my hints, must you
Why couldn't you understand my subtle messages?
Leave your fingerprints
You left your mark on everything
On everything I called mine
On all my possessions
Well that's all over now
But that's all in the past now
And I'm free
I'm free from your influence
Yes I'm free
I have my independence back
From your interference
From your meddling in my life
Which had the appearance
Which seemed like it was helpful or necessary
Of making it clear that
To show that
It's got nothing to do with me
It has nothing to do with my intentions or desires
And I warn you now
I'm telling you in advance
The velocity I'm gathering
The momentum I'm building
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: CONWAN, RUSSELL, WILKINS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind