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.
Could've Been Anyone
Aimee Mann Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Its hard not to put all the blame on you
cause you knew from the start
There was one little part you would not let through
Im sure there were even moments when you thought
You might someday finish what you'd begun,
But that could've been anyone
I lost my place in the sun
Well, never mind
It could've been anyone.
So we all make mistakes
It just figures you'd make me the biggest one
I was saving it up
Now its spent and I don't know
What I spent it on
Now I find if you try hard enough
You can wear it down til its just about gone,
til you could've been anyone
You could've been anyone
Lost your place in the sun
Well, never mind
Could've been anyone.
Your pattern is different
Than what it implies
The words may be true but
I realize
It isn't description so much as disguise.
Don't worry, you can learn to live without
You've got a lifetime of that to draw upon
And anyway
It could've been anyone
You lost your place in the sun
Lost your place in the sun
Oh, you lost your place in the sun
Well, never mind
It could've been anyone
Never mind
Never mind
(I think that's enough now)
The song "Could've Been Anyone" by Aimee Mann is a reflection on a past relationship that did not work out. The lyrics express the singer's mixed emotions of anger, disappointment, and regret towards her partner who she feels is to be blamed for the end of their relationship. The song begins with Mann confessing that it is hard for her not to blame her partner, as they knew from the start that certain things would not work out between them. She highlights the fact that her partner had opportunities to make things work but failed to follow through. Mann bemoans the fact that despite her efforts, she still ended up losing her place in the sun, a metaphor for losing her chance at happiness.
In the second verse, Mann acknowledges that making mistakes is human, but her partner's mistake was the biggest one she had experienced. She mentions that she feels like she has wasted her youth and energy on the relationship that did not work, and she has nothing to show for it. Mann concludes that even though it was her partner who caused the relationship to fail, anyone could have been in their shoes. The chorus repeats the idea that losing one's place in the sun could have happened to anyone.
The final verse contains a twist in the story. Mann turns the focus from her partner to herself, stating that she had been guilty of disguising her true nature, just like her partner. She encourages her partner to move on from the failed relationship because they have their whole life ahead of them to find happiness. The song ends with Mann repeating "never mind" dismissively, implying that she has learned to let go of the past and move on.
Line by Line Meaning
Its so hard not to blame you
It's difficult to not put all blame on you
cause you knew from the start
Because you were aware from the beginning
There was one little part you would not let through
You held onto one small part and wouldn't let it go
Im sure there were even moments when you thought
I'm certain there were moments when you considered
You might someday finish what you'd begun
Completing what you started may have been possible
But that could've been anyone
Anyone could have done it, not just you
I lost my place in the sun
I fell from success and happiness
Well, never mind
Well, it doesn't matter now
So we all make mistakes
Everyone makes errors
It just figures you'd make me the biggest one
It's not surprising that I was your largest error
I was saving it up
I was holding onto it
Now its spent and I don't know
Now it's gone and I don't know
What I spent it on
What I used it for
Now I find if you try hard enough
Now I realize that with enough effort
You can wear it down til its just about gone
You can diminish it until it's almost disappeared
til you could've been anyone
To the point where you could have been anyone, not just you
Your pattern is different
Your behavior is atypical
Than what it implies
Different than what it suggests
The words may be true but
The statements could be accurate, but
I realize
I understand now
It isn't description so much as disguise
It's not so much a depiction as it is camouflage
Don't worry, you can learn to live without
Don't fret, you can adapt to living without
You've got a lifetime of that to draw upon
You have a whole lifetime to use as a reference for that
And anyway
Besides,
Lost your place in the sun
Fell from success and happiness
Oh, you lost your place in the sun
Oh, you fell from success and happiness
Well, never mind
Well, it doesn't matter now
Never mind
It's not important
(I think that's enough now)
(I believe that concludes it)
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: AIMEE MANN, JULES SHEAR, MARTY WILLSON-PIPER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind