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.
Lost In Space
Aimee Mann Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To a place where planets shifting
The moon erased, it's features lifting
The glare
But I am the stuff of happy endings
Though mostly bluff, belief suspending
But close enough for just pretending
And I'm pretending to care
When I'm not even there
Gone but I don't know where
Well she's the faith and I'm the devil
Who keeps the pace and clears the rubble
And lost in space, fills up the bubble
With air
By just pretending to care
Like I'm not even there
Gone but I don't know where
It split like a cell
And man cannot tell
The lie from parallel
So baby beware
I'm just pretending to care
Like I'm not even there
Gone but I don't know where
Gone but I don't know where
Gone but I don't know where
The lyrics of "Lost In Space" by Aimee Mann evoke feelings of disconnection and loss of direction. The line "Lost in space above all drifting, to a place where planets shifting," conjures up an image of being adrift in the vast, dark expanse of outer space. The moon disappears, leaving only a blinding glare. But amidst this emptiness, the singer reveals themselves to be "the stuff of happy endings," someone who can still offer hope and optimism even in the face of uncertainty. However, they admit that their positivity is often just a facade, a way of pretending to care when they are not really present or engaged.
The second verse introduces another character - "she's the faith and I'm the devil, who keeps the pace and clears the rubble." Here, Mann appears to be using metaphorical language to describe a relationship or partnership that is fraught with tension and conflict. The person referred to as "the faith" likely represents the more optimistic partner, whereas the singer, "the devil," is a more cynical and perhaps destructive presence. The bubble referred to in the line "lost in space, fills up the bubble with air" could be seen as a protective barrier that the couple creates around themselves in order to try and maintain a sense of safety and stability. Ultimately, though, the singer admits that they are just pretending to care, and are unsure of where they themselves are headed.
Overall, "Lost In Space" captures a sense of emotional dislocation and unease, with the singer uncertain of their place in the world and their capacity for connection. However, the song also offers a ray of hope in its insistence that, even when things seem bleak, there is always the possibility of happy endings and new beginnings.
Line by Line Meaning
Lost in space above all drifting
Feeling aimless and directionless, completely adrift and alone.
To a place where planets shifting
Traveling to a location where nothing remains stable or certain, everything is in constant flux and motion.
The moon erased, it's features lifting
Even the familiar, steady presence of the moon is gone, leaving only emptiness and uncertainty behind.
The glare
The all-consuming brightness of this unfamiliar, disorienting space.
But I am the stuff of happy endings
Despite the chaos and confusion of this space, I still hold onto the idea that things will turn out well in the end.
Though mostly bluff, belief suspending
I'm not entirely convinced of this happy ending, but I'm trying to maintain my hope through sheer force of will.
But close enough for just pretending
I'm tricking myself into believing that everything will be alright, just because it's easier than facing the possibility that it won't.
To care
I'm putting forth the effort to care and stay invested in my own hopes and dreams, despite the uncertainty surrounding me.
And I'm pretending to care
I'm faking my own enthusiasm and investment, putting up a front to avoid acknowledging my own fear and uncertainty.
When I'm not even there
In reality, I'm too far gone in my own doubts and fears to truly be present and engaged in this space.
Well she's the faith and I'm the devil
I'm lost without a sense of direction or purpose, but she offers a glimmer of hope and belief in something greater.
Who keeps the pace and clears the rubble
She's the one who keeps us moving forward and persevering, even when everything around us seems impossible to navigate.
And lost in space, fills up the bubble
Together, we create our own little world within this vast, uncertain space, filling it up with our own hopes and dreams and creating our own meaning.
With air
We keep each other breathing and alive in this otherwise suffocating, inhospitable space.
It split like a cell
Something important and integral has been broken or damaged beyond repair, leaving us struggling to survive in its wake.
And man cannot tell
Even with all our knowledge and ingenuity, we're still unable to comprehend the full magnitude of what's happened and what it means for us.
The lie from parallel
The truth is overshadowed by a confusing tangle of lies and half-truths, making it impossible to discern what's real and what's not.
So baby beware
We need to be cautious and vigilant, always watching our backs and looking out for each other in this unforgiving space.
Gone but I don't know where
Even though we're lost and alone, we still hold onto the hope that we can find our way back to safety and stability, wherever that may be.
Lyrics © DELLA BLUE MUSIC LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: JOHN DUCANN, VINCENT CRANE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind