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.
Phoenix
Aimee Mann Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A box of Kleenex, for the ride
The tumbleweeds said, their goodbyes
To javelinas and DUIs
I don't want to abandon you but baby I've had my fill
You love me like a dollar bill
You roll me up and trade me in
And if you get the chance again
It's hard to know when to cut and run
You balance heartache with your fun
And when the scales tip, you know you're done
I don't want to abandon you but baby I've had my fill
You love me like a dollar bill
You roll me up and trade me in
And if you had the chance you will
And if you get the chance again
Cause I know love doesn't change anything at all
I know love doesn't change a thing
I wanted to believe in you and baby I believe it still
Baby I've just had my fill
You love me like a dollar bill
You roll me up and trade me in
And if you have the chance you will
And if you get the chance again
I know you'll do the best you can
But baby love doesn't change anything at all
I know love doesn't change a thing
In Aimee Mann's 'Phoenix', Mann addresses a past relationship with someone from Phoenix, Arizona. The song is believed to have been written about Mann's father, who was an abusive figure in her life. The opening line “got out of Phoenix, just in time” serves to set the tone for the rest of the song - this is a story of escape. The reference to needing a box of Kleenex for the ride speaks to the emotional turmoil that comes with breaking away from something that is harmful but that you still love. The tumbleweeds saying goodbye and the reference to javelinas and DUIs serve to encapsulate the image of Phoenix as a place that is both inhospitable and full of trouble.
Mann uses the metaphor of a dollar bill throughout the song to describe the way she has been treated in the past. She likens herself to a dollar bill, something that can be easily rolled up and traded in. Her partner in the relationship is seen as someone who loves her like a dollar bill, someone who doesn't value her for who she is but only for what she can give them. The line “you roll me up and trade me in” suggests a sense of disposability, and the idea that she could be cast aside at any moment. Mann's use of repetition in the chorus ensures that this message is never lost, she is imploring her partner to understand that she can't continue in this way. She notes that she hasn't abandoned them, but she has had her fill. She knows that love won't change anything at all, but she still wants to believe in them.
Line by Line Meaning
Got out of Phoenix, just in time
I left Phoenix just in time before things could get worse.
A box of Kleenex, for the ride
I packed a box of Kleenex to prepare for any emotional outbursts on the journey.
The tumbleweeds said, their goodbyes
The tumbleweeds waved goodbye, as if they knew this was the end of the road for me.
To javelinas and DUIs
I said farewell to the dangerous and reckless habits that used to be a part of my life in Phoenix.
It's hard to know when to cut and run
It's difficult to decide when to let go and move on with my life.
You balance heartache with your fun
I try to balance the pain of leaving with the excitement of starting fresh somewhere else.
And when the scales tip, you know you're done
When the balance shifts, it's time to leave and never look back.
Cause I know love doesn't change anything at all
I understand that love can't fix everything and sometimes it's not enough to keep two people together.
I know love doesn't change a thing
Love alone can't fix the problems that exist in a relationship.
I wanted to believe in you and baby I believe it still
I wanted to have faith in you and I still want to believe that things could have worked out differently.
Baby I've just had my fill
But I've reached the point where I can't take it anymore and I need to move on.
You love me like a dollar bill
You treat me like something to be used and thrown away, like a piece of currency.
You roll me up and trade me in
You use me until you get something better and then you discard me like an old, worn-out dollar bill.
And if you have the chance you will
I know that if given the opportunity, you would trade me in for something new and shiny.
And if you get the chance again
If things didn't work out with your new love interest, you would come back and try to use me again.
I know you'll do the best you can
I know that you'll try your hardest to make things work, but sometimes that's not enough.
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Aimee Mann
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
kexplosions
Got out of Phoenix, just in time
A box of kleenex, for the ride
The tumbleweeds said, their goodbyes
To javelinas and DUIs
I don't want to abandon you but baby I've had my fill
You love me like a dollar bill
You roll me up and trade me in
And if you had the chance you will
And if you get the chance again
It's hard to know when to cut and run
You balance heartache with your fun
And when the scales tip, you know you're done
I don't want to abandon you but baby I've had my fill
You love me like a dollar bill
You roll me up and trade me in
And if you had the chance you will
And if you get the chance again
Cos I know love doesn't change anything at all
I know love doesn't change a thing
I wanted to believe in you and baby I believe it still
Baby I've just had my fill
You love me like a dollar bill
You roll me up and trade me in
And if you have the chance you will
And if you get the chance again
I know you'll do the best you can
But baby love doesn't change anything at all
I know love doesn't change a thing
DrWu59
Aimee Mann is truly one of the best singer-songwriters in America today. Thank you Meandstuff for uploading.
Just Jeanne
Aimee Mann is one of the most brilliant songwriters of all time. Good god, I can't even say how much her songs move me....and I tip my hat to a brilliant production job as well,, .yes,,, yes,,,, yes,,,,,
Shiloh Greene
Just Jeanne . Absolutely! so underrated...
Ronald Rodriguez
I don't know what she puts in her music, but I'm very addictive listening to it.. :-) Love you Aimee..!
Elizabeth Dean
She writes perfect break-up music - however bad your break-up, you listen to her songs and you know you're not alone. She understands.
Gary Camilo
@Christian Timothy Happy to help =)
Christian Timothy
@Gary Camilo Thank you, I signed up and it seems like they got a lot of movies there :) I really appreciate it !
Gary Camilo
@Christian Timothy Flixportal =)
Christian Timothy
I guess I'm kind of off topic but do anyone know a good website to stream newly released tv shows online ?
Feedurehed
Wonderful songwriter.......honest and brave