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.
You Could Make A Killing
Aimee Mann Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I know it's neither deep nor tragic
It's simply that you have to have it
[Chorus]
So you can make a killing
Oh you can make a killing
Oh you can make a killing
I wish I was both young and stupid
Then I too could have the fun that you did
Till it was time to pony up what you bid
[Chorus]
I could follow you and search the rubble
Or stay right here and save myself some trouble
Or try to keep myself from seeing double
Or I could make a killing
Or I could make a killing
Oh I could make a killing
Yeah I could make a killing
I could make a killing
Aimee Mann's song "You Could Make A Killing" explores the dangers of being controlled by bad habits. The lyrics suggest that we often engage in harmful actions simply because they have become habits that are difficult to break free from. The opening lines state, "There is nothing that competes with habit, And I know it's neither deep nor tragic, It's simply that you have to have it." Mann is implying that even though bad habits may have negative consequences, we still cling to them because they have become so ingrained in us.
The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "You can make a killing" multiple times, which can be interpreted in a few different ways. On one hand, the phrase can be taken quite literally, signifying that the character in the song is engaging in illicit actions for monetary gain. On the other hand, the phrase can also be interpreted more figuratively, suggesting that the character is sacrificing their well-being and happiness for the sake of their bad habits. The line "I wish I was both young and stupid, Then I too could have the fun that you did" further supports this interpretation, illustrating a longing to live impulsively and recklessly like others have done in the past.
The final verse of the song presents the listener with a choice. The character can either continue following their bad habits ("I could follow you and search the rubble"), attempt to distance themselves from their habits ("Or stay right here and save myself some trouble"), or try their best to fight their habits and break free from their grip ("Or try to keep myself from seeing double"). The repeating "Oh, I could make a killing" at the end of the song can also be interpreted in multiple ways. It could be a lamentation of the fact that breaking free from bad habits can feel like a death, or it could be a newfound realization that breaking free from bad habits can actually allow one to "make a killing" in life.
Overall, the song explores the often unspoken dangers of being controlled by habit and how difficult it can be to break from those habits.
Line by Line Meaning
There is nothing that competes with habit
The consistency of habit is unmatched by anything else
And I know it's neither deep nor tragic
I understand that habit is not profound or sorrowful
It's simply that you have to have it
It's just a necessity to have habits
Oh you can make a killing
You have the potential to make a significant profit
I wish I was both young and stupid
I desire to be unaware and foolish like you once were
Then I too could have the fun that you did
So I could also experience the enjoyment you had
Till it was time to pony up what you bid
Until the point where you need to pay for your behavior or actions
Or try to keep myself from seeing double
I could attempt to prevent myself from being confused or unclear
Or I could make a killing
I also have the potential to earn a substantial profit
Yeah I could make a killing
Yes, I too can earn a significant amount
I could make a killing
I have the opportunity to earn a large sum
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Aimee Mann
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind