Voices Carry

"Voices Carry" is a song by the American rock band 'Til Tuesday. It was produced by Mike Thorne for the band's debut studio album, Voices Carry (1985). The accompanying music video, directed by D.J. Webster, received wide exposure on MTV and positive reactions from critics. It was nominated for numerous awards and is thought to be the reason behind the song's success. It was released in North America in March 1985. "Voices Carry" became the band's highest charting single and their only top ten hit in the U.S., peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. Internationally it reached the top twenty in Canada and Australia.

This article is about the song. For other uses, see Voices Carry (disambiguation).

"Voices Carry"
Single by 'Til Tuesday
from the album Voices Carry
B-side"Are You Serious?"
ReleasedMarch 28, 1985 (1985-03-28)
Recorded1985
StudioR.P.M. Sound Studios (New York City, New York)
Genre
Length4:20
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)
  • Robert Holmes
  • Aimee Mann
  • Michael Hausman
  • Joey Pesce[1]
Producer(s)Mike Thorne
'Til Tuesday singles chronology
"Voices Carry"
(1985)		 "Looking Over My Shoulder"
(1985)
Music video
"Voices Carry" on YouTube

Recording and production

"Voices Carry" was recorded in 1985 at RPM Sound Studios in New York.[2] The song is about past sour relationships,[3] and was originally written and sung by Aimee Mann as to a woman.[2] 'Til Tuesday rehearsed that format in Boston the previous summer, but Epic was unhappy with the lyrics; they thought that it was a "very powerful, commercial song", and wanted to remove the lesbian components to appeal to the mainstream market.[2]

Despite the pressure to replace the lyrics, producer Mike Thorne thought that "it didn't matter any to the impact of the song itself", and the band eventually changed the gender of the love interest.[2] At the beginning, 'Til Tuesday and Thorne were undecided between "Love in a Vacuum" and "Looking Over My Shoulder" to be released as the first single, but ultimately Epic's artist and repertoire (A&R) executive Dick Wingate chose "Voices Carry", because it "define[d] precisely the band and its style".[2] According to Thorne, his contract stated that he had the right to be the first to remix the song for the 7" single release. He was then told that it had been remixed by Bob Clearmountain; about this he commented, "not what the rules were [...] but it sounded pretty good, as well it might coming from one of the finest American engineer/producers".[2]

Critical reception

"Voices Carry" received generally positive reviews from pop music critics. In a review of the band's second album Welcome Home, David Wild from Rolling Stone magazine said that their "debut [album], Voices Carry, had its icy charms", calling the song "wonderfully eerie".[4] Allmusic's Stewart Mason said that "'Voices Carry' is one of the most distinctive radio singles of its era"; he also praised the production saying that it "does wonders both for Mann's breathy voice and the [...] chorus, which brilliantly releases the tension that builds throughout the stark, paranoid verses".[5] Joe Viglione also from Allmusic, in a review of their debut album said that the song is "captivating", and praised its production saying that Mike Thorne did an "excellent work".[6] Phillip Mottaz of The Tripwire believed that the song "has everything that makes a song fun and effective", and felt that it is a "testament to honest production and emotional quality".[7]

Dennis Hunt of the Los Angeles Times said that Mann has "a distinct naturalism [that] governs her vocals" and that "the frailty, roughness and lack of great range in her voice [...] [is] genuinely appealing", adding that if she were a "polished singer, songs like 'Voices Carry' [...] wouldn't be half as appealing";[8] while Robert Hilburn of the same newspaper said that Mann "exhibits winning vocal authority on record", adding that the "only thing she needs is another Dave Stewart to give her more tailored and absorbing arrangements and material".[9] Lynn Van Matre of the Chicago Tribune said that "much of the group's material falls into the dance rock category", adding that the "bluesy title cut, [...] 'Voices Carry', was particularly impressive".[10] Brent Mann, in his book 99 Red Balloons... called it "the quintessential New Wave song", and felt that "Mann's cool, dark lead vocals were right in step with the style".[11]

Chart performance

"Voices Carry" was released in the United States in March 1985. It first appeared on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart at number four, the next week it debuted at number eighty-one on the Billboard Hot 100.[12] It reached a peak position of number eight in its fourteenth week, and stayed twenty-one weeks on the chart,[13] becoming the band's first and only top ten single in the United States.[14] The success of the single helped their debut album reach the top twenty on the Billboard 200 chart,[15] and pushed it past the gold mark.[3]

In Canada, the single entered the RPM singles chart on June 1985 at number ninety-four,[16] peaked at number fifteen for two weeks in August 1985,[17] stayed twenty-two weeks in total,[18] and was certified gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA).[19] In Australia, "Voices Carry" entered the Kent Music Report on June 17, 1985; it peaked at number fifteen, and spent fourteen weeks on the chart.[20]

Music video
Mann lashing out to her boyfriend during a concert at Carnegie Hall. She stands up from her seat and removes her cap to reveal her spiky hair, stunning the audience.

The music video for "Voices Carry" was directed by D.J. Webster,[21] and filmed at Dorchester's Strand Theater, Davio's Restaurant, and W. Brookline St in Boston.[22] The video inserts several spoken or silent short, dramatic scenes on top of the song. The band's lead singer, Aimee Mann, plays a musician with an abusive boyfriend, played by actor Cully Holland.[23] He demeans her music "hobby", demands she change her look to fit his respectable, 1980s professional caste lifestyle and demands, "Why can't you for once do something for me?"[21] before essentially forcing himself upon her. The conclusion shows them formally dressed in an elite Carnegie Hall audience, the boyfriend giving Mann a disgusted look when he finds a visibly counter-culture rattail peeking from her black lace cap. Finally having enough, Mann begins singing the song in her seat, increasing in volume and creating a scene. Her character is no longer submissive as she defiantly stands to belt the final lyrics, "He said, shut up! He said, shut up! Oh God, can't you keep it down?...".[24]

The success of the single was largely attributed to the video,[25] which received wide exposure on MTV,[3][26] along with positive reactions from critics and nominations to numerous awards. Keith Thomas of Knight Ridder newspapers called the video "a clever and stunning effort". Praising the dialogue and acting he said that it "looks better than most feature films", adding that "everything about the clip is grand".[24] Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times also praised Mann's acting, saying that she appears "marvelously charismatic" in it,[9] while Dennis Hunt from the same newspaper said that it was "cleverly conceived".[8] Debbie del Condo of the Orlando Sentinel called it the "Most Memorable Video of 1985", and added that she will "keep waiting for their next video".[27] In his book Totally awesome 80s, author Matthew Rettenmund called it a "great story video".[28] Author Brent Mann in his book 99 Red Balloons..., called the video "pure New Wave" and added that it was "perfect for MTV and VH1 consumption".[11]

At the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards, the band won the award for Best New Artist in a video.[29] The same year, at the Fourth Annual American Video Awards, Mann was named the Best Female Performer in a video for "Voices Carry".[30] The video was placed number forty on Slant Magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Music Videos",[21] and was listed on Pitchfork's "100 Awesome Music Videos", in 2006.[31]

The 2012 music video for "Labrador", the second single from her album Charmer, features a satirical shot-for-shot remake of "Voices Carry" video within the framing device of Mann having been forced to shoot the video after inadvertently signing complete control of the video over to director Tom Scharpling. The video features Jon Wurster as the Wall Street boyfriend, Jon Hamm as Scharpling, and Ted Leo in a cameo.[32]

Original Version

There is some debate over the subject of the inspiration for the song. One claim says that an argument between Michael Hausman and bandmate/former girlfriend Aimee Mann inspired the song's lyrics,[33] but producer Mike Thorne disputes this and states the lyrics originally had Mann singing to another woman and that the gender was changed due to pressure from Epic Records.[34] In his 2013 autobiography, Ministry: The Lost Gospels According to Al Jourgensen, Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen made the claim that the song was based on a brief relationship he had with Mann[35] while living in Boston.

Live versions of the song recorded in 1984 exist and are gender swapped compared to the studio version. While the music is nearly identical, the lyrics in the 1984 versions differ significantly from the 1985 studio version. The 1984 versions have a second verse which is not in the studio version, with the lyrics "When she goes to get her fortune told, she just leaves me out in the cold. If only she would leave me a clue, or leave me alone, when I ask her what I should do, I'm on my own." The bridge of the song contains the lyrics "she wants me to take her out on the town" where the studio version has the lyrics "he wants me but only part of the time". The third verse begins with the same lyrics as the second verse of the studio version, but ends with the lyrics "when I tell her I've had enough she turns away, and I think she doesn't care any more oh why does she say". In other early live versions, Mann sings the last line as "if she really doesn't care any more why does she say". The 1984 versions also differ slightly in the chorus, with Mann quickly singing "hush hush" and Robert Holmes echoing the same words immediately afterwards. In the studio version, the first "hush" is stretched and the phrase is not echoed.

While the gender swapping of the original version might seem to support the assertion that the original had Mann singing to another woman, Mann later stated that she wrote the song about a female acquaintance, and wrote the song from a male's point of view. Mann also stated that the rewritten verse in the studio version that begins with "He wants me but only part of the time" was based "on something I was going through with a relationship at the time."[36]

Formats and track listing

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Voices Carry":

Credits and personnel

Charts

Notes
  1. "'Til Tuesday | Songs". AllMusic.
  2. Thorne, Mike (March 1999). "The making of 'Til Tuesday's Voices Carry". The Stereo Society. Archived from the original on June 7, 2008. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
  3. Assael, Shaun (November 21, 1985). "Aimee Mann talks quietly about success". The Ledger. The New York Times Company. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  4. Wild, David (November 6, 1986). "'Til Tuesday: Voices Carry: Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. RealNetworks. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
  5. Mason, Stewart. "Song Review: Voices Carry". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
  6. Viglione, Joe. "Album Review: Voices Carry". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
  7. Mottaz, Phillip (November 17, 2008). "Greatest Song At This Moment – 'Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry"". The Tripwire. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
  8. Hunt, Dennis (June 23, 1985). "Faces: Aimee Mann's Voice, Lyrics Carry Her". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  9. Hilburn, Robert (May 15, 1985). "Pop Music Disc Derby: Riding the Next 'Wave' Order of Finishwin". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  10. Van Matre, Lynn (April 8, 1985). "Hall & Oates Entertainingly Funky". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Company. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
  11. Mann, 2003. p. 47.
  12. "Hot 100: Week of April 13, 1985 – Voices Carry". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. April 13, 1985. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  13. "Hot 100: Week of July 13, 1985 – Voices Carry". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. July 13, 1985. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  14. "Artist Chart History – 'Til Tuesday". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  15. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "'Til Tuesday> Biography". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  16. "Top Singles – Volume 42, No. 12, June 01, 1985". RPM. RPM Music Publications Ltd. June 1, 1985. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  17. "Top Singles – Volume 42, No. 23, August 17, 1985". RPM. RPM Music Publications Ltd. August 17, 1985. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  18. "Top Singles – Volume 43, No. 7, October 26, 1985". RPM. RPM Music Publications Ltd. October 26, 1985. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  19. "Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) – 'Til Tuesday". Canadian Recording Industry Association. September 30, 1985. Retrieved October 15, 2009.
  20. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for singles and albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
  21. Gonzalez, Ed; Cinquemani, Sal (2003). "100 Greatest Music Videos". Slant Magazine. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  22. Morse, Steve (November 28, 1985). "'Til Tuesday Pushing the Fast Forward Button". The Boston Globe. The New York Times Company. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  23. "Other Works – Cully Holland". IMDb. Amazon.com. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
  24. Thomas, Keith (June 4, 1985). "What Spokane is Viewing". The Spokesman-Review. Cowles Publishing Company. Retrieved August 12, 2009.
  25. Blauner, Peter (July 15, 1985). "The Story of Mann". New York. New York Media, LLC. 18 (27): 28. ISSN 0028-7369.
  26. Galante, Debbie (July 28, 2001). "Twenty Years of MTV". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. 113 (30): 70. ISSN 0006-2510.
  27. Del Condo, Debbie (July 7, 1985). "Six Months is Plenty Long Enough to Issue 1985's Videos their Due". Orlando Sentinel. Tribune Company. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  28. Rettenmund, 1996. p. 159.
  29. "MTV Video Music Awards – 1985". MTV. MTV Networks. September 13, 1985. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  30. Berra, Yegi (November 22, 1985). "'The Boss' Wins Awards". Star-Banner. The New York Times Company. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  31. Pitchfork Staff (June 20, 2006). "100 Awesome Music Videos". Pitchfork. Pitchfork Media, Inc. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  32. "Aimee Mann remakes "Voices Carry" with help from Ted Leo, Jon Hamm, Tom Scharpling, and Jon Wurster". News.
  33. Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. p. 603. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  34. "The making of Til Tuesday's Voices Carry". Web.archive.org. June 7, 2008. Archived from the original on September 8, 2008. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  35. Prato, Greg (July 8, 2013). "Ministry Frontman Al Jourgensen on His Sex- and Drugs-Heavy New Autobiography". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  36. "BOSTON BAND 'TIL TUESDAY LEAVING NOTHING TO CHANCE", South Florida Sun-Sentinel, November 22, 1985
  37. "Top Singles – Volume 43, No. 5, October 12, 1985". RPM. RPM Music Publications Ltd. October 12, 1985. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  38. "Charts". gghunt.utasites.cloud.
  39. "Voices Carry > Charts and Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  40. "1985 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 97 no. 52. December 28, 1985. p. T-21.

References
  • Mann, Brent (2003). 99 Red Balloons...and 100 Other All-Time Great One-Hit Wonders. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-2516-9.
  • Rettenmund, Matthew (1996). Totally Awesome 80s: A Lexicon of the Music, Videos, Movies, TV Shows, Stars, and Trends of That Decadent Decade. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-14436-9.

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