‘Til Tuesday’s “Voices Carry” Lyrics Meaning
“Voices Carry” is a song with a bit of convoluted lyrical history. First of all, it wasn’t inspired by Aimee Mann’s own life as much as that of a friend of hers, who is male. As such, the lyrics originally featured different gender pronouns, as if Aimee were singing to a woman (from the perspective of a man).
However, this was the 1980s, so Epic Records wasn’t having it, and therefore, by the time “Voices Carry” was officially released, said pronouns had been flipped to male.
Also, it has been noted that many viewers came to interpret this song as possessing a feminist slant due to the nature of its music video. But the lyrics do not feature the vocalist taking any type of definitive stand in terms of rectifying this less-than-ideal romance she finds herself in. And perhaps, all things considered, she doesn’t really have any reason to do so.
And that’s because what “Voices Carry” is speaking to, most simply put in line with Mann’s explanation of this track, is the addressee being someone who is extremely adverse to public displays of affection. Such an understanding does theoretically come through during earlier parts of the song. But as the piece progresses, it begins to read more as if the addressee is straight-up repressing the vocalist.
But again the intended message, at least in terms of the sentimental origin of this track, isn’t that he’s some type of abusive prick. Instead, he doesn’t agree with his lover speaking too loudly because her doing so, in reference to their romance, is apparently embarrassing him.
Conclusion
To reiterate, these lyrics went through a number of modifications. And even in their earlier form, the song came off more as a case of unrequited love. But by the time all was said done, let’s just say that wording came out a bit ambiguous. And yes, they do give the impression that the addressee is stifling the vocalist, even if that wasn’t the original intent.
Facts about “Voices Carry”
‘Til Tuesday was a band from Boston that was around during the 1980s. This is one of those acts whose most notable successes came from the one, i.e. “Voices Carry”, their debut single, also being their biggest hit.
This song is the lead single from their first album, a self-titled LP which broke the top 20 of the Billboard 200 and stands as best-performing project.
At the time Epic Records issued this track on 28 March 1995, ‘Til Tuesday was a quartet consisting of frontwoman Aimee Mann backed by Michael Hausman (drums), Robert Holmes (guitar) and Joey Pesce (synthesizer). And it is also those four individuals who wrote Voices Carry, with the track’s producer being Mike Thorne.
The music video to this song was directed by one D.J. Webster and was ahead of its day in terms of cinematic quality. As such it proceeded to take home the Best New Artist MTV VMA in 1985, in addition to Aimee Mann garnering Best Female Performer honors at the American Video Awards of that same year.
The clip was also celebrated amongst some early 21st century ‘greatest music videos’ rankings.
