Thursday, November 15, 2012

soon enough

Toads, for your listening pleasure, elucidation, and inspiration, I present to you the one and only AIMEE MANN.

Aimee Mann has an irresistible new album of musically and lyrically seductive compositions called Charmer--a full cadre of story-songs illustrating a range of undesirable human behavior. According to her biography, on Charmer, “[n]ames have been obscured to protect the guilty, but you will almost certainly recognize yourself in these short narratives, along with the fellow travelers who have conned, enabled, victimized, or (yes) charmed you.” I believe some of us have met many of these cretins along the way, so let’s write about them today.


I encourage you to read Aimee’s thorough and entertaining bio, which I will not attempt to summarize here. But I’ll share that “Voices Carry,” the 1985 single that put Aimee Mann and her band, 'Til Tuesday, on the map, was highly influential on this writer in my early college years. (I was actually surprisingly choked up watching the video while preparing this prompt. Watch it for yourself and see.) 'Til Tuesday released three albums; in the 1990’s Aimee Mann went solo with Whatever and Bachelor No. 2, followed by the soundtrack for the film Magnolia, full of lush and memorable songs like “Wise Up” and Oscar-nominated “Save Me.”

Aimee Mann is married to Michael Penn, which in my book makes them pop-music royalty. For real. And she’s just the definition of cool, having appeared in The Big Lebowski and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, touring with comedians like Janeane Garofalo and David Cross (comedian John Hodgman appears in the hilarious video for her new song, “Charmer”), and starring (as herself) in a memorable episode of Portlandia. Really, there is nothing not to love about Aimee Mann.


Okay, Toads, lemme see what you got! Be inspired by Aimee Mann’s signature sound, by the possibility of facing an unnecessary intervention, or whatever else moves you. Remember, voices carry! But here in the garden, no one is telling you to keep it down.

27 comments:

Cloudia said...

What an enticing review!



Aloha
Comfort Spiral

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enthusiastically, dawn said...

OK, so glad I popped over! I am a fan of AImee and pleased to see she is still kicking around. Of course I loved the old stuff but you so updated me on NOW! I just posted the Voices Carry on Facebook a while back as a song in my head kind of update!
WIll check out links. Thanks.

enthusiastically, dawn said...

PS will link up my poem, too!

Janie said...

I need to check out Aimee!

Tarun Reddy said...

I am new to the group. I heard about it through Marian Kent's Facebook page.
When I saw the prompt, I banged out an idea for a song.

Kerry O'Connor said...

What a beautiful girl! The video made me grit my teeth in empathetic horror at the do-gooder interference. Eush!

Marian said...

Kerry, try watching the video for "Charmer" (it's linked too) for more hilarious horror :)
oh and hello Tarun! holy cow, worlds collide. i guess that's what the internets are for.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Whoa, the wrong person was being given the intervention! Cool and intriguing prompt, kiddo. I will be back.

LLM Calling said...

I wasn't sure what to write but a song poured out of me which holds with it a lot of pain; this has been very therapeutic but I think some people who read it will now know a little more about how I feel about them which is good, but not.

Lolamouse said...

Whoa! Synchronicity! Before I came to the Garden today, I was watching Portlandia episodes but hadn't seen Aimee's. Hilarious! I love celebs who can laugh at themselves, and Voices Carry was one of my favs back in the day.

Marian said...

aw, emma major! glad you wrote. i hope everyone who needs to read it does.
and heh heh Mouse :) just thinking about that makes me giggle. man, the music industry must really be in bad shape.

Susan said...

Love this! Thanks again and always for the music.

Birgitta said...

You have a very interesting blog!

Helen said...

Unbelievable video .. thanks for the introduction to Aimee! So much there to inspire ........

LadyD Piano said...

Amazing video. First thought, he's a narcissist. Clicked on her biography, talkin' about more narcissists, oh my! She's interesting. Thanks for entering the giveaway, good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!

Kerry O'Connor said...

While we welcome new-comers to RT challenges, please note that we reserve the right to remove links of poems which were not written specifically for the challenge or in the spirit of the prompt. Open Link Monday is a free-for-all opportunity to share your other work on this forum. We appreciate your understanding in this matter.

Merisi in Vienna said...

Thank you! :-)

Leigh Covington said...

Awesome! And great music. I'm intrigued to read her bio. On my way to do that now :)

Mark Koopmans said...

Aloha,

First time in the garden and it looks like I arrived just in time... the '80s are still here, right :)

Thanks for a fun, memory-driving post :)

Fireblossom said...

I absolutely love Til Tuesday and have all their stuff. Her solo stuff didn't grab me as much, so I kind of lost track of her until I saw "Magnolia" and really liked Wise Up.

I don't get the parody of "Intervention." I guess, as a recovering person, I don't see what her point is. It's easy to make a clownish character and then sit there shaking your head at it. But those people's pain and intentions are real, and sincere.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I've never heard of her (I know..gasp!) or the band, but I liked the song and video. Will definitely have to look her up. Thanks for sharing!

Shannon at The Warrior Muse

Margaret said...

Thank you! I agree with Fireblossom... I didn't get the parody. They seemed so concerned and actually upset at making a mockery of the intervention...

I so remember "voices carry"... seems like yesterday instead of ... 1985!

Susie Clevenger said...

Great prompt. My piece takes a different view of the video. Welcome to all the new people here!

Ella said...

Nice prompt :D
I love Til Tuesday too. She was so edgy :D

Thank you, I am happy to see her again!

Hannah said...

So much to explore...thank you, Marion...sorry for my late arrival. :)

Marian said...

gosh, i just love the poems and all the comments. what a rowdy bunch. keep it down, will ya! oops, i meant KEEP EM COMING! :)
also, i love the different perspectives we all bring to the garden. very cool, and thanks, everyone, for sharing. xoxo

Fireblossom said...

I wrote something a couple of nights ago for this, called "Damaged Girls", but in the end, I wasn't happy enough with it to post it. I am still piddling around, trying to write something better. Hold the bus for me! I'm trying!