He also has the classic male charming face, complete with an angular jaw and a chin dimple. He could be seen as the idealistic "tall, dark, and handsome". Aimee could represent a punk princess version of Cinderella. The overall theme of this music video could be "happily ever-after gone wrong".
The boyfriend is displaying a form of emotional abuse towards Aimee because he put down her hair and made her feel bad about herself because she formed a new image. Also, his way of addressing the success of the band shows he is not pleased or approving of it.
Aimee begins to sing as she sits in a band rehearsal:
I'm in the dark, I'd like to read his mind
But I'm frightened of the things I might find
One can imagine the scenario in which she is lying next to her boyfriend as he is asleep, and she replays his controlling words in her head on loop. She can only help but wonder what he is really thinking and his motivation behind his ill treatment of Aimee. But would she really want to know the truth?
The next lyrics are:
Oh, there must be something he's thinking of
To tear him away (He holds up a piece of paper and then crumples it. I was unable to see what the paper says.)
 |
Source: "Voices Carry"
The piece of paper could be a legal document or a letter from someone. |
Because it is unclear what the paper says on the top, therefore it can be interpreted in a variety of ways.The paper could be a report that Aimee filed against his abuse towards her because it does resemble a legal document out it could represent something else. However, I don't think she had spoken out about the abuse. Or the paper could be a letter from someone that is "tearing him away" from his normal life, this could be connected to his motivation to abuse Aimee. Either way the boyfriend does not want to look at the paper and seems very stressed about it. Perhaps other clues in the music video will show us what it means.
During the rehearsal scene Aimee sings:
"When I tell him that I'm falling in love
Why does he say"
These lyrics lead into the chorus that is played during the restaurant scene.
Chorus:
Hush, hush, keep it down now, voices carry. Hush, hush, keep it down now, voices carry.
The ending two lines of the first verse and the chorus combined paint the picture that perhaps Aimee's boyfriend is not actually her boyfriend, seeing as he does not want her to talk about being in love with him. Aimee could be the girl that he is cheating with or maybe she is his girlfriend but he is trying to keep her a secret from another woman? These lyrics also could represent the other woman he is cheating on Aimee with, and she said that she is falling in love with him. The boyfriend would say to her not to say that in fear of Aimee overhearing her or that he doesn't want to become emotionally invested in the woman he is cheating with. However, it is unclear thus far in the music video if he is cheating at all.
The video goes to a scene of an upscale restaurant, which I believe is called "Davots" judging from the door, and it is complete with a pianist in the corner.
 |
Source: "Voices Carry"
The couple appears to be happy. Also not the sophisticated clothing in Aimee. |
Aimee and her boyfriend are sitting at a table. They are holding hands and seem relatively happy with mutual smiles.
 |
Source: "Voices Carry"
Her boyfriend notices the out of place punk earring. |
The boyfriend then stops smiling and removes a unique over the ear earring from her that was only on one side, as though he didn't approve of its punk appearance along with her new hair. Aimee's punk hair is tucked under a fancy red hat. She also has on a sophisticated red dress, which is quite the opposite of her previous punk garb.
The boyfriend then opens a box containing expensive looking amethyst earrings. The amethyst gems themselves could have symbolism within this scenario. According to the website Emily Gems, which is a gem seller and provides meanings behind the stones, says "Ancient Egyptians used the amethyst guard against guilty and fearful feelings". The idea of guarding against guilty feelings could relate to her boyfriend who is abusing her, and does not want to feel guilty and responsible for his actions. The guarding against fear can represent Aimee and the fear she has for her situation and of her boyfriend. The amethyst could serve as a mental aid in order for her to be stronger and less fearful, but it is also serve as a symbolic mask for the boyfriend's guilt of abusing her.
The gift giving also relates to the cycle of abuse that occurs in abusive relationships. It is an example of the "Honeymoon" phase that abusers have as an attempt to reconcile for the abuse and cause the victim to not think the situation is that bad.
 |
Source: DAYA
The boyfriend is exhibiting the honeymoon phase behavior. |
I believe that in this video the abuser and victim are transitioning somewhere between the honeymoon phase and tension, especially with the negative comments about her hair and "new image". This displayed oppression against her self expression.
He then places the earring in her ear and pats her chin, like she is a child. Aimee has a somewhat descending smile when he does this signifying that she had noticed the undermining gesture.
Seeing as the boyfriend is out in public with Aimee, shows intimacy and gives her gifts leads me to believe that Aimee is the girlfriend that he is displaying publicly. So, would he really have a reason to tell Aimee that to hush after she says she is falling in love, unless the boyfriend is planning to leave her soon and this could be for a woman he is cheating on Aimee with. Those earlier lyrics will probably make more sense later in the music video.
Then the scene is of her entering rehearsal with for her band. Aimee has on clothing that could be described as casual, punk and art-sy. She has her hair wild with the rat tail flowing freely. The other members of the band have a similar style of dress as her.
During the rehearsal she sings:
I try so hard not to get upset
Because I know all the trouble I'll get
Oh, he tells me tears are something to hide
And something to fear
These lyrics definitely represent the oppression that she feels from her boyfriend due to the abuse and the overall way he treats her. It also shows how she cannot say anything about the abuse because he will find out and most likely abuse her more, which is also part of the cycle. He may not want her to cry because he will doesn't want to feel guilty for his treatment towards her. Also, he may not want her to cry because he doesn't want other people to wonder why she is upset.
When she sings these lyrics:
And I try so hard to keep it inside
So no one can hear
She is silhouetted behind a curtain window, however one can see from her facial expression that she appears to be in pain. Aimee's head is tilted to the side and she looks like she is just allowing the pain to happen to her. Also the thin curtain can represent how she does try to hide and keep the abuse inside, but it still shows through her behaviors, such as possible forced happiness when she is with her boyfriend. Aimee also appears to be pressing herself against the curtain as a sign that she want to break through the emotional barrier she had created for herself in order to maintain silence about the abuse to please her boyfriend.
Then Aimee exits her apartment while holding her bass case. She is wearing her normal punk clothing and hairstyle, all of which are not formal or professional. One can assume that she is heading over to a rehearsal for her band.
She runs into her boyfriend at the foot of the stairs. She smiles and they hug and kiss each other. The moment seems happy. However, that is until he appears to make a suggestion to her. She smiles and shakes her head. It is believable that he is asking her out to dinner or just to hang out. She probably declines because she has a rehearsal, which seems like a reasonable excuse.
But when she refuses, he looks upset and appears to be yelling at her. Aimee rubs the back of her head as a sign she is uncomfortable with the situation (she did this in the beginning when he insulted her
hair). The boyfriend then grabs her case that she is holding and
attempts to yank it from her hands, as though going to rehearsal
instead of being with him was not valid or important. This also is
another example of his control and abuse to her, and especially by
not letting her do the things she enjoys. The contrast of clothing in this scene is also important because he is wearing a business suit and holding a brief case, while she has her subculture punk clothing and bass case.
|
Source: The Observer A photo from the 1987 movie Wall Street. |
The boyfriend seems to come from the business world and most likely values money and status. By giving Aimee expensive earrings as a sign of reconciliation for his abuse, this is connected to him valuing money and possessions. This is an extension of the 1980s Materialism period where greed and excess were desired. Because the boyfriend is dressed in 1980s businessmen attire one can believe that he represents a power hungry and greedy businessman on Wall Street. The video perhaps serves as a contrast between the main culture of the 1980s where the businessmen thrived compared to the subculture where artists such as Aimee found themselves a part of. The boyfriend also could be fearful that her band will make more money than he does as a businessman, which would damage his ego and his need for excess.
 |
Source: "Voices Carry" The boyfriend angrily watches Aimee escape him.
Also note the differences in clothing. |
Aimee escapes him after he tried to stop her from leaving. He angrily watches walk down the street with his hand on his hip. Almost as a sign that he is not defeated and that this is not officially over yet, as he always has to display his control over her. One of the reasons he feels he has to be so controlling over her is because he values status and appearances over what people actually enjoy and originality with self expression. Aimee's appearance is the antithesis of the 1980s successful socialite or young professional look, also known as a "yuppie". Aimee is a punk/new wave musician while her boyfriend is a money and status seeking businessman, which that itself can cause its own conflict. This is because it demonstrates the mainstream society within the 1980s that is more conservative opposed to the subculture, especially expressed through music at that time.
His face also shows that is angry that she won the fight this time. One can see it in his eyes that he is angry that she broke from his control momentarily. He's nodding slowly and his eyes seem to narrow.
The scene then goes to inside the apartment, which judging from the inside looks upper class and well furnished. His possible Wall Street job probably paid for it. We see the boyfriend sitting by the window in the dark, appearing not to be doing anything else but waiting. This makes it seem as though he sat there for hours angry that he lost control of Aimee because she escaped him. Aimee arrives backs to the apartment and sees him waiting for her. This seems to me like role reversal in a way because when this scene is typically portrayed in the media, the woman is angry and waiting for her husband to arrive back home. This sometimes happens when a woman suspects her husband is cheating on her, however he is aware that she went to rehearsal. He may had been fantasizing the whole time she was gone about how he wanted to abuse her.
He confronts her as she walks into the apartment with her bass case and says:
"What happen, practice run late?"
The anger starts to escalate quickly he says,"You know, this little hobby of yours has gone too far"
He then stands up, his face looks very angry.His voice sounds angrier as he says, "Why can't you for once do something for me?"Aimee replies as her arms are cross and she seems to be calm in this situation, she says, "Like what?"
She said that as though she knows she does everything that he wants her too and that she finds the confrontation ridiculous.
The boyfriend then frustratingly wipes his forehead and walks towards her.
He lunges at her and pins her to the staircase. He looks as though he is biting her neck. Her facial expression and eye movements show that she does not want this to happen. In the song she screams "NO!"
|
The violence of sexual abuse has occurred. |
It signifies the explosion in the abuse cycle where the act of the abuse happens. This is a form of sexual abuse but the rest of this scene is not shown, but this could represent implied rape because he had to regain his control over her.
While this is happening she sings:
"Oh, he wants me, but only part of the time
He wants me if he can keep me in line"
The video goes to the next scene where Aimee's boyfriend is with another woman. She has dark hair. They appear to be naked. He is smiling and seem happy to be with her. This scene definitely refers to the "he wants me, but only part of the time" lyric. The couple is very intimate with one another.
As the other woman turns we see that she is played by Aimee.
The girl looking exactly like Aimee could mean that the boyfriend just sees women somewhat like Barbie dolls. That they are just different models of one another, represented by different hairstyles. The girl with the dark hair could be be a girl that the boyfriend finds more conforming to what believes is right and normal opposed to his girlfriend is wild blond hair.
Perhaps he works with the dark haired Barbie and he feels that he can have a better control over the situation because they do the same type of things their life. Also, by having the girl he is cheating with look exactly like the girlfriend could mean that he is thinking about his girlfriend as he is doing this and by having her face on the girl he is cheating with shows he is guilty.
Also, referring to the idea that the boyfriend looks like Prince Charming could be related to how modern representations see the classic Prince Charming, such as the graphic novel series Fables, as a misogynist and "player". In Fables it talk about how he was married to Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. However, all three of them divorced him due to his infidelity. Therefore, if this boyfriend represents prince charming, then Aimee is Cinderella and the brunette girl could be Snow White, the girl he is moving onto.
After the cheating scene, the video cuts to Carnegie Hall, which is located in New York City and "is one of the most prestigious venues in the world for both classical music and popular music". This is evidence that the boyfriend is wealthy like a Prince Charming would be and because Aimee's band seems to just be starting out it seems to be that she is not wealthy. Perhaps their levels of wealth are another divide between them and further makes them a modern day symbolism for Cinderella and Prince Charming.
We see the couple sitting amongst the audience. The boyfriend looks at Aimee and grabs her rat tail. This could mean that he is upset she is allowing this to show during a formal event while higher class people are around. He may think that his unconventional girlfriend could cause the other people to judge him based upon her and see him as lower status. Besides the rat tail, Aimee does look very sophisticated and upper class, almost as though she belongs with her boyfriend. He might have dictated her choice of clothing for the event in order to maintain his public persona. He also might have controlled her choice of clothing in the restaurant as well.
Aimee looks somewhat in a trance while she starts singing in Carnegie Hall
Oh, hush, hush, shut up now, voices carry
Oh, hush, hush, keep it down now, voices carry
Oh, hush hush, darling, she might overhear
Oh no, voices carry
While she is singing, the boyfriend looks at her angrily as though people will notice because he fears embarrassment. Then a woman in the audience looks back as recognition that Aimee is making noise during the performance. In these moments Aimee also sings, "Oh, hush hush, darling, she might overhear". This can refer back to the cheating scene. The boyfriend may have said that to the brunette while they were fooling around in case Aimee was around while it was happening. Aimee may have overheard him saying that or heard them having sex, so then she was aware that he had been cheating. Aimee speaking out in the theater could represent two things. She could be trying to be out spoken about how her boyfriend is abusing her and that she knows he is cheating. Of course, he would not like people to know about either of those things, so he tries to stop her from speaking. While Aimee is singing aloud in Carnegie Hall, her boyfriend looks extremely embarrassed signified by him looking side to side at the people around him, because his public persona is being tarnished by her.
From Aimee's facial expressions it appears that she is screaming this in the theater. The people around her look in disbelief that someone is being outspoken in Carnegie Hall. They turn and look at her in disgust. This could represent people's reactions in society while other people are outspoken about an issue, and people in turn may act negatively. This could relate to how various groups are silenced because they do not fit the mainstream's focus, such as feminists and women's rights activists.
 |
| Source: "Voices Carry" Aimee swats away her boyfriend as he tries to stop her. |
The boyfriend moves quickly and angrily as he is trying to stop her from being outspoken. She the stands up from her seat, swats the boyfriend away as he physically tries to stop her from standing and being even more outspoken. As she stands up she takes off her hat to reveal her hair, which is the true representation of herself and by wearing a hat during formal occasions is the representation of the oppression that the boyfriend had imparted on her because he highly values control and status. And by having a girlfriend with a unique style and that could be from the lower class is not going to help him achieve what he values in life, which is money and status.
While Aimee is standing she passionately sings:
He said shut up
He said shut up
Oh God, can't you keep it down, voices carry
This can be referring to what the boyfriend said when Aimee tried to tell someone about the abuse or what happened when she was being abuse or possibly raped. The couple do live in an apartment, if he had raped her then others might have heard her yells. Because he does not want to be caught, and in order to maintain complete control he told her to shut up and "Oh God, can't you keep it down, voices carry". While she is singing this, she appears to have hit her breaking point from all the stress and abuse her boyfriend had caused her.
Also while she is standing up and the boyfriend realizes he had lost control over the situation, he tries to hide behind the seat in front of him. This demonstrates that he is a coward and cannot face Aimee being in control of the situation. His hiding also shows that people who do abuse others, do not hold themselves accountable for it once someone is outspoken about the abuse.This shows that that the victim is the stronger person if he or she can speak out about the abuse, and the abuser can only maintain control and power until he is found out.
Everyone in the audience is looking at her and then she sings on of the most painful lines in the song,
"I wish he would let me talk"
This causes one to believe that she actually did not gain her confidence in the theatre and spoke out against her abuse. Perhaps in reality she was in the theatre sitting quietly as everything she felt was boiling under the surface. She may had said something to her boyfriend to cause him to say "Hush, hush, keep it down now, voices carry" in a dismissing way that a father might tell a child, but that could had struck a chord with her during the performance and so she formed this song in her head in the Carnegie Hall based from all the oppression she had been faced with. Its actually quite sad that her triumphant out burst possibly didn't happen.
This song is mainly about the silence and pain that people go through when he or she is the victim of domestic abuse. This is a very important topic to bring awareness to with heterosexual couples, however Aimee Mann's original lyrics had her singing this song to a woman. If the domestic abuse had been show between a lesbian couple that would have brought a new aware to the public that homosexual couples do face domestic abuse in the same ways that heterosexual couples do.
Lyrics from: Project 80s
If we replaced the gender to female in the "Voices Carry" lyrics, then the song could have different interpretations.
I'm in the dark, I'd like to read her mind
but I'm frightened of the things I might find
Oh, there must be something she's thinking of
to tear her away
when I tell her that I'm falling in love
why does she say
Hush hush
keep it down now
voices carry
I try so hard not to get upset
because I know all the trouble I'll get
oh, she tells me tears are something to hide
and something to fear
and I try so hard to keep it inside
so no one can hear
Hush hush
keep it down now
voices carry
She wants me
but only part of the time
She wants me
if she can keep me in line
Hush hush
keep it down now
voices carry
hush hush, darling, he might overhear
oh, no-voices carry
he said shut up he said shut up
oh God can't you keep it down
voices carry
I wish she would let me talk
Just by looking at the lyrics with either gender focused and not looking at the meanings in the music video, then this song could be about a person who is the one that the person in a relationship is cheating with, and the cheatee had fallen in love the person in a relationship. The song could be the struggle one faces when in that situation that they cannot show their love for another because the other person is ashamed or restricting it for some reason. Therefore, if Aimee song this song to a woman, then the person she is in love with may be married to a man and doesn't want to come out as a lesbian. This could be in risk of damaging social status, as the man in this music video is concerned with. When using a different interpretation, this song is not about rape, but about the struggle with outwardly showing one's true sexual identity and the emotional pain it causes when the one you love will not let you be with him or her. So, if Mann would have been able to keep the original lyrics for this song, rather than changing them to fit in with mainstream music, then it would have represented lesbian feminism and a message to the homosexual community. Either way this song is very power and meaningful.
Information and resources regarding lesbian feminism can be found here: Life in America: The Reagan Years, A Webography.
More information and resources about domestic abuse can be found here: Helpguide.org
very interesting... Aimee Mann, I love U...
ReplyDeleteI wonder why everyone automatically assumes that she was referring to a lesbian lover? If the original lyrics actually were changed due to record company pressure? I'm not taking that as a fact since I've not managed to find her commenting on the topic... perhaps I should dig deeper. Anyway, the song could easily have been written about her MOTHER. I knew a lot of girls in high school and college that didn't get along with their mother any more than I got along with my father. Couple that with the fact that she's been married to a MAN since 1997, it would make sense. Just food for thought!
ReplyDeleteIt was originally sung to a woman. Here's a link to the youtube original. https://youtu.be/ukNJsjtjkjk
ReplyDeleteThe boyfriend is with Aimee in the entire video, there is no other woman. He has her wear a wig to cover the new hairdo he hates, another thing she does for him like the earrings, to please him. Also, the lyrics aren't "No!" it says "Oh!" It's like a bursting expression of her pain.
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I have a theory about the original lyrics. The lyrics in the commercial release were changed at the behest of the record company, so, although they present a powerful message, they are not the original work and are unlikely to reflect Aimee's experience.
ReplyDeleteI think the original lyrics are her singing from Michael Hausman's perspective. She met Hausman, and began a relationship with him, while she was at Berklee; so sometime between summer 1978 and the beginning of 1980. Their relationship continued until the summer of 1985. Somewhere in the middle of that, in 1982 as best I can tell, she had a fling with Al Jourgensen (of Ministry).
She has stated on a number of occasions that she often writes her lyrics from different perspectives and positions. In other words about someone else or about herself but not in the first person. She has also said, on many occasions, that she writes songs to work through her problems.
I think it's possible that she wrote the original lyrics for Voices Carry as a way to reconcile her affair with Jourgensen, empathising with how it affected Hausman.
Another possibility is that it's from Jourgensen's perspective. Telling him to stay aloof with her when they're in public because Mann didn't want Hausman to find out about their affair.
These webpages are also worth a read:
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/til-tuesday/voices-carry
https://dangerousminds.net/comments/no_more_crying_the_story_behind_aimee_manns_heartbreaking_song_about_al_jou
The second one has a very revealing line by Al: "She split her time between her place and mine where she was living with another guy."