Jillpw
Posts 910
Registered 8-22-2002 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 6-3-2007 at 05:56 PM |
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P.S. I loved you by Aimee Mann
This is an op-Ed that appeared in today's NYT and also the International Herald Tribune
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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/opinion/03mann.html
P.S. I Loved You
By AIMEE MANN
Los Angeles
MY big brother was always the one to bring new music into the house. Until I heard the Beatles playing on his stereo in the basement, my favorite
music had been Glen Campbell singing “Galveston” or my father playing “Won’t You Come Home, Bill Bailey” on the piano.
I was young enough to giggle when my brother changed the words of “P.S. I Love You” to...something more puerile, and four years later, young
enough to think that “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” was really a band, and not the name of a Beatles record. In those intervening
years, a transformation had taken place, and both the sound and the look of the Beatles had completely changed. Also, I was a little slow on the
uptake, and didn’t notice the name “Beatles” spelled out in flowers on the cover.
Is it a testament to the quality, or purity, or beauty, or timelessness of that record (released 40 years ago this weekend) that it appealed so
thoroughly to an 8-year-old, one who had virtually no contact with pop culture? I could not have been more out of tune with the zeitgeist — it would
be two more years before I discovered radio, and even then I would have only the vaguest notion of what was out there. I bought my first LP solely on
the basis of the cover (one of the reasons today I try to take extra care with the packaging of my CDs). It was pure dumb luck that it turned out to
be Elton John’s “Madman Across the Water,” still one of my favorite albums of all time.
But the favorite is, and was, and must remain “Sgt. Pepper’s.” I had a love affair like no other with that record. My brother had bought it, of
course, and when I heard it, I braved his wrath and smuggled it out to my friend’s house so I could play it over and over. You’d have had to know
my brother back then to fully understand how daring that was.
In a way, that record seemed made for children: the fun false mustaches that came with the package, the bright shiny outfits, the cheery melodies, the
jaunty horns. The band itself seemed almost irrelevant — scruffy mustachioed men in costumes, lost in a sea of collaged faces. I ignored them.
My ignorance extended to the opening song, which I took at face value as a real live introduction of the singer Billy Shears, who, whoever he was,
became my favorite, with his dopey baritone, in humble gratitude for his pals — bless them, it all was so innocent, those marmalade skies and
winking meter maids (whatever they were). The darkest moments were with the runaway girl — although a throwaway line in “Getting Better” (“I
was cruel to my woman, I beat her...”) gave me pause. He beat her? What the heck? But hey — things were getting better all the time, so ... I
shrugged and let it go.
And then things took a weird turn: a nightmare cacophony of strings, someone blowing his mind out in a car — what was that? Did he get shot in the
head? What were the holes in Albert Hall? Things had gotten creepy and dark, and it lost me. I started skipping that last song.
I can’t listen to “Sgt. Pepper’s” anymore. As a musician, I’m burnt out on it — its influence has been so vast and profound. As a
lyricist, I find that my ear has become more attuned to the likes of Fiona Apple and Elliot Smith, and though the words of “Sgt. Pepper’s” are
full of vivid images — Rita’s bag slung over her shoulder, Mr. Kite sailing through a hogshead of fire, the runaway girl with her handkerchief —
there’s an emotional depth that’s missing. I’m ashamed to say it, but sometimes John Lennon’s melodies feel a bit underwritten, while Paul
McCartney’s relentless cheerfulness is depressing. The very jauntiness I used to love as a girl feels as if it’s covering up a sadder subtext. And
what’s bleaker than a brave face?
The whole experience is uncomfortable, like realizing you can beat your own father at chess or arm-wrestling. I don’t want to go back and find that
the carcass has been picked clean. Because I know without a doubt that “Sgt. Pepper’s” changed the course of my life. If the magic is gone,
it’s only because first loves can’t be repeated. When I was 8, I’d never heard anything like it, and I can honestly say that if I live to be
100, I’ll never hear anything like it again.
Aimee Mann is a singer and songwriter.
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moosedude
Amateur
Posts 2
Registered 5-23-2007 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 6-3-2007 at 09:33 PM |
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thanks for posting that, it's very insightiful.
did Aimee draw the illustration too? I ask because it sort of reminds me of what this website used to look like a while back!
EDIT:
I'm such an idiot, it had the illustrator's name right next to it!
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mymusicnotfionas
Lost in Space  
Posts 30
Registered 4-26-2007 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 6-3-2007 at 09:35 PM |
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i absolutely loved this article! she could be a talented novelist,journalist if she wasn't a songwriter.
but..they spelled Elliott Smith wrong. dunno if there are any Elliott fans here, but that bothered me
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jacobmarley
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 posted on 6-3-2007 at 09:42 PM |
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Great read thank you for sharing!
"Why do people take drugs anymore when reality has become hallucination?!"
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lou
Wise Up
Posts 851
Registered 7-9-2004 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 6-4-2007 at 03:46 AM |
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Really well written and interesting story, and a very honest viewpoint. She's a heck of a writer, that Aimee Mann.
I think she insinuated at the end that she feels she's a better songwriter than Lennon, and McCartney.
Uh oh.. wonder if this puts her on Page 6 again.
Which would be a good thing; a little notoriety from an honest viewpoint shouldn't hurt.
And I agree; I've always thought Lennon was a tad overrated. The combo of three very good songwriters and a great producer made the Beatles
fantastic. I love George Harrison's stuff. I'd judge Mann a more sophisticated songwriter than any of the three, though.
I'd add that although McCartney's stuff was cheery (with sometimes dark subtones), he is responsible for one of the great melancholy songs
of all time in "Yesterday".
"She's Leaving Home" too; extremely sad.
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mymusicnotfionas
Lost in Space
Posts 30
Registered 4-26-2007 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 6-4-2007 at 04:05 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by lou
I think she insinuated at the end that she feels she's a better songwriter than Lennon, and McCartney.
I love that. and the fact that she loves Fiona Apple and will say it. she has guts
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Chris Grimm
Say Anything
Posts 1
Registered 6-4-2007 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 6-4-2007 at 04:53 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mymusicnotfionas
quote:
Originally posted by lou
I think she insinuated at the end that she feels she's a better songwriter than Lennon, and McCartney.
I love that. and the fact that she loves Fiona Apple and will say it. she has guts
Nice piece - and I also wasn't quite sure how to interpret the comment. Reminds me of the Lou Reed comment from either the tenth or twentieth
anniversary of Sgt. Pepper (apologies to Lou if I mangle the line) "all four Velvet's records were better than that." The
skewering of the sacred cow was both frightening and endearing. Not sure that the same thing was meant by the editorial.
That said, I was also reminded in my belief that music, like most everything else, tends to build on the past, "standing on the shoulders of
giants."
While I love Sgt. Pepper, it's not perfect and I find that, for instance, XTC's Skylarking is better and may well be
perfect. (IMHO the finest recording of the rock and roll era.)
Would it have been even conceivable without Sgt. Pepper existing before it? Of course not. And of course it is not even remotely near the
cultural importance of SPLHCB. But as an artistic work, it was a step forward.
If Aimee Mann is right in believing that Sgt. Pepper gave her a launching point to further popular music, I'd say it's a tribute to
her talents as well as those of John & Paul, George & Ringo.
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wcresser
Amateur
Posts 3
Registered 6-3-2007 Location www.shakinglikeamountain.com Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 6-4-2007 at 12:20 PM |
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P.S. I Loved It
A nice piece of writing. I was a tad older when I first heard Sgt. Pepper's. 15. And Revolver had already affected me immensely. I see it and
Rubber Soul as the beginning of the Beatles mature phase. Pepper's is the most extravagant example of their psychedelic output. The Beatles were
always the gold standard for our psychedelic wanderings, the bar by which we measured the trippy Byrds, Santanic Majesties-era Stones, and flower
power Donovan, among others. What made Aimee's piece so engaging was her wit and honesty. Nice, fun and deeply felt.
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Lara
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| posted on 6-4-2007 at 06:18 PM |
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I'm no musician, but I'm only two years older than Aimee, and am married to a musician (have hung around them all my life) and I can
certainly understand what she means about Sgt. Pepper. That was a ground-breaking album like none before it or after, but I know what she means by
"burned out" by certain albums, that one in particular I haven't listened to in a while, and The Beatles are my favorite band, and I
haven't listened to any of their songs in a few months at least.
On a different note, she does write very well (as expected), and would have been a great journalist. But I think I can speak for most of us when I
say that we're glad she decided to be a musician! 
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lou
Wise Up
Posts 851
Registered 7-9-2004 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 6-6-2007 at 10:20 PM |
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Would like to add that, she is comparing her tastes and songwriting style of today versus THAT album written at that time, when McCartney and Lennon
were in their twenties and just evolving as songwriters (only a few years past "Love Me Do" ) .
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huntre
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| posted on 6-9-2007 at 03:07 AM |
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I can see why she'd feel that way about "Pepper".
For me, it sounds like 1967 and always will. It's a timepiece.
(I don't react to "Revolver" quite that way.)
The Beatles made their permanent mark. Anyone who comes after them has to see past what they did and do something to mark their own time.
If they get really lucky, something they do will become timeless.
How this works is a complete mystery.
I love "Pepper", but I don't listen to more than one or two songs from it these days.
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auramac
Amateur
Posts 4
Registered 3-17-2007 Member Is Offline Mood: Irritated
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| posted on 6-18-2007 at 07:20 AM |
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PS. I Still Love You
At present, I'd rather hear the next Aimee Mann record than the next Paul McCartney album.. so far, anyway... but I found this review upsetting.
I am constantly amazed at how great the Beatles were Here, There, and Everywhere. Yes, there are periods, even years, where I take a break because I
know them so well. Then I come back and amazingly, I'll hear something old, but Something New. There are a bunch of Aimee songs I'll never
get out of my head. Same goes for most everything by the Beatles. No one is in their league, even though they happened All Those Years Ago. Fiona
Apple? She's great, but she aint no John Lennon. Nobody is. Also, if you take ten of Lennon or McCartney's greatest- absolutely every one
of them will be totally different from each other. It was as if there were more than three songwriters in that band. Each album was another band...
hell, each Song was another band!
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welshboy
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| posted on 6-18-2007 at 12:45 PM |
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Thanks for the post...
I think Pepper has far more McCartney fingerprints on it than Lennon's, although A Day in the Life is a Lennon masterpiece.
To take up Lou's point about Lennon being over-rated. I have to disagree - just look at the Beatles' early years and albums such as A Hard
Day's Night. Has a songwriter ever been so prolific with quality songs?
McCartney and Harrison developed as a result of Lennon's early brilliance. The later Beatles years were certainly more dominated by McCartney
and by George Martin, as the studio became their succour from the whirlwind.
btw - I still have Pepper in my car. The bassline on Lovely Rita is always worth listening to.
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lou
Wise Up
Posts 851
Registered 7-9-2004 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 6-24-2007 at 02:16 PM |
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Let me just say Welshboy, that when I'm talking about the Beatles, I don't know much of what I'm talking about. I've never
known who wrote what song, for example -- the whole Lennon or McCartney thing. Most of the time, when I've looked up a song I like, I've
found out it was McCartney who wrote it. And if it wasn't McCartney it was Harrison. So I've fallen into this assumption through the years
that I think I know a McCartney song when I hear it, and the Lennon ones I don't like as much. But I really should take the trouble to look up
exactly who wrote what song before I make determinations. I did at one point years ago, and I thought I liked McCartney's resume a bit more.
But I should look again.
Like for instance only the other day I commented on a Fiona Apple cover of "Across the Universe" up on youtube, that Fiona Apple was tops
and that George Harrison was tops -- great song, great cover -- and someone pointed out to me that John Lennon wrote the song. To which I replied John
Lennon was tops too.
So you see, case in point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gLWTtlMwo4
Also, when I say 'a tad' overrated, I don't mean to say he wasn't very good; there are just some folks who talk about each of
the Beatles as if they were geniuses, and I'm not sure if that doesn't overrate them a tad. But that would be more of a debate over
granularity of a person's rating system -- "genius" vs "great" vs "very good"; "superstar" vs
"star" in sports, restaurant reviews in the NY Times (where the lowest ranking is very good), and the like.
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welshboy
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| posted on 6-25-2007 at 05:01 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by lou
Let me just say Welshboy, that when I'm talking about the Beatles, I don't know much of what I'm talking about. I've never
known who wrote what song, for example -- the whole Lennon or McCartney thing. Most of the time, when I've looked up a song I like, I've
found out it was McCartney who wrote it. And if it wasn't McCartney it was Harrison. So I've fallen into this assumption through the years
that I think I know a McCartney song when I hear it, and the Lennon ones I don't like as much. But I really should take the trouble to look up
exactly who wrote what song before I make determinations. I did at one point years ago, and I thought I liked McCartney's resume a bit more.
But I should look again.
Like for instance only the other day I commented on a Fiona Apple cover of "Across the Universe" up on youtube, that Fiona Apple was tops
and that George Harrison was tops -- great song, great cover -- and someone pointed out to me that John Lennon wrote the song. To which I replied John
Lennon was tops too.
So you see, case in point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gLWTtlMwo4
Also, when I say 'a tad' overrated, I don't mean to say he wasn't very good; there are just some folks who talk about each of
the Beatles as if they were geniuses, and I'm not sure if that doesn't overrate them a tad. But that would be more of a debate over
granularity of a person's rating system -- "genius" vs "great" vs "very good"; "superstar" vs
"star" in sports, restaurant reviews in the NY Times (where the lowest ranking is very good), and the like.
I respect your opinions anyway Lou, whether you happen to be a Beatlemaniac or not... I didn't mean to sound disdainful.. I hope I didn't.
To be entirely honest, I went through a period of being too much of a Beatles fan -their music was all I listened to for about two years (aged 17/18).
I was a sad case!
I still think they were a very special band and both Lennon and McCartney would certainly need serious consideration for any 'genius'
category. Both of them produced some rank stuff during their solo years interspersed with some seriously good songs, although Macca took a lot of
recovering from his frog dalliance! I also still think they are unsurpassed in terms of their discography.
It often blows my mind to consider that Rubber Soul, Revolver and Pepper were all written and released well within two years of eachother. That, by
any reckoning, is phenomenal songwriting.
Here's a brief note on who wrote what...
Harrison
Here Comes the Sun
Taxman
Something
I want to tell you
I me mine
While my Guitar Gently Weeps
The Inner Light
I Need You
McCartney
Hey Jude
Lady Madonna
Yesterday
Let it Be
The Long and Winding Road
Penny Lane
She's Leaving Home
I Saw Her Standing There
I Will
Michelle
Paperback Writer
Lennon
A Hard Day's Night
Revolution
I Feel Fine
I am the Walrus
All You Need Is Love
Help
Day Tripper
Norwegian Wood
Come Together
Strawberry Fields Forever
In My Life
....amongst many, many other hidden gems... and many more I've forgotten about..
My favourite Beatles song is 'You Never Give Me Your Money' from Abbey Road (my favourite Beatles album)....
It's interesting that Aimee Mann is clearly inspired by the Beatles and that she mentions her fondness for Elliott Smith.. I think Elliott
Smith's XO and Figure 8 albums are very Beatlesque.
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godkin
Satellite
Posts 16
Registered 6-28-2007 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 6-28-2007 at 05:33 AM |
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Something that interests me about Aimee's music is that I cannot seem to trace her influence from the Beatles/Byrds split.
Somehow, I think almost all popular music since the late 60's falls into one of the two influences, and the only other artist I can think of
besides Aimee who my ear can't trace is David Bowie.
For example, a friend of mine once said that the whole grunge movement was "the Beatles with distortion." Generally, I tend to like and
listen now to musicians who have more of a Byrds feel.
It was an interesting piece, though. I'm still a fan of Revolver and Magical Mystery way more than I ever was of Peppers.
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lou
Wise Up
Posts 851
Registered 7-9-2004 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 6-30-2007 at 01:27 PM |
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Interesting godkin, but I think your field split is too narrow. What about the Rolling Stones and Blondie?
Thanks for the lists Welshboy. If I had to pick, just off your list, I think I'd pick Harrison first, McCartney second, and then Lennon. But
they are impressive resumes all. And it's duly noted that that's a list you created shooting from the hip; for example you don't
have Lennon's "Across the Universe" or (post-Beatles) "Imagine" in there. I think those might be my two favorite songs
of his. So he wasn't too shaby.
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huntre
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| posted on 6-30-2007 at 10:47 PM |
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Post-Beatles? Hmmm.
"Maybe I'm Amazed"....Paul
"Jealous Guy"....John
"Give Me Love..."....George
It's a 3-way tie. All brilliant songwriters. They each had highs and lows.
"Some babies grow in a peculiar way."
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godkin
Satellite
Posts 16
Registered 6-28-2007 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 7-2-2007 at 12:04 AM |
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the split
quote:
Originally posted by lou
Interesting godkin, but I think your field split is too narrow. What about the Rolling Stones and Blondie?
***
ok, then how about the who and grandmaster flash?
i seem to have this fixation with 1967-1969. makes me forget how big blondie/punk/rap was when it came around.
blondie. probably being the best intelligent answer to "if you're going to listen to synth pop, what would you turn on besides 'til
tuesday."
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huntre
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| posted on 7-3-2007 at 04:13 AM |
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Blondie were one of the only smart-aleky bands at the time...other than the Talking Heads and Ramones. Most were taking themselves waaaaaay too
seriously.
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godkin
Satellite
Posts 16
Registered 6-28-2007 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 7-4-2007 at 07:55 AM |
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I was a little kid back then and listened to Cheap Trick.
What was the schtick on the Pretenders back then? I still like a lot of their songs... years ago, I heard a really funny story about Blondie and her
(their) shows from the late 70s from a cool guy about 10 years my senior.
What I still don't get is the whole punk scene pre-U2. And British ska. It just seems so nonintended for American listeners.
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zackdwat
Say Anything
Posts 1
Registered 10-16-2009 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 10-16-2009 at 10:39 AM |
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Love the article. She got talent but yeah I notice that too.... maybe she had miscue on that...(hope so)
zackdwat
Simulation prt
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antuck
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| posted on 10-16-2009 at 01:37 PM |
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This was a great read. I hadn't seen this before. A little insight to Aimee as a little one. Oh the innocents at that age. Everything was so
blissful. The illustration was great to. Everything she said tied together. I love the smoke coming out of the plug from listening so much.
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