Noah can build his ark but he will never disembark

I can’t think of any other artist today who can make music like Aimee Mann. Everyone in my tiny circle (basically composed of one person) would attest to how much I love her and her work, and the fact that not a lot of people around me brings her up really puzzles me and, at the same time, keeps me wreathed in smiles. For me, she crafts the most memorable songs, lyrics- and melody-wise, and she possesses the perfect imperfect voice that no one can imitate. And if someone asks me now to rank her 7 albums according to their significance to my life, I will say it’s a tie between Whatever, I’m With Stupid, Lost in Space, Bachelor No. 2, The Forgotten Arm, One More Drifter in the Snow and @#%&*! Smilers for the top spot.

Speaking of @#%&*! Smilers, the title rationale from my idol’s official website: “The title Smilers gets its name from a phrase Mann has long used to humorously lampoon the unrelentingly happy, shiny, smiley-faced pop culture that surrounds us all today. ‘I read an article that said that across all cultures, the single thing that people respond to most is a smiling cartoon face," says Mann. 'A friend of mine and I used to laugh at how there's always somebody in an office or on the street who smiles all the time and is the first one to say, 'hey, smile!' I get that all the time from people who say 'why can't you be more smiley?’ So we jokingly nicknamed them @#%&! Smilers. You can provide your own curse word there. I think everybody knows someone like that.’" By the way, the HMV branch I went to labels the album as “Smiles” under “Aimee Mann”.



31 Today
Aimee Mann

31 today
What a thing to say
Drinking Guinness in the afternoon
Taking shelter in the black cocoon

I thought my life would be different somehow
I thought my life would be better by now
But it's not and
I don't know where to turn

Called some guy I knew
Had a drink or two
And we fumbled as the day grew dark
I pretended that I felt a spark

Easter comes and goes
Maybe Jesus knows
So you roll on with the best you can
Getting loaded, watching CNN