Til Tuesday was an American new wave band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The band, consisting of Aimee Mann (lead vocals, bass), Robert Holmes (guitar), Joey Pesce (keyboards), and Michael Hausman (drums), was active from 1982 to 1989.
Aimee Mann wrote the lyric, declaring each line like an entry in a diary. There are very dark undertones in the song, hinting at an abusive relationship:
I try so hard not to get upset
Because I know all the trouble I’ll get
The guy wants her to keep her voice down so he can keep what they have going a secret. And while at first he’s simply telling her to hush, by the end the song this is elevated to “shut up!” Silenced, Mann ends the song with the line, “I wish he would let me talk.”
Lyrics below
I’m in the dark, I’d like to read his mind
But I’m frightened of the things I might find
Oh, there must be something he’s thinking of
To tear him away-a-ay
When I tell him that I’m falling in love
Why does he say-a-ay
Hush hush, keep it down now, voices carry
Hush hush, keep it down now, voices carry
Uh-ah
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-eh-eh
And I try so hard to keep it inside
So no one can hear
Hush hush, keep it down now, voices carry
Hush hush, keep it down now, voices carry
Hush hush, keep it down now, voices carry
Uh-ah
Oh!
He wants me, but only part of the time
He wants me, if he can keep me in line
Hush hush, keep it down now, voices carry
Hush hush, keep it down now, voices carry
Hush hush, shut up now, voices carry
Hush hush, keep it down now, voices carry
Hush hush, darling, she might overhear
Hush, hush – voices carry
He said shut up – he said shut up
Oh God can’t you keep it down
Voices carry
Hush hush, voices carry
Don Matthews
July 2022
Flippant, Comic, and Serious 