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" Voices Carry" is a song by the American Rock music band 'Til Tuesday. It was produced by Mike Thorne for the band's debut studio album, Voices Carry (1985). The accompanying music video, directed by D.J. Webster, received wide exposure on MTV and positive reactions from critics. It was nominated for numerous awards and is thought to be the reason behind the song's success. It was released in North America in March 1985. "Voices Carry" became the band's highest-charting single and their only top ten hit in the U.S., peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. Internationally it reached the top twenty in Canada and Australia.
Despite the pressure to replace the lyrics, producer Mike Thorne thought that "it didn't matter any to the impact of the song itself", though the band eventually changed the gender of the love interest. At the beginning, 'Til Tuesday and Thorne were undecided between "Love in a Vacuum" and "Looking Over My Shoulder" to be released as the first single, but ultimately Epic's artist and repertoire (A&R) executive Dick Wingate chose "Voices Carry", because it "defined precisely the band and its style". According to Thorne, his contract stated that he had the right to be the first to remix the song for the 7" single release. He was then told that it had been remixed by Bob Clearmountain; about this he commented, "not what the rules were ... but it sounded pretty good, as well it might coming from one of the finest American engineer/producers".
Dennis Hunt of the Los Angeles Times said that Mann has "a distinct naturalism that governs her vocals" and that "the frailty, roughness and lack of great range in her voice ... is genuinely appealing", adding that if she were a "polished singer, songs like 'Voices Carry' ... wouldn't be half as appealing"; while Robert Hilburn of the same newspaper said that Mann "exhibits winning vocal authority on record", adding that the "only thing she needs is another Dave Stewart to give her more tailored and absorbing arrangements and material". Lynn Van Matre of the Chicago Tribune said that "much of the group's material falls into the dance rock category", adding that the "the Blues title cut, ... 'Voices Carry', was particularly impressive". Brent Mann, in his book 99 Red Balloons... called it "the quintessential New Wave song", and felt that "Mann's cool, dark lead vocals were right in step with the style".Mann, 2003. p. 47.
In Canada, the single entered the RPM singles chart in June 1985 at number ninety-four, peaked at number fifteen for two weeks in August 1985, stayed twenty-two weeks in total, and was certified gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). In Australia, "Voices Carry" entered the Kent Music Report on June 17, 1985; it peaked at number fifteen, and spent fourteen weeks on the chart.
The success of the single was largely attributed to the video, which received wide exposure on MTV and local Boston UHF music video channel V-66, along with positive reactions from critics and nominations to numerous awards. Keith Thomas of Knight Ridder newspapers called the video "a clever and stunning effort". Praising the dialogue and acting he said that it "looks better than most ", adding that "everything about the clip is grand". Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times also praised Mann's acting, saying that she appears "marvelously charismatic" in it, while Dennis Hunt from the same newspaper said that it was "cleverly conceived". Debbie del Condo of the Orlando Sentinel called it the "Most Memorable Video of 1985", and added that she will "keep waiting for their next video". In his book Totally awesome 80s, author Matthew Rettenmund called it a "great story video".Rettenmund, 1996. p. 159. Author Brent Mann in his book 99 Red Balloons..., called the video "pure New Wave" and added that it was "perfect for MTV and VH1 consumption".
At the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards, the band won the award for Best New Artist in a video. The same year, at the Fourth Annual American Video Awards, Mann was named the Best Female Performer in a video for "Voices Carry". The video was placed number forty on Slant Magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Music Videos", and was listed on Pitchforks "100 Awesome Music Videos", in 2006.
The 2012 music video for "Labrador", the second single from her album Charmer, features a satirical shot-for-shot remake of "Voices Carry" video within the framing device of Mann having been forced to shoot the video after inadvertently signing complete control of the video over to director Tom Scharpling. The video features Jon Wurster as the Wall Street boyfriend, Jon Hamm as Scharpling, and Ted Leo in a cameo.
| Australian Kent Music Report NOTE: Used for singles and albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own ARIA Charts in mid-1988. | 15 |
| Canadian RPM Singles Chart | 15 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 8 |
| US Radio & Records CHR/Pop Airplay Chart | 7 |
| US Billboard Top Rock Tracks | 14 |
| US Top Pop Singles ( Billboard) | 68 |
American singer Tiffany Darwish covered the song on her compilation album Greatest Hits of the '80s and Beyond, released on May 30, 2011. The album included a string of '80s song covers.
On July 30, 2018, singer/songwriter Sky Ferreira released a demo of her cover on SoundCloud. Ferreira later released a more produced '(Alternative Version)' which appeared on YouTube.
On August 28, 2024, American actress and singer/songwriter Kate Hudson released her cover version of the song. Hudson had previously performed the song on The Howard Stern Show in May 2024.
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