"Stupid Thing" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Aimee Mann Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released more than a dozen albums as a solo artist and with other musicians. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyr ...

, which was released in 1993 as the second single from her debut studio album ''

Whatever Whatever may refer to: Music Albums * ''Whatever'' (Adore Delano album), 2017 * ''Whatever'' (Aimee Mann album), 1993 * ''Whatever'' (Danny Thompson album), 1987 * ''Whatever'' (The Friends of Distinction album), 1970 * ''Whatever'' (Gre ...

''. The song was written by Mann and

Jon Brion Jon Brion is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and the Grays before becoming an established producer and film score composer. Brion has ...

, and produced by Brion. "Stupid Thing" peaked at No. 47 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and remained in the Top 100 for two weeks.

Background

Speaking of the song, Mann told Tony Clayton-Lea of the ''

Sunday Tribune The ''Sunday Tribune'' was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to tab ...

'' in 1993, "Most of 'Stupid Thing' comes from a particular relationship and the frustration someone would feel because they're stopping something before it's even started."

Critical reception

Tony Clayton-Lea of the ''Sunday Tribune'' commented that "Stupid Thing" was "about the way in which some relationships break apart before they've been given the chance to properly knit together". He added, "Mann matches the unfairness of the situation with an inherent hopelessness that is astoundingly accurate". In a review of ''Whatever'', Kara Manning of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' noted the song "aptly targets a disappointing lover from the perspective of his 'dear departed'". John Mackie of the ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'' described the song as a "sad and beautiful ballad, with a killer chorus".

Track listing

;7" and cassette single (UK release) #"Stupid Thing" - 4:28 #"I've Had It" - 4:15 ;Cassette single (US release) #"Stupid Thing" - 4:28 #"Say Anything" (Acoustic) - 3:45 #"I've Had It" - 4:15 ;CD single (UK release #1) #"Stupid Thing" - 4:28 #"Baby Blue" - 3:50 #"

The Other End (Of the Telescope) "The Other End (Of the Telescope)" is a song by American band 'Til Tuesday, which was released in 1988 on their third and final studio album '' Everything's Different Now''. The song was written by Aimee Mann and Elvis Costello. Costello recorde ...

" (Live) - 4:03 #"Say Anything" (Live) - 3:48 ;CD single (UK release #2) #"Stupid Thing" (Live) - 4:29 #"Put Me on Top" (Live) - 3:36 #"4th of July" (Live) - 3:15 #"I Should've Known" (Live) - 4:33 ;CD single (US release) #"Stupid Thing" - 4:28 #"Say Anything" (Acoustic) - 3:45 #"I've Had It" - 4:15

Personnel

Stupid Thing *

– vocals, bass *

– electric guitar, piano, harmonium, organ, chamberlin * Buddy Judge – acoustic guitar *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America".Howard Sounes. ''Down ...

– drums Production * Jon Brion – producer of "Stupid Thing", "I've Had It", "Say Anything" (Acoustic) and "Baby Blue" * Aimee Mann,

Michael Hausman Michael Hausman is an American musician and talent manager, known for his collaboration with former-girlfriend and bandmate Aimee Mann. Hausman attended Berklee College of Music and played with a Boston band called The Dark before becoming the dr ...

– producers of "I've Had It" *

Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born January 15, 1953) is an American recording engineer, mixer and record producer. He has worked with many major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Toto, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, with whom he has a very ...

– mixing on "Stupid Thing", "I've Had It", "Say Anything" (Acoustic) and "Baby Blue" * Michael Reiter – assistant mixer on "Stupid Thing" * Laurence Diane – engineer on "The Other End (Of the Telescope" (Live), "Say Anything" (Live), "Put Me on Top" (Live) and "4th of July" (Live) * Mike Deenan – engineer on "Stupid Thing" (Live) and "I Should've Known" (Live) *

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

– mastering Other *

Anton Corbijn Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2,Pitman, Joanna"The silent partner"' ...

– photography

Charts

References

{{Aimee Mann 1993 songs 1993 singles Aimee Mann songs Songs written by Aimee Mann Songs written by Jon Brion Song recordings produced by Jon Brion Imago Records singles