‘Save Me’: The song that transformed Aimee Mann
The 1999 film Magnolia is known for its interwoven characters, heavy themes, and a powerful ending sequence tied together by a song that acts as a plea for the broken people we follow throughout the film. While many may know Aimee Mann’s music from its role in the soundtrack, especially during those final moments that earned her Grammy and Academy Award nominations, what’s less known is how much her work inspired the film’s screenplay. The soundtrack features nine songs by Mann, alongside tracks from Supertramp, Jon Brion, and Gabrielle.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson stated that he sat down to write an adaptation of Aimee Mann’s songs, using her first two solo albums and demo tracks as a basis for the script. He told Toronto Star when the film came out, “Simon & Garfunkel is to The Graduate as Aimee Mann is to Magnolia”.
The most notable of Mann’s tracks, ‘Save Me’, is the one that plays during the closing scene and was originally featured on the artist’s third album, Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo. Though the film included several of her original songs, including ‘Wise Up’, ‘Save Me’ lends itself to the most expressive scenes, its lyrics of desperation, hope and sadness intertwining with the plot and complex character stories.
She continued: “I wrote the song while [Paul Thomas Anderson] was writing the movie. Paul and I were friends, and we were just writing stuff together. I would write something playful, and then he would talk to me about the movie, and I would write stuff. We were influenced by the same things,” Mann told Stereogum in 2018.
The song’s meaning is explained in the liner notes of the album: “It’s very simple, but so melodic. There aren’t a lot of lyrics, but the ones that are there, I feel, are pretty well-written. It’s so satisfying to find words that sum up such a complicated feeling, the feeling that you’re fragmenting, and looking to other people to hold you together.”
‘Save Me’ looks to its simple arrangement for its foundation; on a bed of static drums, the song plays with interesting production techniques, including transitions and textures. It features bite-sized chunks of distorted guitar wails, harmonised vocals and keyboard, which collectively create intrigue and interlink the sections. Inspired by The Beatles when it came to the song’s backing vocals and drums, Mann said, “I always loved the way Ringo’s playing was always so stripped down: he wouldn’t necessarily just play eighth notes on the hi-hat, so I wanted to try it with the guitar playing the eighth notes and the drums laying back a little.”
What Aimee Mann lays down on the track is evocative enough to carry Magnolia‘s conclusion, which is an achievement in itself, even before you strip away its lyrical content and look at the thorough production and musical elements. Impressive on every level, ‘Save Me’ is a sum of its parts that pulls you into its vulnerable environment and keeps you around to inspire with its technicalities.
