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Cover of I’m With Stupid by Aimee Mann — Cover: I’m With Stupid

Song · Aimee Mann

“That's Just What You Are” by Aimee Mann

From the album I’m With Stupid (1995)

“That's Just What You Are” by Aimee Mann appears on 22 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 1994 and 2023. It was first released in 1995 on the album I’m With Stupid. Its best result is #61 on the WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1994. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #201 alternative song of 1994 and #1,460 alternative song of all time.

22countdowns

5stations

#61best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

1994–2023years charted

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Aimee Mann - That's Just What You Are

Video from YouTube (AimeeMannVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

Aimee Mann wrote "That's Just What You Are" with Jon Brion, and it first surfaced in 1994, pulled off the Melrose Place soundtrack, before settling onto I'm with Stupid, her second album. The target is a type everybody knows: the jerk who swears he can't change, because changing would betray who he really is. Mann and Brion both had friends pulling that routine, and she had no patience for it.

Mike Denneen produced and adds organ and piano, Mann plays bass and guitars, and Squeeze's Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford drop in on backing vocals, with Tilbrook adding electric guitar. It's crisp, tuneful and quietly withering, a pop song that smiles while it cuts you down. It reached 24 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks, and David Hogan directed the video.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1994	61	WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD	WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1994	100

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1999	451	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
2000	451	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	452	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2002	452	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2003	452	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2004	452	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2005	454	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2007	1636	CD101	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)	2008
2008	1639	CD101	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)	2009
2009	1656	CD101	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)	2010
2009	685	WYEP	WYEP 913 Essential Songs	913
2009	755	WXPN	WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009)	885
2010	1694	CD101	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)	2011
2010	662	WXPN	WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010)	885
2011	1762	CD101	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)	2011
2013	1823	CD101	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)	2012
2014	1891	CD101	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)	2013
2022	415	The Colorado Sound	The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s	900
2022	613	The Colorado Sound	The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time	1055
2022	1279	WYEP	WYEP Countdown to Fall 2022	603
2023	772	WYEP	WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023	1229

Charting alongside it in 1994

Best songs of 1994 →

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