Wise Up

Perhaps Mann's most depressing song, "Wise Up" deals with the need to recognize reality. Its lyrics, "It's not going to stop till you wise up, so you might as well give up," are not of the encouraging, positive, motivational nature. This is in contrast to the song's sweet melody and gentle, orchestral swells.

This song was featured prominently in the Paul Thomas Anderson movie Magnolia in a surreal sequence wherein several characters in different locations are seen simultaneously singing the tune aloud. The film itself was basically a story created around Mann's songs. The singer/songwriter explained to dcist what happened: "Well, I wrote it for Jerry Maguire. [Writer/director Cameron Crowe] really liked the demo, and then he didn't like the finished version, so he didn't put it in the movie. Then after the movie came out, he called me and said, 'I don't know what I was thinking! Your version is awesome. I guess I was just kind of attached to the demo.' So he put it on the soundtrack album. So it's there, and on the DVD, but it wasn't in the original release of the film. And then Paul Thomas Anderson heard it, and he really liked it. So [the song's prominent use in Magnolia] was kind of a sweet shout-out."