1
All dreams have died, along the way
I coughed up the price, I bought a cage
I've had a hell of a time since I went away
Don't know when I died, or where to lay down
Gone, gone away
Yeah gone, gone away
God knows I've tried, I'm dyed in pain
Strong yet simple drive, the freedom to say
I've had a hell of a time since I went away
Homing on traces of light, that distance fades
Yeah I'm gone, gone away
Yeah I'm gone, gone away
So they say with time, we slowly heal
I caught a flash of your smile, through the fog of a dream
I'll have a hell of a time, I clearly see
I can't be by your side, I'll see you when I sleep
Now you're gone? gone away
Yeah you're gone? gone away
I coughed up the price, I bought a cage
I've had a hell of a time since I went away
Don't know when I died, or where to lay down
Gone, gone away
Yeah gone, gone away
God knows I've tried, I'm dyed in pain
Strong yet simple drive, the freedom to say
I've had a hell of a time since I went away
Homing on traces of light, that distance fades
Yeah I'm gone, gone away
Yeah I'm gone, gone away
So they say with time, we slowly heal
I caught a flash of your smile, through the fog of a dream
I'll have a hell of a time, I clearly see
I can't be by your side, I'll see you when I sleep
Now you're gone? gone away
Yeah you're gone? gone away
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More Featured Meanings
nominative was the case they gave me
Wow, Owls!
Wow, Owls!
this ain't for everyone
Pas/cal
Pas/cal
1
Du var inte där för mig
Lisa Ekdahl
Lisa Ekdahl
1
I don't get it
Cowboy Junkies, The
Cowboy Junkies, The
1
Love in a Vacuum
'Til Tuesday
'Til Tuesday
Well, in my opinion this song is about being a young & maybe a little naive &/or introverted girl and finding yourself loving a man who is at first very charming, carefree & outgoing, and seems at first to be without limits, as in
"There was a time
you opened up every doorway
you didn't mind if everything
wasn't your way"
then that man starts to gradually become more introverted & shows their more possessive/obsessive side to you as the relationship progresses, even while they keep up the appearance of being carefree & outgoing to everyone else,
"Don't pull away
that goes against what you told me
I look in your eyes
I realize what you've sold me
is love in a vacuum"
so you confront them about the way they're acting and of course they deny it,
"I think you've changed
but you insist that
that's not true"
quite possibly they are an addict of some sort, my guess would be cocaine, &/or showing very obsessive behavior towards you (early on in the video for this song we see the man hanging a picture up, it is a very large portrait of Aimee & it is prominently displayed in his/their apartment for the duration of the song), thus their "love in a vacuum",
"You look so strange, so distant
that you're hardly you
Now I can see
how you have been acting different
You say it's me
but I know
that it isn't
it's love in a vacuum"
but still you are in love with them and don't want to leave them and you know that they are truly in love with you and they don't want you to leave them either, maybe they are convinced you can save them from themself, maybe they are so broken that the possibility of an overdose &/or suicide attempt is very real and you want to get through to them that their behavior not only dangerous but it is also just pissing you off and if they don't wise up they run the risk of loosing you, as in the lines
"You will be lonely
if you leave me alone", so you want to save them but can't get through to them due to the addiction &/or emotional problems they have,
"Love in a vacuum
and that's not enough
love in a vacuum
You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
You will be lonely
if you leave me alone
You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
it's just not enough"
you want them to understand that the love they are giving you is not enough when it is filtered through the vacuum of their drug addiction &/or emotional impairment,
"You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
it's just not enough
and just wait
you will be lonely
Love in a vacuum
Love in a vacuum
and that's not enough
Love in a vacuum".
'Love In A Vacuum' for me is a hauntingly truthful acute argument on the loneliness of obsession and almost inevitable loss of love that follows people who are broken in some way or another; the obsessives, the coke heads, the drunks, addicts or the just-plain-old emotionally broken; a razor sharp, lyrically driven, deceptively poppy, yet ultimately-depressing-in-the-best-way song.
Quintessential Aimee Mann.
i have a good feeling that this song is about the passing of Layne Staley. "i coughed up the price, i bought a cage" the cage symbolizes heroin... which led to Staley's premature death. RIP Layne Staley
@SwornToTheBlack this was written and recorded before Layne's death
@SwornToTheBlack It's about Jerry himself. He "coughed up the price" (meaning, it was a cage of his own making, from the time he was young, he built it with himself with his talent and drive), and crawled into it as part of his rock n roll lifestyle. <br /> <br /> It all seemed exciting at first, but he found out that as time passed, that he was trapped in that lifestyle, where everything was offered to him on a platter (especially drugs and women), yet what he wanted most--a life with the love of his life--he couldn't have because the life he led got in the way. And he couldn't just leave his life after all he'd done to get to that point to become successful. <br /> <br /> So his life was a living Catch-22. And he discovered that the lifestyle he's caged within is constantly being watched by concert audiences, his management, the media, his family, and inevitably, the world, all watching him very closely--like a beautiful blonde bird trapped in a gilded cage performing for all to see--he couldn't escape from the cage he built around himself.