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.
State the obvious, I didn't get my perfect fantasy
I realize you love yourself more than you could ever love me
So go and tell your friends that I'm obsessive and crazy
That's fine, you won't mind if I say
By the way
I hate that stupid old pickup truck you never let me drive
You're a redneck heartbreak who's really bad at lying
So watch me strike a match on all my wasted time
As far as I'm concerned, you're just another picture to burn
There's no time for tears
I'm just sitting here planning my revenge
There's nothing stopping me
From going out with all of your best friends
And if you come around saying sorry to me
My daddy's gonna show you how sorry you'll be
'Cause I hate that stupid old pickup truck you never let me drive
You're a redneck heartbreak who's really bad at lying
So watch me strike a match on all my wasted time
As far as I'm concerned, you're just another picture to burn
And if you're missing me, you'd better keep it to yourself
'Cause coming back around here would be bad for your health
'Cause I hate that stupid old pickup truck you never let me drive
You're a redneck heartbreak who's really bad at lying
So watch me strike a match on all my wasted time
In case you haven't heard, I really, really hate that
Stupid old pickup truck you never let me drive
You're a redneck heartbreak who's really bad at lying
So watch me strike a match on all my wasted time
As far as I'm concerned, you're just another picture to burn
Burn, burn, burn, baby, burn
Just another picture to burn
Baby, burn
I realize you love yourself more than you could ever love me
So go and tell your friends that I'm obsessive and crazy
That's fine, you won't mind if I say
By the way
I hate that stupid old pickup truck you never let me drive
You're a redneck heartbreak who's really bad at lying
So watch me strike a match on all my wasted time
As far as I'm concerned, you're just another picture to burn
There's no time for tears
I'm just sitting here planning my revenge
There's nothing stopping me
From going out with all of your best friends
And if you come around saying sorry to me
My daddy's gonna show you how sorry you'll be
'Cause I hate that stupid old pickup truck you never let me drive
You're a redneck heartbreak who's really bad at lying
So watch me strike a match on all my wasted time
As far as I'm concerned, you're just another picture to burn
And if you're missing me, you'd better keep it to yourself
'Cause coming back around here would be bad for your health
'Cause I hate that stupid old pickup truck you never let me drive
You're a redneck heartbreak who's really bad at lying
So watch me strike a match on all my wasted time
In case you haven't heard, I really, really hate that
Stupid old pickup truck you never let me drive
You're a redneck heartbreak who's really bad at lying
So watch me strike a match on all my wasted time
As far as I'm concerned, you're just another picture to burn
Burn, burn, burn, baby, burn
Just another picture to burn
Baby, burn
Lyrics submitted by ld305, edited by Mellow_Harsher, musiczilla, auroraobvi
Picture to Burn Lyrics as written by Taylor Alison Swift Elisabeth Wagner Rose
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Anthem Entertainment
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
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when rules change
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Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
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Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
She never said "I'll tell mine you're gay" It's "and by the way" I hate it when people confuse that
Actually if you look at the lyrics in the lyric booklet from the album you'll see that it does say "I'll tell mine you're gay". Those are the original lyrics. They just get changed for the radio.
Actually if you look at the lyrics in the lyric booklet from the album you'll see that it does say "I'll tell mine you're gay". Those are the original lyrics. They just get changed for the radio.
Actually if you look at the lyrics in the lyric booklet from the album you'll see that it does say "I'll tell mine you're gay". Those are the original lyrics. They just get changed for the radio.
Okay, I didn't intentionally post that three times, I thought it wasn't working and kept clicking the button