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.
Let it ride, let it ride, let it roll off your mind
Don't say a single world, get back inside
Let me drive, let me drive, disappear in the night
Like I was a ghost in your dreams
And it was all completely wrong, Virginia
You were much too much for me
I was a boy on the lawn, with his eyes to the sky
You were Garbo, smoke, and deceit
And it was Saturday, September, and fire
It was a backdrop set in your smile
It was all I could want in the sway of the song
I was haunted for so many years
Let it ride, let it ride, let it roll off your mind
Don't say a single world, get back inside
Let me drive, let me drive, disappear in the night
Like I was a ghost in your dreams
Say goodbye, say goodbye, give a kiss and a sigh
Never, never, never bring me back to your mind
Let it slide, slide, roll off your mind
Like I was a movie you'd seen
And it was all just a crime, Virginia
Let your fire be mercy to me
I was a boy in your arms, safe in your arms
And you swore like a promise to me
That I would never, never, never leave your heart
No I would never, never, never leave your heart
But where are you now, I can still feel you now
And I hear all your songs in the breeze
Let it ride, let it ride, let it roll off your mind
Don't say a single world, get back inside
Let me drive, let me drive, disappear in the night
Like I was a ghost in your dreams
Say goodbye, say goodbye, give a kiss and a sigh
Never, never, never bring me back to your mind
Let me slide, slide, roll off your mind
Like I was a movie you'd seen
Let it ride
Don't say a single world, get back inside
Let me drive, let me drive, disappear in the night
Like I was a ghost in your dreams
And it was all completely wrong, Virginia
You were much too much for me
I was a boy on the lawn, with his eyes to the sky
You were Garbo, smoke, and deceit
And it was Saturday, September, and fire
It was a backdrop set in your smile
It was all I could want in the sway of the song
I was haunted for so many years
Let it ride, let it ride, let it roll off your mind
Don't say a single world, get back inside
Let me drive, let me drive, disappear in the night
Like I was a ghost in your dreams
Say goodbye, say goodbye, give a kiss and a sigh
Never, never, never bring me back to your mind
Let it slide, slide, roll off your mind
Like I was a movie you'd seen
And it was all just a crime, Virginia
Let your fire be mercy to me
I was a boy in your arms, safe in your arms
And you swore like a promise to me
That I would never, never, never leave your heart
No I would never, never, never leave your heart
But where are you now, I can still feel you now
And I hear all your songs in the breeze
Let it ride, let it ride, let it roll off your mind
Don't say a single world, get back inside
Let me drive, let me drive, disappear in the night
Like I was a ghost in your dreams
Say goodbye, say goodbye, give a kiss and a sigh
Never, never, never bring me back to your mind
Let me slide, slide, roll off your mind
Like I was a movie you'd seen
Let it ride
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Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
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He certainly did earn that reputation.
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This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
Fast Car
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
I think this is a sort of continuation from "Red at Night." In that one, he seems to be talking about doing something foolish and now it may have not worked out, but how it was a blessing in disguise. Personally, I feel like he married or simply started dating a woman, and things weren't working, but he was foolish and blind to it. Then, she left him, which is what this song is about. It also makes sense with the whole "night/day" thing. Though, the first song took place in January according to the lyrics, and this one in September, so it wasn't just one night. I just think that's how they fit together.