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.
TV invents a disease you think you have
So you buy our drugs and soon you depend on them
Pain is in your mind gotcha comin' back for more
Again and again and again and again, gonna rip you off
Rip you off
Doctor says you need surgery now
You're feelin' good 'til the side effects fuck up something else
You're ensnared by the medicine man paying up the ass again and again, gonna rip you off
Trust your mechanic to mend your car
Bring it in to his garage
He tightens and loosens a few spare parts
One thing's fixed, another falls apart
And the rich eat you
A magazine says your face don't look quite right
Unless you wear our brand new wonder creme tonight
Never look right again unless you grease your skin
Again and again and again and again, gonna rip you off
Told you're depressed so of course you see the psychiatrist
Right when you hit your neuroses' roots he confuses you
He fucks your head up worse, gotcha feeling helpless
You're comin' back for more again and again, gonna rip you off
Rip you off
Trust your mechanic to make you well
You see an awful lot of him now
The quicker he makes your life fall apart
The more money you put in his pockets
Trust your mechanic to plug your holes
Trust him to make more somewhere else
Trust your mechanic, he'll always come through and rip you off
So you buy our drugs and soon you depend on them
Pain is in your mind gotcha comin' back for more
Again and again and again and again, gonna rip you off
Rip you off
Doctor says you need surgery now
You're feelin' good 'til the side effects fuck up something else
You're ensnared by the medicine man paying up the ass again and again, gonna rip you off
Trust your mechanic to mend your car
Bring it in to his garage
He tightens and loosens a few spare parts
One thing's fixed, another falls apart
And the rich eat you
A magazine says your face don't look quite right
Unless you wear our brand new wonder creme tonight
Never look right again unless you grease your skin
Again and again and again and again, gonna rip you off
Told you're depressed so of course you see the psychiatrist
Right when you hit your neuroses' roots he confuses you
He fucks your head up worse, gotcha feeling helpless
You're comin' back for more again and again, gonna rip you off
Rip you off
Trust your mechanic to make you well
You see an awful lot of him now
The quicker he makes your life fall apart
The more money you put in his pockets
Trust your mechanic to plug your holes
Trust him to make more somewhere else
Trust your mechanic, he'll always come through and rip you off
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what i think this means is that a doctor is sort of like a mechanic, a mechanic will fix your car but he wants you to come back so he messes up something else, and a doctor will cure your sickness but what is used to cure it can cause a major sickness itself