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.
ANGEL
Who died?
BENNY
Our Akita
ANGEL, ROGER & COLLINS
Evita
BENNY
You make fun - yet I'm the one
Attempting to do some good
Or do you really want a neighborhood
Where people piss on your
Stoop every night?
Bohemia, Bohemia's
A fallacy in your head
This is Calcutta,
Bohemia is dead
MARK
Dearly beloved we gather here to say our goodbyes
COLLINS & ROGER
Dies irae - dies illa, Kyrie eleison
Yitgadal v'yitkadash
MARK
Here she lies, no one knew her worth
The late great daughter of Mother Earth
On these nights when we
Celebrate the birth
In that little town of Bethlehem
We raise our glass - you bet your ass to -
La vie Boheme
ALL
La vie Boheme
La vie Boheme
La vie Boheme
La vie Boheme
MARK
To days of inspiration
Playing hookey, making
Something out of nothing
The need to express-
To communicate,
To going against the grain,
Going insane, going mad
To loving tension, no pension
To more than one dimension,
To starving for attention,
Hating convention, hating pretension
Not to mention of course,
Hating dear old Mom and Dad
To riding your bike,
Midday past the three-piece suits
To fruits - to no absolutes-
To Absolute - to choice-
To the Village Voice-
To any passing fad
To being an us for once ... instead of a them!!
ALL
La vie Boheme, La vie Boheme
MR. GREY
Ahhemm
MAUREEN
Hey Mister - she's my sister
WAITER
So that's five miso soup, four seaweed salad
Three soy burger dinner, two tofu dog platter
And one pasta with meatless balls
ROGER
Eww
COLLINS
It tastes the same
MIMI
If you close your eyes
WAITER
And thirteen orders of fries
Is that it here?
ALL
Wine and beer!
MIMI & ANGEL
To hand-crafted beers
Made in local breweries
To yoga, to yogurt, to rice and beans and cheese
To leather, to dildoes, to curry vindaloo
To huevos rancheros and Maya Angelou
MAUREEN & COLLINS
Emotion, devotion, to causing a commotion
Creation, vacation
MARK
Mucho masturbation
MAUREEN & COLLINS
Compassion, to fashion, to passion when it's new
COLLINS
To Sontag
ANGEL
To Sondheim
FOUR GIRLS
To anything taboo
COLLINS & ROGER
Ginsberg, Dylan, Cunnigham and Cage,
COLLINS
Lenny Bruce
ROGER
Langston Hughes
MAUREEN
To the stage
BOHEMIANS
To Uta. To Buddha. Pablo Neruda, too.
MARK & MIMI
Why Dorothy and Toto went over the rainbow
To blow off Auntie Em
ALL
La vie Boheme
MR. GREY
Sisters?
MAUREEN & JOANNE
We're close
ANGELS & COLLINS
Brothers!
MARK, ANGEL & MIMI
Bisexuals, trisexuals, homo sapiens,
Carcinogens, hallucinogens, men,
Pee Wee Herman
German wine, turpetine, Gertrude Stein
Antoniotti, Bertolucci, Kurosawa
Carmina Burana
ALL
To apathy, to entropy, to empathy, ecstacy
Vaclav Havel - The Sex Pistols, 8BC
To no shame - never playing the Fame Game
COLLINS
To marijuana
ALL
To sodomy, it's between God and me
To S & M
BENNY
Waiter ... Waiter ... Waiter ....... Waiter!
ALL
La vie Boheme
COLLINS
In honor of the death of Bohemia an impromptu salon
will commence immediately following dinner ...
Maureen Johnson, just
back from her spectacular one-night engagement at the eleventh street lot,
will perform Native American tribal chants
backwards through her vocoder, while accompanying herself on the electric
cello - which she ain't never studied.
ROGER
And Mark Cohen will preview his new documentary about his inability
to hold an erection on the high holy days.
MARK
And Mimi Marquez, clad only in bubble wrap,
will perform her famous lawn chair-handcuff dance to the sounds
of iced tea being stirred.
And Roger will attempt to write a bittersweet, evocative song.
(Roger plays a solo)
That doesn't remind us of "Musetta's Waltz!"
COLLINS
Angel Dumott Schunard will model the latest fall fashions
from Paris while accompanying herself on the 10 gallon plastic pickle tub.
ANGEL
And Collins will recount his exploits as anarchist -
including the tale of the successful reprogramming of the M.I.T.
virtual reality equipment to self-destruct, as it broadcasts the words:
ALL
"Actual reality - Act Up - Fight AIDS"
MIMI
Excuse me - did I do something wrong?
I get invited - then ignored all night long
ROGER
I've been trying - I'm not lying
No one's perfect. I've got baggage
MIMI
Life's too short, babe, time is flying
I'm looking for baggage that goes with mine
ROGER
I should tell you
MIMI
I got baggage too
ROGER
I should tell you
ROGER & MIMI
Baggage
ALL
Wine and beer!
MIMI
AZT break
ROGER
You?
MIMI
Me. You?
ROGER
Mimi
Who died?
BENNY
Our Akita
ANGEL, ROGER & COLLINS
Evita
BENNY
You make fun - yet I'm the one
Attempting to do some good
Or do you really want a neighborhood
Where people piss on your
Stoop every night?
Bohemia, Bohemia's
A fallacy in your head
This is Calcutta,
Bohemia is dead
MARK
Dearly beloved we gather here to say our goodbyes
COLLINS & ROGER
Dies irae - dies illa, Kyrie eleison
Yitgadal v'yitkadash
MARK
Here she lies, no one knew her worth
The late great daughter of Mother Earth
On these nights when we
Celebrate the birth
In that little town of Bethlehem
We raise our glass - you bet your ass to -
La vie Boheme
ALL
La vie Boheme
La vie Boheme
La vie Boheme
La vie Boheme
MARK
To days of inspiration
Playing hookey, making
Something out of nothing
The need to express-
To communicate,
To going against the grain,
Going insane, going mad
To loving tension, no pension
To more than one dimension,
To starving for attention,
Hating convention, hating pretension
Not to mention of course,
Hating dear old Mom and Dad
To riding your bike,
Midday past the three-piece suits
To fruits - to no absolutes-
To Absolute - to choice-
To the Village Voice-
To any passing fad
To being an us for once ... instead of a them!!
ALL
La vie Boheme, La vie Boheme
MR. GREY
Ahhemm
MAUREEN
Hey Mister - she's my sister
WAITER
So that's five miso soup, four seaweed salad
Three soy burger dinner, two tofu dog platter
And one pasta with meatless balls
ROGER
Eww
COLLINS
It tastes the same
MIMI
If you close your eyes
WAITER
And thirteen orders of fries
Is that it here?
ALL
Wine and beer!
MIMI & ANGEL
To hand-crafted beers
Made in local breweries
To yoga, to yogurt, to rice and beans and cheese
To leather, to dildoes, to curry vindaloo
To huevos rancheros and Maya Angelou
MAUREEN & COLLINS
Emotion, devotion, to causing a commotion
Creation, vacation
MARK
Mucho masturbation
MAUREEN & COLLINS
Compassion, to fashion, to passion when it's new
COLLINS
To Sontag
ANGEL
To Sondheim
FOUR GIRLS
To anything taboo
COLLINS & ROGER
Ginsberg, Dylan, Cunnigham and Cage,
COLLINS
Lenny Bruce
ROGER
Langston Hughes
MAUREEN
To the stage
BOHEMIANS
To Uta. To Buddha. Pablo Neruda, too.
MARK & MIMI
Why Dorothy and Toto went over the rainbow
To blow off Auntie Em
ALL
La vie Boheme
MR. GREY
Sisters?
MAUREEN & JOANNE
We're close
ANGELS & COLLINS
Brothers!
MARK, ANGEL & MIMI
Bisexuals, trisexuals, homo sapiens,
Carcinogens, hallucinogens, men,
Pee Wee Herman
German wine, turpetine, Gertrude Stein
Antoniotti, Bertolucci, Kurosawa
Carmina Burana
ALL
To apathy, to entropy, to empathy, ecstacy
Vaclav Havel - The Sex Pistols, 8BC
To no shame - never playing the Fame Game
COLLINS
To marijuana
ALL
To sodomy, it's between God and me
To S & M
BENNY
Waiter ... Waiter ... Waiter ....... Waiter!
ALL
La vie Boheme
COLLINS
In honor of the death of Bohemia an impromptu salon
will commence immediately following dinner ...
Maureen Johnson, just
back from her spectacular one-night engagement at the eleventh street lot,
will perform Native American tribal chants
backwards through her vocoder, while accompanying herself on the electric
cello - which she ain't never studied.
ROGER
And Mark Cohen will preview his new documentary about his inability
to hold an erection on the high holy days.
MARK
And Mimi Marquez, clad only in bubble wrap,
will perform her famous lawn chair-handcuff dance to the sounds
of iced tea being stirred.
And Roger will attempt to write a bittersweet, evocative song.
(Roger plays a solo)
That doesn't remind us of "Musetta's Waltz!"
COLLINS
Angel Dumott Schunard will model the latest fall fashions
from Paris while accompanying herself on the 10 gallon plastic pickle tub.
ANGEL
And Collins will recount his exploits as anarchist -
including the tale of the successful reprogramming of the M.I.T.
virtual reality equipment to self-destruct, as it broadcasts the words:
ALL
"Actual reality - Act Up - Fight AIDS"
MIMI
Excuse me - did I do something wrong?
I get invited - then ignored all night long
ROGER
I've been trying - I'm not lying
No one's perfect. I've got baggage
MIMI
Life's too short, babe, time is flying
I'm looking for baggage that goes with mine
ROGER
I should tell you
MIMI
I got baggage too
ROGER
I should tell you
ROGER & MIMI
Baggage
ALL
Wine and beer!
MIMI
AZT break
ROGER
You?
MIMI
Me. You?
ROGER
Mimi
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