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.
Well, I've got some scattered pictures lyin' on my bedroom floor
Reminds me of the times we've shared
Makes me wish that you were here, 'cause
Now it seems I've forgotten my purpose in this life
Well, all the songs have been erased
Guess I've learned from my mistakes, well
Open the past and present now, and we are there
Story to tell, and I am listening
Open the past and present and the future too
It's all I've got, and I'm givin' it to you
Well, loose ends tied in knots leavin' a lump down in my throat
Well, gaggin' on a souvenir
Live to fill another year
We'll drag it on and on until my skin is ripped to shreds
Well, leavin' myself open wide
Livin' out a sacrifice, well
Open the past and present now, and we are there
Story to tell, and I am listening
Open the past and present and the future too
It's all I've got, and I'm givin' it to you
If you got no one
And I got no place to go
Would it be alright?
Could it be alright?
Well, I've got some scattered pictures lyin' on my bedroom floor
Reminds me of the times we've shared
Makes me wish that you were here, 'cause
Now it seems I've forgotten my purpose in this life
Well, all the songs have been erased
Guess I've learned from my mistakes, well
Open the past and present now, and we are there
Story to tell, and I am listening
Open the past and present and the future too
It's all I've got, and I'm givin' it to you
It's all I've got, and I'm givin' it to you
Reminds me of the times we've shared
Makes me wish that you were here, 'cause
Now it seems I've forgotten my purpose in this life
Well, all the songs have been erased
Guess I've learned from my mistakes, well
Open the past and present now, and we are there
Story to tell, and I am listening
Open the past and present and the future too
It's all I've got, and I'm givin' it to you
Well, loose ends tied in knots leavin' a lump down in my throat
Well, gaggin' on a souvenir
Live to fill another year
We'll drag it on and on until my skin is ripped to shreds
Well, leavin' myself open wide
Livin' out a sacrifice, well
Open the past and present now, and we are there
Story to tell, and I am listening
Open the past and present and the future too
It's all I've got, and I'm givin' it to you
If you got no one
And I got no place to go
Would it be alright?
Could it be alright?
Well, I've got some scattered pictures lyin' on my bedroom floor
Reminds me of the times we've shared
Makes me wish that you were here, 'cause
Now it seems I've forgotten my purpose in this life
Well, all the songs have been erased
Guess I've learned from my mistakes, well
Open the past and present now, and we are there
Story to tell, and I am listening
Open the past and present and the future too
It's all I've got, and I'm givin' it to you
It's all I've got, and I'm givin' it to you
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The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
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The Night We Met
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
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Mountain Song
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Open the past and present and the future too It's all I've got and I'm giving it to you
I like this part. It's really how you feel when you love someone, you just want to give yourself to them, because it's all you have to offer.
If you got no one and I got no place to go Would it be alright? Could it be alright?
This part is my absolute favourite. It's so simple and sweet and he makes it seem like pure convenience, when clearly it's more.