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.
I don't buy everything I read
I haven't even read everything I've bought
I don't cry every time I bleed
My eyes are dry, but they're bloodshot
I have faith in medication
I believe in the Prozac Nation
You play doctor, but I've lost patience
But this is where it ends
This is where it ends (this is where it ends)
Call the police and call the press
But please, dear God, don't tell my friends
This is where it ends
This is where it ends (this is where it ends)
Where's my pride? Where's my self-esteem?
Does it show in the drinks I've bought?
I don't hide every time I'm seen
But I try not to get caught
Make excuses for behavior
Can my illness be my savior?
Hid my heart while you still gave yours
But this is where it ends
This is where it ends (this is where it ends)
Call the police and call the press
But please, dear God, don't tell my friends
This is where it ends
This is where it ends (this is where it ends)
She says she wants to live in a movie
I say I want someone else to stand behind me
And write it all down
'Cause I can't be bothered
Doing it myself
And I don't want the responsibility of
Proving it's importance
I have loved and I have waited
Been picked up and been sedated
Mental health is overrated
But this is where it ends
This is where it ends (this is where it ends)
Call the police and call the press
But please, dear God, don't tell my friends
This is where it ends
This is where it ends (this is where it ends)
I haven't even read everything I've bought
I don't cry every time I bleed
My eyes are dry, but they're bloodshot
I have faith in medication
I believe in the Prozac Nation
You play doctor, but I've lost patience
But this is where it ends
This is where it ends (this is where it ends)
Call the police and call the press
But please, dear God, don't tell my friends
This is where it ends
This is where it ends (this is where it ends)
Where's my pride? Where's my self-esteem?
Does it show in the drinks I've bought?
I don't hide every time I'm seen
But I try not to get caught
Make excuses for behavior
Can my illness be my savior?
Hid my heart while you still gave yours
But this is where it ends
This is where it ends (this is where it ends)
Call the police and call the press
But please, dear God, don't tell my friends
This is where it ends
This is where it ends (this is where it ends)
She says she wants to live in a movie
I say I want someone else to stand behind me
And write it all down
'Cause I can't be bothered
Doing it myself
And I don't want the responsibility of
Proving it's importance
I have loved and I have waited
Been picked up and been sedated
Mental health is overrated
But this is where it ends
This is where it ends (this is where it ends)
Call the police and call the press
But please, dear God, don't tell my friends
This is where it ends
This is where it ends (this is where it ends)
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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.
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
I relate to this song...it's about someone fighting depression... I love this song!! :) BNL Rocks !
I relate to this song...it's about someone fighting depression... I love this song!! :) BNL Rocks !
I love the harmonies in this song!
Obviously about living with depression - "mental health is overrated"
I would definitely have to say that this song seems to be much more about alcoholism than depression. The lines about the drinks he's bought, and how he doesn't exactly hide (that would imply a problem), but that he tries not to get caught. That was what got me thinking this way, and it's easy to see how the rest of the song points to this as well, especially with the lines "make excuses for behavior, can my illness be my savior" referring to the old and tired "I can't help it, I'm an alcoholic" justification.
To me this song will always be about someone suffering from suicidal issues.
This is where it ends This is where it ends [obviously means he is about to kill himself, and this is where his life ends]
Call the police and call the press But please, dear God, don't tell my friends [he's saying you can tell the police he killed himself, and tell the news reporter. Just don't tell his friends that he killed himself.]
"Can my illness be my saviour?" [I think that is sort of self-explanatory is this guy is suicidal]
"I have loved and I have waited" [He's tired of waiting for love, thus he decides to kill himself.]
It all makes sense to me. If it doesn't for you, then too bad!
To me this song will always be about someone suffering from suicidal issues.
This is where it ends This is where it ends [obviously means he is about to kill himself, and this is where his life ends]
Call the police and call the press But please, dear God, don't tell my friends [he's saying you can tell the police he killed himself, and tell the news reporter. Just don't tell his friends that he killed himself.]
"Can my illness be my saviour?" [I think that is sort of self-explanatory is this guy is suicidal]
"I have loved and I have waited" [He's tired of waiting for love, thus he decides to kill himself.]
It all makes sense to me. If it doesn't for you, then too bad!
That line about "call the police and call the press..." really speaks to me. I started cutting in college, awhile before anyone was talked much about it. And that's exactly how I felt: I need help!!! And, why don't people know about this? People should know about it! Except I'll die if anyone I know finds out. That line just sums it all up perfectly.
I agree with the majority here that this song is about depression (any alcohol involved might be self-medicating the depression, but I don't think anything in the lyrics really indicates alcoholism), but I don't think it's really about suicide. To me it's more just a sense that something needs to change, NOW.
This song is about our broken brains, the way we use our mental-health diagnoses to excuse the bad things we do, and the substances (licit and otherwise) that we use to cope with the problem (or bury it).
The chorus and the bridge suggest it's also about the effect mental health inevitably has on a relationship. To the depressed person, the neurotypical partner seems like a wide-eyed idealist ("she wants to live in a movie"); to the neurotypical partner, the depressed one seems like a leaden anvil ("I can't be bothered doing it myself...").