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.
(Announced plans to build a nuclear fallout shelter at Peterborough in Cambridgeshire)
(Three high court judges have cleared the way)
(It was announced today, that the replacement for the Atlantic Conveyor
The container ship lost in the Falklands conflict would be built in Japan, a spokesman for)
(Moving in. They say the third world countries, like Bolivia
Which produce the drug are suffering from rising violence)
Tell me true, tell me why, was Jesus crucified
Was it for this that Daddy died?
Was it for you? Was it me?
Did I watch too much TV?
Is that a hint of accusation in your eyes?
If it wasn't for the Nips
Being so good at building ships
The yards would still be open on the Clyde
And that can't be much fun for them
Beneath the rising sun
With all their kids committing suicide
What have we done, Maggie, what have we done?
What have we done to England?
Should we shout, should we scream
"What happened to the post war dream?"
Oh Maggie, Maggie what did we do?
(Three high court judges have cleared the way)
(It was announced today, that the replacement for the Atlantic Conveyor
The container ship lost in the Falklands conflict would be built in Japan, a spokesman for)
(Moving in. They say the third world countries, like Bolivia
Which produce the drug are suffering from rising violence)
Tell me true, tell me why, was Jesus crucified
Was it for this that Daddy died?
Was it for you? Was it me?
Did I watch too much TV?
Is that a hint of accusation in your eyes?
If it wasn't for the Nips
Being so good at building ships
The yards would still be open on the Clyde
And that can't be much fun for them
Beneath the rising sun
With all their kids committing suicide
What have we done, Maggie, what have we done?
What have we done to England?
Should we shout, should we scream
"What happened to the post war dream?"
Oh Maggie, Maggie what did we do?
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by joplet
The Post War Dream Lyrics as written by George Waters
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Love in a Vacuum
'Til Tuesday
'Til Tuesday
when rules change
Life in Your Way
Life in Your Way
High life
Grand Theft Auto
Insane Ian
Insane Ian
The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"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.
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Indeed this song isn't about the war at all, but - as the title says - what had become of England after his daddy died (WW2) - esp. in the years under the Maggie "Iron Lady" Thatcher regime. Hence the lyrics:
What have we done? Maggie what have we done? What have we done to England?
Should we shout should we scream "What happened to the post war dream?" Oh, Maggie, Maggie what did we do?
Namely Maggie's economic programme (or rather economic debacle) resulted in collapse of many branches of British industry and high unemployment (something Mark Knopfler also sings about in his song "Why, Aye Mate!" and others).
This verse:
If it wasn't for the Nips Being so good at building ships The yards would still be open on the Clyde
means simply that Japanese surpassed British at building ships (as in (too) many other branches as well - but this is esp. painful for the English, since UK used to be the world's #1 naval force once - and very proud of it), consequentially driving Brit's industry - that just wasn't on par with Japanese - out of business.
However Japanese are also paying a high price for their own success: they're also a world leader in the suicide rate among students - many of whom just cannot cope with their insanely fast-paced and totally goal-oriented Japanese economy.
So this:
And it can't be much fun for them Beneath the rising sun With all their kids committing suicide
has nothing to do with kamikaze at all, but the Japanese own problems today.
That's more or less it. Just one more verse left:
Was it you? Was it me? Did I watch too much TV? Is that a hint of accusation in your eyes?
I believe he's asking himself who (beside Maggie, of course) is to blame for the steady decline of the post-war UK.
Not sure who's accusing eyes he means (probably people in general, who are worse off today than some 30 years ago), but I'm pretty sure he feels guilty because his generation also didn't do their part, but rather wasted their time in vain (watching TV, partying, etc.) while the things happened.
I'd agree with pretty much everything here, though I think the initial verse is him as a child. Children tend to internalize everything and look too themselves as responsible for the bad things inn their lives such as divorce etc. I think he was thinking this to himself after his father's death and the "hint of accusation" was from his mother. The entire verse seems to be from a child's perspective.
Waters doesn't think england is where it wanted to be after WW2. Nips are Japnanese (Great Nippon)
this song brings a lump in my throat everytime..
Here goes: So if Jesus was crucified to save the human race, and Daddy died in WWII, why are we going through another war? This album is mostly made up of ideas "cut out" from the 'final cut' of The Wall, redirected to comment on the Falklands conflict rather than WWII, but still smiting war in general with more emphasis than in The Wall.
The Rising Sun is the japanese flag, and "all their kids committing suicide" is the kamikaze bombers.
There has always been a rash of suicides of Japanese youth due to the stress to succeed there is so great. Yes, there were Kamikazes in WW2 and they are still committing suicide there to this day.
eva floyd, it's actually about the kids in Japan (whose flag is the rising sun), and their practicing of kamikaze.
Would people please stop referring to the whole of Britain as England. The lyrics refer to the Clyde, and where is that? Scotland.
here again for this ukraine shit. tick tok tick tok… when your one of the few…
Brilliant, childhood question about hypocratic parents who bring there young ones up to not notice what arround them, for god's sake stop it with the protection crap. Sorry, very good song.
wow. really emotional. its the torture of war and its aftermath through the POV of an innocent person.
the last riff on the horn at the end sounds like "what heppens to me" from pigs on the wings. this might be some sort of subliminal intertwining of the two albums, or, more likely some freak coincidence.
oh yeah... for anyone like me (non-british), maggie is margaret thatcher, the former english PM, yes a woman.
Margaret Thatcher was the former British PM. Not just PM of England.