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.
There's a secret, stigma, reaping wheel
Diminish, a carnival of sorts
Chronic town, poster torn, reaping wheel
Stranger, stranger to these parts
Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
There's a secret, stigma, reaping wheel
Diminish, a carnival of sorts
Chronic town, poster torn, reaping wheel
Stranger, stranger
Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Cages under, cages under, cages under cage
Cages under, cages under, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
There's a secret, stigma, reaping wheel
Stranger, stranger to these parts
Chronic town, poster torn, reaping wheel
Diminish, stranger
Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Boxcars are pulling, carnival of sorts
Out of town, out of town
Diminish, a carnival of sorts
Chronic town, poster torn, reaping wheel
Stranger, stranger to these parts
Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
There's a secret, stigma, reaping wheel
Diminish, a carnival of sorts
Chronic town, poster torn, reaping wheel
Stranger, stranger
Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Cages under, cages under, cages under cage
Cages under, cages under, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
There's a secret, stigma, reaping wheel
Stranger, stranger to these parts
Chronic town, poster torn, reaping wheel
Diminish, stranger
Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Boxcars are pulling, carnival of sorts
Out of town, out of town
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Ok, my take on this one is different from all of those, and it seems kind of bizarre, but it works for me. First of all, is it really "reaping wheel", and not "repeat reel"?
I think it's about a movie place, a dirty movie place. It's out of town, because "gentlemen don't get caught". You're going somewhere you won't get caught. "Cages under a cage" are viewing rooms within the larger building, little booths where you go in and view a "repeat reel". I mean, this isn't high-budget 70's stuff, I'm thinking the early days, when they were called "blue movies", and I imagine like a 5 minute clip, that's on loop.
"Secret stigma" is obvious, "poster torn" is just because the place is cheap and shoddy. "Stranger to these parts" is because the place is just in town for a while, and then moves on.
When it moves, we get to: "Boxcar is pulling a carnival of sorts out of town". The idea is that sometimes, the train brings in a carnival, and takes it away two weeks later. The singer wryly notes as the porn shop gets packed up and moved on, that it too is a carnival, of sorts.
I have no idea why he says "diminish".
I don't know if this is what anyone ever meant by this song, or if the scene I'm seeing is even realistic in this universe, but it's what I hear. I love R.E.M.; those guys have given us so much.
@GTony that's an interesting take you have on the lyrics [albeit completely off]. Michael said the lyrics for the first few lps were nonsensical, though I have an interview that's impossibly old where he states that 'Carnival' was made up of words on a poster [of which 'reaping wheel' was two]. The 'box cars' are explained as 'hobo transport'.
evil circus fucks up a town then moves on to the next
@rieve EXACTLY
@rieve Why don't you get your f-ing profanity out of my f-ing face you f-ing moron.
The Holocaust...think about it.
I think this is absolutely right.
@obvious1 "remember: KILL Hitler"
I thought a lot about the lyrics for this song for quite some time. So mysterious. It finally came to me one day when I was cutting the grass in the back yard,,,
The song is about hobo's. Vagrants, vagrancy.
"Gentlemen, don't get caught" don't get caught and thrown into the clink.
"Boxcars are moving (out of town)" obvious
"Stranger, stranger to these parts" Fellows not from 'round here.
"Reaping Reel" AKA falling off of the train and getting crunched by the train wheel. Reaping = dead. Reels are round like wheels. Reel = Wheel.
"Carnival of sorts" clans of hobo's are much like carnivals. Loose bands of gentlemen traveling about almost without aim. A carnival of sorts traveling place to place. Hobo's tend to be male.
Beyond this premise I think it has something to do with a close encounter with a vagrant. Maybe even sexual in nature.
Don't wade into the carnival backwaters or the sinister alligators will get ya!
City-folk you're in a dangerous part of town. This ain't no place for a gentleman to venture into.
dig the freaky calliope intro
@pumkinhed nonesuch
This is my favorite song from the Chronic Town EP. Great stuff.
freewebs.com/thejakesite
@Jakebert <br /> <br /> didn't seem to real
i always thought it was "turning out of town"
@clashcityrocker9 me too - and it's probably correct<br /> <br /> ps: 'try this trick at hand'
first, another rem song concerning trains (driver 8, high speed train) next, just a feeling of being left behind or trapped in an empty place (the carnival leaving, the torn carnival poster, being caged, dont get caught, boxcars leaving). other then that, i dunno, just a great song. always thought it was "repeat wheel", kinda bummed that its not cause its a cool play on words (wheels naturally repeating their positions)
i always think of a circus when i hear this song
@Zwinky1 because the intro uses a calliope used in fairground/circuses