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.
Chains shackle me
With truth I'm face to face
Backed up in between
A damp cage I remain
In the cell of numb despair
The chill engulfs my veins
There's only one notion that I revere
The only truth in life is pain
It levels and crushes at its free will
My doomed fate will soon be sealed
Pain's invention, madness
Preys behind my eyes
Pain's invention, madness
Now I realize
Pain's invention, madness
Though I'll not break free
Pain's invention, madness
Truth eternally
Beyond my grasp is a life
That I will never attain
Happiness, joy, not in sight
Supplanted by truth's dark reign
Physical, mental agony shows
Along which my life revolves
Either you feel it, or you don't
There are never lies involved
Clutching to my abnormality
Hand in hand with destiny
Pain's invention, madness
Preys behind my eyes
Pain's invention, madness
Now I realize
Pain's invention, madness
Though I'll not break free
Pain's invention, madness
Truth eternally
When you are pumping full of life
The one sensation that you have
Can penetrate through love or hate
Existence on a higher plane
In death and life, both the domains
Surrender totally to pain
I slip and claw and scream
It calls
Leave me alone with me
It yearns
I'm bleeding from my brain
It needs me
I'm helpless, trapped behind
Its walls
Tearing apart my mind
It burns
Upon my naked soul
It feeds
Streams of consciousness fill the page
As my nerve endings scream in rage
Deliver me to the darkest age
As DeSade sits at center stage
My flesh is but a portal now
To wisdom and truth I am avowed
Pain's invention, madness
Pain's invention, madness
Twisting through the door
Am I nevermore?
My breath I can feel
Therefore I am real
I've succumbed to there heinous sins
And I'll never be forgiven
Shackled and bound, my new life I've found
And I've tasted the fruits forbidden
I've craving more
Of pain's overtures
Liberation is near
And I have nothing to fear
In this journey of self-discovery
I have found the keys to be set free
In this wicked course, I've uncovered the force
That will keep me vital eternally
Pain's invention, madness
The force that preys behind my eyes
Pain's invention, madness upon me
Pain's invention, madness
It takes this long to realize
Pain's invention, madness, has set me free
Transcendency
Of mere mortality
Tortured infliction
Is now my addiction
Constant agony
Has created me
I am suffering
Through this atrocity
I'm not blind to what I might find
Squirming way down deep inside my labyrinthine mind
Inhibitions removed, replaced with scar tissue
And I'm punished with blades of my lobotomizing suit
I've sought this dream
In its violent extreme
Now my pleasure is clear
Though the lesson's severee
My will is strong, but I could be wrong
This new doctrine for which I've been searching all along is
The religion of truth through administration of pain
The body only takes so much before it drives the mind insane
As a matter of fact, my friend
I've come to my bitter end
It's not a torture rack I'm in
Though I can still pretend
It's a jacket of white with buckles and straps
Not a pleasure device at all
It keeps me safely under wraps
While I'm chained to this padded wall
hear my cries...
you'll never know
With truth I'm face to face
Backed up in between
A damp cage I remain
In the cell of numb despair
The chill engulfs my veins
There's only one notion that I revere
The only truth in life is pain
It levels and crushes at its free will
My doomed fate will soon be sealed
Pain's invention, madness
Preys behind my eyes
Pain's invention, madness
Now I realize
Pain's invention, madness
Though I'll not break free
Pain's invention, madness
Truth eternally
Beyond my grasp is a life
That I will never attain
Happiness, joy, not in sight
Supplanted by truth's dark reign
Physical, mental agony shows
Along which my life revolves
Either you feel it, or you don't
There are never lies involved
Clutching to my abnormality
Hand in hand with destiny
Pain's invention, madness
Preys behind my eyes
Pain's invention, madness
Now I realize
Pain's invention, madness
Though I'll not break free
Pain's invention, madness
Truth eternally
When you are pumping full of life
The one sensation that you have
Can penetrate through love or hate
Existence on a higher plane
In death and life, both the domains
Surrender totally to pain
I slip and claw and scream
It calls
Leave me alone with me
It yearns
I'm bleeding from my brain
It needs me
I'm helpless, trapped behind
Its walls
Tearing apart my mind
It burns
Upon my naked soul
It feeds
Streams of consciousness fill the page
As my nerve endings scream in rage
Deliver me to the darkest age
As DeSade sits at center stage
My flesh is but a portal now
To wisdom and truth I am avowed
Pain's invention, madness
Pain's invention, madness
Twisting through the door
Am I nevermore?
My breath I can feel
Therefore I am real
I've succumbed to there heinous sins
And I'll never be forgiven
Shackled and bound, my new life I've found
And I've tasted the fruits forbidden
I've craving more
Of pain's overtures
Liberation is near
And I have nothing to fear
In this journey of self-discovery
I have found the keys to be set free
In this wicked course, I've uncovered the force
That will keep me vital eternally
Pain's invention, madness
The force that preys behind my eyes
Pain's invention, madness upon me
Pain's invention, madness
It takes this long to realize
Pain's invention, madness, has set me free
Transcendency
Of mere mortality
Tortured infliction
Is now my addiction
Constant agony
Has created me
I am suffering
Through this atrocity
I'm not blind to what I might find
Squirming way down deep inside my labyrinthine mind
Inhibitions removed, replaced with scar tissue
And I'm punished with blades of my lobotomizing suit
I've sought this dream
In its violent extreme
Now my pleasure is clear
Though the lesson's severee
My will is strong, but I could be wrong
This new doctrine for which I've been searching all along is
The religion of truth through administration of pain
The body only takes so much before it drives the mind insane
As a matter of fact, my friend
I've come to my bitter end
It's not a torture rack I'm in
Though I can still pretend
It's a jacket of white with buckles and straps
Not a pleasure device at all
It keeps me safely under wraps
While I'm chained to this padded wall
hear my cries...
you'll never know
Lyrics submitted by Bobo192
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