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.
A song for the deaf, that is, for you
Nobody's coming down the hall
Nobody echoes in my head
Broken reflection, outta luck
Nobody ever needed it
I got what was
I want to take what's left
(Ready now)
Beautiful senses are gone
Canary in a gilded cage
Singin'
Sweet, soft and low
I will poison you all
Come closer, racin' to your tongue
I got what was
Want to take what's left
No talk will cure
What's lost, or save what's left
(For the deaf)
The blind can go get fucked
Lie beside the ditch
This halo 'round my neck
Has torn out every stitch
Who are you hiding? Is it safe for the deaf?
Beautiful cancer, infiltrate then forget
Yeah, I saw you coming and I heard not a thing
A mistake not to listen
When I knew where you'd been
And I got what was
I want to take what's left
No talk will cure
What's lost, or save what's left
(For the deaf)
You're listening to W.A.n.t.
The high desert wonder valley favorite radio station
S'been a good night
Dave Catching here
Not saying goodnight
Just saying
Ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaa
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaa
Ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha, hah hah haaah
Ha ha ha ha ha
Nobody's coming down the hall
Nobody echoes in my head
Broken reflection, outta luck
Nobody ever needed it
I got what was
I want to take what's left
(Ready now)
Beautiful senses are gone
Canary in a gilded cage
Singin'
Sweet, soft and low
I will poison you all
Come closer, racin' to your tongue
I got what was
Want to take what's left
No talk will cure
What's lost, or save what's left
(For the deaf)
The blind can go get fucked
Lie beside the ditch
This halo 'round my neck
Has torn out every stitch
Who are you hiding? Is it safe for the deaf?
Beautiful cancer, infiltrate then forget
Yeah, I saw you coming and I heard not a thing
A mistake not to listen
When I knew where you'd been
And I got what was
I want to take what's left
No talk will cure
What's lost, or save what's left
(For the deaf)
You're listening to W.A.n.t.
The high desert wonder valley favorite radio station
S'been a good night
Dave Catching here
Not saying goodnight
Just saying
Ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaa
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaa
Ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha, hah hah haaah
Ha ha ha ha ha
Lyrics submitted by ikari, edited by Per_Killer
A Song for the Deaf Lyrics as written by Mark William Lanegan Josh Homme
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
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Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
I have very little idea what this song is about, but I'll take a stab at it anyway.
I think Homme is trying to say that you have to sometimes let stubborn people be stubborn. You can't waste your time constantly preaching to someone or trying to make them see things your way. In the end, it's like talking to the deaf. I especially sense this message in the chorus. He's speaking as someone who understands himself and the world, and doesn't care about other people's perceptions ("Broken reflection...nobody ever needed it").
I also believe that he's comparing deafness to blindness in the "blind can go get fucked" verse, with the latter being a metaphor for ignorance. It's one thing to acknowledge a circumstance, and not allow it to change your views or ideals. It's another thing to be in denial. Stubborness and ignorance are not one and the same, in his eyes.
This is how I always took the song, as well. Clearly he sees music as an art-form and a complex way musicians have been voicing that art for centuries. It isn't his fault some can't understand the message. They are stubborn, and you can't fix that. Best to just let them be stubborn and none-the-wiser.<br /> <br /> Clearly stubborn and ignorant are two different things. Ignorance does not necessarily lead to stubbornness, but stubbornness generally always leads to ignorance.