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 know whose side I'm on
I don't think that I belong 'round here
If I left the stage would that be wrong?
I tried to find myself a better way
I got religion but I went astray
They took my money and I lost my faith
Rain keeps crawling down the glass
The good times never seem to last
Close your eyes and let the thought
Pass
I tried the capsule and I tried the smoke
I tried to aid escape like normal folk
But I never seemed to get the joke
Rain keeps crawling down the glass
The good times never seem to last
Close your eyes and let the thought
Close your eyes and let it pass
(These are my old clothes)
(This is a new low)
(This is my blood flow)
(This is my headstone) ah-ah
I spend my days with all my friends
They're the ones on who my life depends
I'm gonna miss them when the series ends
Rain keeps crawling down the glass
(Pull yourself together)
The good times never seem to last
(You know it's not so bad)
Close your eyes and let the thought
Close your eyes and let it pass
(These are my old clothes)
(This is a new low)
(This is my blood flow)
(This is my headstone) ah-ah
I don't think that I belong 'round here
If I left the stage would that be wrong?
I tried to find myself a better way
I got religion but I went astray
They took my money and I lost my faith
Rain keeps crawling down the glass
The good times never seem to last
Close your eyes and let the thought
Pass
I tried the capsule and I tried the smoke
I tried to aid escape like normal folk
But I never seemed to get the joke
Rain keeps crawling down the glass
The good times never seem to last
Close your eyes and let the thought
Close your eyes and let it pass
(These are my old clothes)
(This is a new low)
(This is my blood flow)
(This is my headstone) ah-ah
I spend my days with all my friends
They're the ones on who my life depends
I'm gonna miss them when the series ends
Rain keeps crawling down the glass
(Pull yourself together)
The good times never seem to last
(You know it's not so bad)
Close your eyes and let the thought
Close your eyes and let it pass
(These are my old clothes)
(This is a new low)
(This is my blood flow)
(This is my headstone) ah-ah
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I can really relate to this part of the song
'I spend my days with all my friends They're the ones on who my life depends I'm gonna miss them when the series ends'
I see that part as just having good times with your friends and being with the people you love to be with. And you pretty much depend on them to keep you happy. But you're not always with them. and you are somehow separated from them. and you become depressed.
'Rain keeps crawling down the glass The good times never seem to last'
I can picture someone sitting there by a window watching the rain, separated from the people he/she loves. Wishing to be with them again. but it never lasts. and it's gone before they know it. only to be separated again.
I can really relate to that..
that verse 'I spend my days with all my friends...etc.' is a joke bro. Spend my days with all my friends, they're the ones on whom my life depends, I'm gonna miss them when the series ends. He's talking about a TV series, not even his friends are real, all he has is television, and not even that is fulfilling.