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.
And I see you’ve done what you do
Know we’re doing this for you
You don’t know how these days are now that they‘re not with you
So here’s to savor all of this
We’ve come so far just to miss
The thing that you need
Want to be, I don’t want to see this anymore
How do, I make you see that
You might be heading nowhere
I’m here and you don’t know your timings right
What did you say
And I’ll go
You don’t know that
You might be heading nowhere
And I’ll be the one that lets us go
And I’ll see it through tonight
But when will I see you again
If you knew these thoughts than we’d be friends
Go this way it seems so right, it’s ok again
When will I see you again
You don’t know
You don’t know
Life’s coming hard down on me
I need something that lets me be
I know, sure there’s something that seems I’ll never have anymore
Some things are beautiful until insecurities all fill
You’ve changed, you don’t understand, no you never will
How do I make you see that
You might be heading nowhere
I’m here and you don’t know your timings right
What did you say
And I’ll go
You don’t know that
You might be heading nowhere
And I’ll be the one that lets us go
And I’ll see it through tonight
But when will I see you again
If you knew these thoughts than we’d be friends
Go this way it seems so right, it’s ok again
When will I see you again
Again
So sad to say
You’ll forget about the times when you ran away
And I’m assuming you did
And I’m assuming you did
So sad to say
You’ll forget about the times when you ran away
And I’m assuming you did
And I’m assuming you did
And I’m assuming you did
I’ll say I miss it so bad
You might be heading nowhere
I’m here and you don’t know what you were thinking
Well I do, and I do
And I see you
And I can’t believe you
And I do, in seeing you
You don’t, and you know what to do
I see you
I bet you think you’re whoa
When will you stop this stupid show
I’m singing a song that you should quite understand
And you don’t, you don’t know what to do
Don’t believe you when you say you never knew
I’m singing this, cause I can’t stop thinking of you
When will I see you again
If you knew these thoughts than we’d be friends
Go this way it seems so right, it’s ok again
When will I see you again
You don’t know
You don’t know
Know we’re doing this for you
You don’t know how these days are now that they‘re not with you
So here’s to savor all of this
We’ve come so far just to miss
The thing that you need
Want to be, I don’t want to see this anymore
How do, I make you see that
You might be heading nowhere
I’m here and you don’t know your timings right
What did you say
And I’ll go
You don’t know that
You might be heading nowhere
And I’ll be the one that lets us go
And I’ll see it through tonight
But when will I see you again
If you knew these thoughts than we’d be friends
Go this way it seems so right, it’s ok again
When will I see you again
You don’t know
You don’t know
Life’s coming hard down on me
I need something that lets me be
I know, sure there’s something that seems I’ll never have anymore
Some things are beautiful until insecurities all fill
You’ve changed, you don’t understand, no you never will
How do I make you see that
You might be heading nowhere
I’m here and you don’t know your timings right
What did you say
And I’ll go
You don’t know that
You might be heading nowhere
And I’ll be the one that lets us go
And I’ll see it through tonight
But when will I see you again
If you knew these thoughts than we’d be friends
Go this way it seems so right, it’s ok again
When will I see you again
Again
So sad to say
You’ll forget about the times when you ran away
And I’m assuming you did
And I’m assuming you did
So sad to say
You’ll forget about the times when you ran away
And I’m assuming you did
And I’m assuming you did
And I’m assuming you did
I’ll say I miss it so bad
You might be heading nowhere
I’m here and you don’t know what you were thinking
Well I do, and I do
And I see you
And I can’t believe you
And I do, in seeing you
You don’t, and you know what to do
I see you
I bet you think you’re whoa
When will you stop this stupid show
I’m singing a song that you should quite understand
And you don’t, you don’t know what to do
Don’t believe you when you say you never knew
I’m singing this, cause I can’t stop thinking of you
When will I see you again
If you knew these thoughts than we’d be friends
Go this way it seems so right, it’s ok again
When will I see you again
You don’t know
You don’t know
Lyrics submitted by NotCoolZeus
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I typed out these lyrics as I was listening to the songs, and if you’ve ever listened to the Rocket Summer you know there are times you can’t quite make out exactly what Bryce is saying, so some lines are just my best guess. But the majority of the lyrics are right. If you think he sings something other then what I typed, let me know and I’ll listen to the song again and if I think your right I’ll change it (if I can).