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.
[Intro]
Yo, check it out, it's fucked up, and I don't see either one of us budging
[Verse]
I'm withholding my anger
Though I'd like to be the strangler
Of this punkass little pussy's puny neck
It's my right to insist
That he acknowledge my existence
But he just displays complete lack of respect
That's what he says to himself
As he uses magazin his es to trash me
As he sits with both feet up at his desk
Smokes a bag of his weed
And starts imagining things
And he just can't see that he's manically depressed
And in his jealousy and envy
It just whirls him in a frenzy
As he turns on MTV and sees my face
He don't exist in this world
So he just twists and he twirls
Spirals and spins till he hurls himself in a rage
And it's destroying him slowly
Cuz he does not even know me
Even though he sees me everywhere he goes
So he just tortures himself
He has no fortune and wealth
So he extorts someone else to get his dough
And now he's acting like a bully
So he tries to push and pull me
But he knows that he can't pull me so he's mad
He has no choice but to scream
And raise his voice up at me
Cuz it annoys him to see that I ain't scared
[Chorus]
You aint no motherfucking (bully)
And I aint bowing to no motherfucking (bully)
I won't allow it, aint gon’ cower to no (bully)
I'll be damned if I don't stand up to a (bully)
Fight like a man and throw my hands up to a (bully...)
And I know it must be fucking with you emotionall(y...)
[Verse]
Now I'm not trying to make no more enemies
No more unfortunately
There's so many other motherfuckers that just are
They just keep pounding at me
Now that I'm down with 50
Suddenly now I got beef with this faggot Ja (hahahaha!)
But his ass is such a puppet
Irv could shove his whole hand up it
And just make him say what he wants him to say
But Sug has Irv's on a string
And Irv's so nervous that he
Says anything to this man to keep him at bay
So now Ja thinks that he's so tough
And Murder Inc.'s the big bad wolf
And they gon’ huff and puff and blow our label down
But our building's made out of bricks
So you ain't taking out shit
An dawg you just did a song with Bobby Brown
So now you try to pull the race card
And it backfires in your face hard
Cuz you know we don't play that black and white shit
Plus the stylist you fucked
When you was ecstasied up
Was just a man who's dressed up as a white bitch
[Chorus]
You must be taking to much (E...)
[Verse]
Now what bothers me the most
About hip-hop is we so close
To picking up where we left off with Big and Pac
We just lost Jam Master J
Big L got blasted away
Plus we lost Bugs, Snake Tongue, and Freaky Ta
It's like a never-ending cycle
That just seems to come full circle
Everybody's gotta be so fucking hard
I'm not excluding myself
Cuz I been stupid as well
I been known to lose it when someone says something smart
But as we grow as men
We learn to let shit go, but then again
There's only so much bullshit we can really stand
We all got reps to uphold
When someone steps on our toes
It's no exception, it goes for every man
But if Irv really gave a fuck
About Ja like he claims he does
He'd wake him up and make his boy get off them drugs
But he just keeps feeding him pills
So if that E doesn't kill him
Someone from G-Unit will and I ain't buzzed
Dawg, I'm talking to you straight
If the situation escalates
Any worse, we're gonna lose another soldier to this game
And if I get killed for this rap
I got a million in cash
That says I will get you back in Hailie's name
[Chorus]
Irvine, get your boy up off that (E...)
[Spoken]
Get at me, dawg
Holla
Yo, check it out, it's fucked up, and I don't see either one of us budging
[Verse]
I'm withholding my anger
Though I'd like to be the strangler
Of this punkass little pussy's puny neck
It's my right to insist
That he acknowledge my existence
But he just displays complete lack of respect
That's what he says to himself
As he uses magazin his es to trash me
As he sits with both feet up at his desk
Smokes a bag of his weed
And starts imagining things
And he just can't see that he's manically depressed
And in his jealousy and envy
It just whirls him in a frenzy
As he turns on MTV and sees my face
He don't exist in this world
So he just twists and he twirls
Spirals and spins till he hurls himself in a rage
And it's destroying him slowly
Cuz he does not even know me
Even though he sees me everywhere he goes
So he just tortures himself
He has no fortune and wealth
So he extorts someone else to get his dough
And now he's acting like a bully
So he tries to push and pull me
But he knows that he can't pull me so he's mad
He has no choice but to scream
And raise his voice up at me
Cuz it annoys him to see that I ain't scared
[Chorus]
You aint no motherfucking (bully)
And I aint bowing to no motherfucking (bully)
I won't allow it, aint gon’ cower to no (bully)
I'll be damned if I don't stand up to a (bully)
Fight like a man and throw my hands up to a (bully...)
And I know it must be fucking with you emotionall(y...)
[Verse]
Now I'm not trying to make no more enemies
No more unfortunately
There's so many other motherfuckers that just are
They just keep pounding at me
Now that I'm down with 50
Suddenly now I got beef with this faggot Ja (hahahaha!)
But his ass is such a puppet
Irv could shove his whole hand up it
And just make him say what he wants him to say
But Sug has Irv's on a string
And Irv's so nervous that he
Says anything to this man to keep him at bay
So now Ja thinks that he's so tough
And Murder Inc.'s the big bad wolf
And they gon’ huff and puff and blow our label down
But our building's made out of bricks
So you ain't taking out shit
An dawg you just did a song with Bobby Brown
So now you try to pull the race card
And it backfires in your face hard
Cuz you know we don't play that black and white shit
Plus the stylist you fucked
When you was ecstasied up
Was just a man who's dressed up as a white bitch
[Chorus]
You must be taking to much (E...)
[Verse]
Now what bothers me the most
About hip-hop is we so close
To picking up where we left off with Big and Pac
We just lost Jam Master J
Big L got blasted away
Plus we lost Bugs, Snake Tongue, and Freaky Ta
It's like a never-ending cycle
That just seems to come full circle
Everybody's gotta be so fucking hard
I'm not excluding myself
Cuz I been stupid as well
I been known to lose it when someone says something smart
But as we grow as men
We learn to let shit go, but then again
There's only so much bullshit we can really stand
We all got reps to uphold
When someone steps on our toes
It's no exception, it goes for every man
But if Irv really gave a fuck
About Ja like he claims he does
He'd wake him up and make his boy get off them drugs
But he just keeps feeding him pills
So if that E doesn't kill him
Someone from G-Unit will and I ain't buzzed
Dawg, I'm talking to you straight
If the situation escalates
Any worse, we're gonna lose another soldier to this game
And if I get killed for this rap
I got a million in cash
That says I will get you back in Hailie's name
[Chorus]
Irvine, get your boy up off that (E...)
[Spoken]
Get at me, dawg
Holla
Lyrics submitted by indefeat
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