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'm not falling for anymore of these tricks
I'm so tired of everything here
The sun is calling me to the west
Everyone's having fun out there
My bags are packed
And I'm lookin' out the window
Everything is so outdated here
I want to move west to where the sun is shining
I want my friends to all be there
Let's pack up and move to California
She's got lots of friends out there
We'd never get bored 'cause we can go boarding
Let's let the sunshine take us there
I'm tired of taking it slow
So tired but I'm not sleeping
I'm wired about to pick up my board
Cause we're all heading out for the weekend
Let's pack up and move to California
Hop on board before we get older
Raise your hands and shout for California
C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon
Let's pack up and move to California
She's got lots of friends out there
We'd never get bored 'cause we can go boarding
Let's let the sunshine take us there
C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon
Let's pack up and move to California
She's got lots of friends out there
We'd never get bored 'cause we can go boarding
Let's let the sunshine take us there
Let's pack up and move to California
She's got lots of friends out there
We'd never get bored 'cause we can go boarding
Let's let the sunshine take us there
Let's pack up and move to California
Hop on board before we get older
Raise your hands we're heading for the border
C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon
I'm so tired of everything here
The sun is calling me to the west
Everyone's having fun out there
My bags are packed
And I'm lookin' out the window
Everything is so outdated here
I want to move west to where the sun is shining
I want my friends to all be there
Let's pack up and move to California
She's got lots of friends out there
We'd never get bored 'cause we can go boarding
Let's let the sunshine take us there
I'm tired of taking it slow
So tired but I'm not sleeping
I'm wired about to pick up my board
Cause we're all heading out for the weekend
Let's pack up and move to California
Hop on board before we get older
Raise your hands and shout for California
C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon
Let's pack up and move to California
She's got lots of friends out there
We'd never get bored 'cause we can go boarding
Let's let the sunshine take us there
C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon
Let's pack up and move to California
She's got lots of friends out there
We'd never get bored 'cause we can go boarding
Let's let the sunshine take us there
Let's pack up and move to California
She's got lots of friends out there
We'd never get bored 'cause we can go boarding
Let's let the sunshine take us there
Let's pack up and move to California
Hop on board before we get older
Raise your hands we're heading for the border
C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon
Lyrics submitted by copywrittenjunkie
California Lyrics as written by David Lee Clark Daniel Biro
Lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
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I like this songs...but being from California, I fear people have some misconceptions about my state. The whole pace isn't sunny all the time, and there are places that are not even close to the beach. We're not all tan, we're not all movie stars. Most of us are either farmers, or live nears farmers. The central valley of CA is actually where most of the country's meat, vegitables and dairy products come from. the largest part of California can get up to 120 degrees in the summer, and in the winter there is fog so bad you can't see past the hood of your car. I'd love to pretend I live in the magical wonderland that everyone percieves California to be, but unfortunately very few people can afford to live in the parts of California that everyone is familiar with (mostly LA, so there are alot of tennaments there, because everyone wants to live there any way)
I understand the roots of your frustration, alot of ppl from near where I live (western PA) do see Cali as a magical beach wonderland. I think mainly its just a nice idea for people to have about a perfect paradise actually existing