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 something warm and soft just passed through here
It took the precious things that I hold dearer
It rifles through the grey and disappeared
The creeping darkness makes the small hours clearer
Like a cancer scare
In a dentist's chair
Sucking in the air
Wire across the stair
Kicking down the door
At your local store
When your world of bore
Forces through the floor
Unexpected news
Wearing high-heeled shoes
Blowing out the fuse
Paying all your dues
Tempering lullaby
Like a fractured tied
It's a worthless lie
To the public eye
I don't take waifs and strays back home with me
My bleeding heart does not extend to charity
Yes, I'd have to say I like my privacy
Did you know you're on closed-circuit TV?
So smile at me
And a dream you had
Of your mom and dad
On a beach somewhere
And the boys aren't there
With the cancer threat
In a cigarette
Tempering lullaby
Find a place to hide
And from the yellow windows of the last train
A specter from the next life breathes his bargain of pain
I look with you into the speeding black rain
Afraid to touch someone, afraid to ask her for a name
And in the morning when I find I've lost you
I throw a window open wide and step through
It took the precious things that I hold dearer
It rifles through the grey and disappeared
The creeping darkness makes the small hours clearer
Like a cancer scare
In a dentist's chair
Sucking in the air
Wire across the stair
Kicking down the door
At your local store
When your world of bore
Forces through the floor
Unexpected news
Wearing high-heeled shoes
Blowing out the fuse
Paying all your dues
Tempering lullaby
Like a fractured tied
It's a worthless lie
To the public eye
I don't take waifs and strays back home with me
My bleeding heart does not extend to charity
Yes, I'd have to say I like my privacy
Did you know you're on closed-circuit TV?
So smile at me
And a dream you had
Of your mom and dad
On a beach somewhere
And the boys aren't there
With the cancer threat
In a cigarette
Tempering lullaby
Find a place to hide
And from the yellow windows of the last train
A specter from the next life breathes his bargain of pain
I look with you into the speeding black rain
Afraid to touch someone, afraid to ask her for a name
And in the morning when I find I've lost you
I throw a window open wide and step through
Lyrics submitted by christsizeshoes, edited by DutchLyric, PaulZero, flameisgone
Deadwing Lyrics as written by Colin Edwin Balch, Gavin Richard Harrison, Richard Barbieri, Steven Wilson
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Downtown Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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