So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
Committing crimes and we're running down the alley,
I am the captain, you're in the galley.
I'm with this girl, she said that she was hungry,
we just got done swapping our IDs.
Ice on the sheets, look at the floor.
Soon as I can walk, I walk out the door and never stop.
Ice on the sheets, look at the floor.
As soon as I can walk, I walk out the door and never stop.
I'm look'n at an old photograph,
it looked like we took it at gunpoint so I, had to laugh.
Look at the ice, look at the floor.
Ice on the sheets and I'm on the floor,
I never stop.
A wholeness comes and you feelin a phenomenon,
I can't die, I just keep going on...
Got there and a brand new... (Unknown)
Don't want nothing but a band now, bad karma beside me.
Ice on the sheets, a week's worth of pay,
and all the Munadine, you got to where you look at your shoes
and you say, hey hey.
I'm out of breath, I'm out of wits,
I'm out of these every day of the week. Oh yeah.
Committing crimes and we're running down the alley,
I am the captain, you're in the galley.
I'm with this girl, she said that she was hungry,
we just got done swapping our IDs.
Committing crimes and we're running down the alley,
I am the captain, you're in the galley.
I'm with this girl, she said that she was hungry,
we just got done swapping our IDs.
Like back in the day where everywhere was the sticks.
They used to go to bars and they'd dance in lines and get sick.
You dance you dance and then you'd dance some more.
You put on your disco shoes and dance 'til there's holes in the floor.
Back in the days when they died their hair,
They still wouldn't dance in the lack of kids that cared.
Back in the days when they danced to death...
Back in the days when they banged their head...
There was dance and dace and being under (unknown)
(unknown) for drunk and we laughed.
The disco came and they did some coke.
They didn't have codine and the biggest joke...
Well their deaf, their fucked, they fucked, they fought, they faught they fuck.
And now (unknown) a little red lip stick, a red bra, and a cheap cheap trick,
and that's me.
I brung your kids to the house to the home to the schools,
In the bad place.
Yeah how long? You don't care they arn't yours.
They arn't saying, didn't know nothin but time is cheap.
I got rock now, I got a kid now, I got friends now.
How have you been? uh hu hu hu...
Committing crimes and we¹re running down the alley,
I am the captain, you're in the galley.
I'm with this girl, she said that she was hungry,
we just got done swapping our IDs.
Committing crimes and we¹re running down the alley,
I am the captain, you're in the galley.
I'm with this girl, she said that she was hungry,
we just got done swapping our IDs.
Committing crimes and we¹re running down the alley,
I am the captain, you're in the galley.
I'm with this girl, she said that she was hungry,
we just got done swapping our IDs.
Committing crimes and we¹re running down the alley,
I am the captain, you're in the galley.
I'm with this girl, she said that she was hungry,
we just got done swapping our IDs.
I am the captain, you're in the galley.
I'm with this girl, she said that she was hungry,
we just got done swapping our IDs.
Ice on the sheets, look at the floor.
Soon as I can walk, I walk out the door and never stop.
Ice on the sheets, look at the floor.
As soon as I can walk, I walk out the door and never stop.
I'm look'n at an old photograph,
it looked like we took it at gunpoint so I, had to laugh.
Look at the ice, look at the floor.
Ice on the sheets and I'm on the floor,
I never stop.
A wholeness comes and you feelin a phenomenon,
I can't die, I just keep going on...
Got there and a brand new... (Unknown)
Don't want nothing but a band now, bad karma beside me.
Ice on the sheets, a week's worth of pay,
and all the Munadine, you got to where you look at your shoes
and you say, hey hey.
I'm out of breath, I'm out of wits,
I'm out of these every day of the week. Oh yeah.
Committing crimes and we're running down the alley,
I am the captain, you're in the galley.
I'm with this girl, she said that she was hungry,
we just got done swapping our IDs.
Committing crimes and we're running down the alley,
I am the captain, you're in the galley.
I'm with this girl, she said that she was hungry,
we just got done swapping our IDs.
Like back in the day where everywhere was the sticks.
They used to go to bars and they'd dance in lines and get sick.
You dance you dance and then you'd dance some more.
You put on your disco shoes and dance 'til there's holes in the floor.
Back in the days when they died their hair,
They still wouldn't dance in the lack of kids that cared.
Back in the days when they danced to death...
Back in the days when they banged their head...
There was dance and dace and being under (unknown)
(unknown) for drunk and we laughed.
The disco came and they did some coke.
They didn't have codine and the biggest joke...
Well their deaf, their fucked, they fucked, they fought, they faught they fuck.
And now (unknown) a little red lip stick, a red bra, and a cheap cheap trick,
and that's me.
I brung your kids to the house to the home to the schools,
In the bad place.
Yeah how long? You don't care they arn't yours.
They arn't saying, didn't know nothin but time is cheap.
I got rock now, I got a kid now, I got friends now.
How have you been? uh hu hu hu...
Committing crimes and we¹re running down the alley,
I am the captain, you're in the galley.
I'm with this girl, she said that she was hungry,
we just got done swapping our IDs.
Committing crimes and we¹re running down the alley,
I am the captain, you're in the galley.
I'm with this girl, she said that she was hungry,
we just got done swapping our IDs.
Committing crimes and we¹re running down the alley,
I am the captain, you're in the galley.
I'm with this girl, she said that she was hungry,
we just got done swapping our IDs.
Committing crimes and we¹re running down the alley,
I am the captain, you're in the galley.
I'm with this girl, she said that she was hungry,
we just got done swapping our IDs.
Lyrics submitted by aboutaprettysunset
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Ave Grave
Thee More Shallows
Thee More Shallows
Love in a Vacuum
'Til Tuesday
'Til Tuesday
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.
Jesse with the long hair....
Robert Earl Keen, Jr.
Robert Earl Keen, Jr.
Classic love story true to his western tx roots. One of my favorites as a story, but I think there are alot of songs that are amazing not even listed on this site. I guess I should figure out how to add them, because I have about 8 REK cd's.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
This song is in my Top 5 @ #3