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.
You'll never fumigate the demons
No matter how much you smoke
So just say you love me
For three good reasons
And I'll throw you the rope
You don't need it
Because you are the survivor
Of more than one life
And you're the only lover I had
Who ever slept with a knife
But you're not Judy Garland
Oh just like me you've never really had a home of your own
But I'm not Tony Hancock, baby
Until the dawn
We'll stone the crows
We'll stone the crows
We'll stone the crows
And you see I've brought you flowers
I've brought you flowers all collected from the Old Vic Stage
Well I've been sitting here for hours, baby
Just chasing these words across the page
You're my Waterloo
Well I'll be your Gypsy Lane
I'm so glad we know just what to do
And exactly who's to blame
And you're my Waterloo
I'll be your Stanley Park
Well I'm so glad we know just what to do
And no one's left
Stumbling around
Tumbling around
Fumbling around In the dark
Always in the dark
Always in the dark
Always in the dark
You're my Waterloo
I'll be your Calvary
I'm so glad we know just what to do
And everyone's gonna be happy
Everyone's gonna be happy
Everyone's gonna be happy
But of course
No matter how much you smoke
So just say you love me
For three good reasons
And I'll throw you the rope
You don't need it
Because you are the survivor
Of more than one life
And you're the only lover I had
Who ever slept with a knife
But you're not Judy Garland
Oh just like me you've never really had a home of your own
But I'm not Tony Hancock, baby
Until the dawn
We'll stone the crows
We'll stone the crows
We'll stone the crows
And you see I've brought you flowers
I've brought you flowers all collected from the Old Vic Stage
Well I've been sitting here for hours, baby
Just chasing these words across the page
You're my Waterloo
Well I'll be your Gypsy Lane
I'm so glad we know just what to do
And exactly who's to blame
And you're my Waterloo
I'll be your Stanley Park
Well I'm so glad we know just what to do
And no one's left
Stumbling around
Tumbling around
Fumbling around In the dark
Always in the dark
Always in the dark
Always in the dark
You're my Waterloo
I'll be your Calvary
I'm so glad we know just what to do
And everyone's gonna be happy
Everyone's gonna be happy
Everyone's gonna be happy
But of course
Lyrics submitted by fancyprose
You're My Waterloo Lyrics as written by Peter Doherty Carl Barat
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Royalty Network, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
Love in a Vacuum
'Til Tuesday
'Til Tuesday
Spirit Within
Bertoldi Brothers
Bertoldi Brothers
Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"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"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Gypsy Lane is a railway station in middlesborough, but it's open-air (i think) and just kind of basic and mediocre, so maybe he's saying you're my waterloo as in the station, so you're a good/the best part of me and i'll be your worst feature or downfall or whatever.
Stanley Park is a park in Liverpool that's known for being the land between Everton and Liverpool football clubs, who are well known rivals. So maybe it means you're my defeat/battle and I'll be your no mans land or I'll seperate you from who your fighting from.
Calvary is the name given to the place where Christ was meant to have been crucified. So, you're my only defeat and you'll die because of me or I'll be the place you go when everyone has turned against you. Calvary can also mean 'skull', coming from the Latin 'calvarie'. Maybe pete's trying to say i'll be your skull, I'll protect you or hold you together.
Only guesses :) Such a beautiful song though <3
"You'll never fumigate the demons No matter how much you smoke"
Wonderfully articulate. I'd agree with majormajor and say that, especially considering that line, this song is definitely focused on Carl. Which just makes the 'lover' lyric all the more interesting, eh?
"Why does everyone see Peter and Carl in every single song?"
Well, considering Can't Stand Me Now & Likely Lads, it's not surprising, really, is it? And there's a lot of quite-ambiguous references in these that could be about Pete & Carl, like the "fairytale up on the fifth floor" in Anything But Love, or the knife thing in this. shrugs
I love the way Pete and Carlos always make it sound like they are lovers. It ust shows how much they really mean to each other.
"Carlos - he has an affinity with knives"
gosh its wierd but weneva i heard it i was never all sure it was the libs... it does seem to be about carl.. but i dont get the knife thing, cos i can only see 1 reference to knifes..unless im missing something?? and how is carl obssessed with them? whats the link with them??!
Waterloo is actually more commonly used as a synonym of defeat rather than victory, as it was at Waterloo Napoleon got beaten - Which would mean "You're my waterloo" would rather mean "You're my only defeat". He's saying that, maybe because Carlos really got close to Pete then really hurt him - Pete doesn't normally let people get close enough to him, because then he can not be hurt. So maybe, he means that Carl and the things he did, was Pete's only defeat. The first time he let someone in, was the first time he got hurt, therefor he will forever have problems doing it again - just as Napoleons confidence was reduced after the battle at Waterloo.
And as for Carl and Pete having a sexual relationship has been denied by both parts - If you say you don't trust their words, then you can't trust the songs and it all will mean nothing at all to you.
I'm so glad we know just what to do And exactly who's to blame
In Russia we have a saying that there are two major questions in russian literature: what to do and who's to blame. It comes from the titles of two social-psychological novels written in 19 century (What is to be done? by Chernyshevsky and Who is to blame? by Herzen). The former was considered as a handbook of radicalism and led to a creation of Land and Liberty society.
its a tribute for Amy Winehouse and a referencers to club 27.
Most heartfelt, heartbreaking Libertines song I think. But my opinion of Libs' songs changes daily haha.