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.
When I go to sleep I pray
I'm waking up to I got you babe
Like the guy from Groundhog Day
Just wanna live forever this way
Flash back to seventeen
Got my ass kicked by the football team
Another Loser on the scene
Every Guy With A Chick I Fancy
I asked you out for losing truth or dare
The guys were cracking up 'til you said yeah
Pinch me, is this real?
I'm on a one way ticket out of loserville
Now I'm off the social flat line
Things are so good that I'm
Taking down my star trek shrine
And you're more than just my valentine
You're my ticket outta loserville
She gives me butterflies
Says I'm not like all the other guys
Doesn't care what car I drive
She still enjoys the ride
When I got to sleep I know
That you'll be there tomorrow
And it gives me vertigo
It was just a week ago that
I asked you out for losing truth or dare
The guys were cracking up 'til you said yeah
Pinch me, is this real?
I'm on a one way ticket out of loserville
Now I'm off the social flat line
Things are so good that I'm
Taking down my star-trek shrine
You blew me out on a Sunday night
You were bored to tears pretending
Knew what you wanted and I'm nothing like the
Guy in your happy ending
Well you were wrong to lead me on
Now in the night I wake up screaming
Where the hell did I go wrong?
Where's Scotty when you need him?
Pinch me, is this real?
I'm on a one way ticket back to loserville
Heading for the social flat line
Things are so that bad
I'm dusting off my star trek shrine
This is where it ends and I can taste the glory
How can I depend
On a better story?
Made it, blew it, couldn't save it
Think about her all the time
It's like I never had her valentine
So I guess I better kiss goodbye to my ticket outta loserville
I'm waking up to I got you babe
Like the guy from Groundhog Day
Just wanna live forever this way
Flash back to seventeen
Got my ass kicked by the football team
Another Loser on the scene
Every Guy With A Chick I Fancy
I asked you out for losing truth or dare
The guys were cracking up 'til you said yeah
Pinch me, is this real?
I'm on a one way ticket out of loserville
Now I'm off the social flat line
Things are so good that I'm
Taking down my star trek shrine
And you're more than just my valentine
You're my ticket outta loserville
She gives me butterflies
Says I'm not like all the other guys
Doesn't care what car I drive
She still enjoys the ride
When I got to sleep I know
That you'll be there tomorrow
And it gives me vertigo
It was just a week ago that
I asked you out for losing truth or dare
The guys were cracking up 'til you said yeah
Pinch me, is this real?
I'm on a one way ticket out of loserville
Now I'm off the social flat line
Things are so good that I'm
Taking down my star-trek shrine
You blew me out on a Sunday night
You were bored to tears pretending
Knew what you wanted and I'm nothing like the
Guy in your happy ending
Well you were wrong to lead me on
Now in the night I wake up screaming
Where the hell did I go wrong?
Where's Scotty when you need him?
Pinch me, is this real?
I'm on a one way ticket back to loserville
Heading for the social flat line
Things are so that bad
I'm dusting off my star trek shrine
This is where it ends and I can taste the glory
How can I depend
On a better story?
Made it, blew it, couldn't save it
Think about her all the time
It's like I never had her valentine
So I guess I better kiss goodbye to my ticket outta loserville
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NOOOOO! DAMN U ALL!!!!!