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 was a poor little kid in the lungs of new York
Just like a motherless son of a bitch
Loaded on ephedrine looking for downers and coke
Like a sun that just wouldn't set out on the horizon
Singing and dancing to them nighttime songs
I took a train and came up from Carolina
I was looking for something to do
Nothing I found could ever quite occupy me
With nothing to gain there's always nothing to lose
Singing and dancing to them nighttime songs
Cry me a river till the morning comes
I should've died a hundred thousand times
Teetering stoned off the side of buildings
Nobody loved me and nobody even tried
You cant hang on to something that wont stop moving
Singing and dancing to them nighttime songs
I got arrested down south for hitting a clerk
I spit in his face, the bastard knocked me out
He leered at my lady and then he touched her face
Thank God she had the money to bail me out
Singing and dancing to them nighttime songs
Cry me a river till the morning comes
Bar room boogie just like in the movies
Go on put it to me shake it till the rattles come on
Take me where the morning don't come
I had a dog named Jet, when I was a kid
Until one day he wandered off and died
One night I went in the yard and dug him up
And he laid in the box just like a pile of bones
Singing and dancing to them nighttime songs
I used to get loaded and baby Id drive your car
It seemed like there was always a cop
Coming behind me and following close as they could
Eventually they'd just trail off
Loaded and cruising to them nighttime songs
Cry me a river till the morning comes
Bar room boogie just like in the movies
Go on put it to me shake it till the rattles come on
Take me where the morning don't come
I think I died a hundred thousand times
Mixing liquor with mystery pills
Mystery pills and heroin mixed into cocaine
Face down out on the riverside
Most of my friends are married and making them babies
To most of them I already died
And whatever it is about you I've always hated
Is something about myself I just couldn't hide
And I'm going going baby I'm gone
So cry me a river to the other side of the morning
To where the morning don't come
To where the morning don't come
To where the morning don't come
Just like a motherless son of a bitch
Loaded on ephedrine looking for downers and coke
Like a sun that just wouldn't set out on the horizon
Singing and dancing to them nighttime songs
I took a train and came up from Carolina
I was looking for something to do
Nothing I found could ever quite occupy me
With nothing to gain there's always nothing to lose
Singing and dancing to them nighttime songs
Cry me a river till the morning comes
I should've died a hundred thousand times
Teetering stoned off the side of buildings
Nobody loved me and nobody even tried
You cant hang on to something that wont stop moving
Singing and dancing to them nighttime songs
I got arrested down south for hitting a clerk
I spit in his face, the bastard knocked me out
He leered at my lady and then he touched her face
Thank God she had the money to bail me out
Singing and dancing to them nighttime songs
Cry me a river till the morning comes
Bar room boogie just like in the movies
Go on put it to me shake it till the rattles come on
Take me where the morning don't come
I had a dog named Jet, when I was a kid
Until one day he wandered off and died
One night I went in the yard and dug him up
And he laid in the box just like a pile of bones
Singing and dancing to them nighttime songs
I used to get loaded and baby Id drive your car
It seemed like there was always a cop
Coming behind me and following close as they could
Eventually they'd just trail off
Loaded and cruising to them nighttime songs
Cry me a river till the morning comes
Bar room boogie just like in the movies
Go on put it to me shake it till the rattles come on
Take me where the morning don't come
I think I died a hundred thousand times
Mixing liquor with mystery pills
Mystery pills and heroin mixed into cocaine
Face down out on the riverside
Most of my friends are married and making them babies
To most of them I already died
And whatever it is about you I've always hated
Is something about myself I just couldn't hide
And I'm going going baby I'm gone
So cry me a river to the other side of the morning
To where the morning don't come
To where the morning don't come
To where the morning don't come
Lyrics submitted by BlueAndStarry
29 Lyrics as written by Ryan Adams
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
I love this song, but then i love all his stuff. He's mad too, which makes it all more fun