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 fuckin’ love that one rock video where that fucking jack-ass mohawked millionaire prances around by far the worst sausage party on earth, where by mere chance he’s caught on film shaking hands with an incredibly diverse collection of patriotic skins. I like the message it sends: With a Rebel™ yell, Just Do Exactly What You’re Told. One million douche bags can’t be wrong? “When did punk rock become so safe?” You’ll excuse me if I laugh in your face as I itemize your receipts and PowerPoint your balance sheets. I hear this year’s Vans Warped Tour is “going green!” I guess they heard that money grows on trees. Hope they ship all those shitty bands overseas like they did the factories. Music’s power to describe, compel, renew … It’s all a distant second to the offers you can’t refuse. Anyone remember when we used to believe that music was a sacred place and not some fucking bank machine? Not something you just bought and sold? How could we have been so naïve? Well, I think when all is said and done, just cuz we were young doesn’t mean we were wrong. And I’ll rock back and forth on this two-bit hobbyhorse ‘til she splinters and gives way. I’ll tend the flowers by her grave. And whisper her name. If anyone out there understands can I please see a show of hands just so I know I’m not insane? Ever get the feeling you been played? Well, that’s rock for sustainable capitalism and you know, we may face a scorched and lifeless earth, but they’re accountable to their shareholders first. That’s how the world works.
Lyrics submitted by MrPryMinista
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Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
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This song is about how Capitalism is not going to "save the world". When profit margins and brown-nosing your boss leads to a serious environmental remedy, let me know. In the meantime I will be planting fruit trees in abandoned urban lots and biking to the forgotten alcoves of the city. I guess that won't save the world either. Damn. Oh well, Buy Fair.
Right right right.
Loads of madness arguements and random crap on here so lemme clear a few things up.
One Cell Organism is supposed to be about Propagandhi. Thus why G7 did a podcast called "You're so vain you probably think this show is about you" when Fat Wreck sent them a copy of the song through the mail. They make a point of it, playing the song the show title is from when talking about it and Derek choosing a few lines he likes out of it.
The song is about the way that punk has become part of the "machine" that is the music industry, the very thing it is supposed to be against it has emulated in many ways and yeah, they use Fat Wreck and the Warped Tour as examples of this. Good examples too because of the way Fat Wreck has gone now. Epitaph has sunk too.
The whole argueing between NOFX and Propagandhi is a big joke really, they're all old friends. Fat Mike was the one that helped with the money to set up G7. He basically let them keep all of the money from their album sales so they could set it up.
Fat Wreck does not RELEASE Propagandhi albums, they handle distribution in the US because G7 is a Canadian record label run by Chris and Derek. They're a small record label really. Since Derek once described them to me as "2 guys, a girl and a couple of cats" if I remember rightly. The staff have changed since then. They do all the recording, pressing and releasing. Well, I think they use a company to do the pressing. I remember them having problems with vinyls where the company that made them had printed the songs in the wrong order.
Also, the reasoning behind the title is to do with the Rock Against Bush compilation. Propagandhi disagree with the compilation not only because of it, in a way, endorsing Kerry at the time. Propgandhi were originally going to put their song "Bullshit Politicians" on there, renamed if I remember rightly, and in the linear notes for that song it says "Fuck George Soros" at the end of it. Fat Mike asked them to take that line out of the linear notes because George Soros was one of the people funding the whole Rock Against Bush campaign and they refused to. Therefore Fat Mike said they couldn't be on Volume 1, offered them a spot on Volume 2 and they declined. Google George Soros if you don't know who he is. He is Grade A asshole material and not someone I'd want funding me if I was trying to put out a decent political message.
Oh god, now I must seem like a stalk Chris and Derek.
I don't.
I just stalk Chris. LoL.
The first verse is a slam on Rancid, but I don't remember exactly which video it is they're talking about. And yeah, like MarcaAL4W said, the second verse is directed toward NOFX and their song "The Separation Of Church & Skate." What they're trying to say here is that punk has evolved into yet another product that's packaged and sold. It may be out of the mainstream's eye, but it still relies on a capitalist economy to prosper.
Another inspiration for this song was 2004's "Rock Against Bush" tours and compilations, arranged by Fat Mike from NOFX, which pretty much openly endorsed John Kerry, which Propagandhi rightly takes issue with.
man...the whole entire first part is about Fat Mike and NOFX. "fuckin fat ass mohawked millionaire" - clearly, fat mike.
followed by a few references to NOFXs songs.
the lyrics on here are wrong. he clearly says fat ass.
like i said, the whole first half of the song rips into nofx. i dont get how someone said it was rancid being referenced. its NOFX, who always sing songs against capitalism, yet have no problem starting up their own label to capitalise.
i find it funny that this album with this song was released on Fat Wreck.
and if you go and listen to nofx's new album, theres a couple songs where they come back at propagandhi.
the marxist brothers - reference "todays empires tomorrows ashes"
60% (reprise) - "We're the band with our own label That's money under the table, that's answering to no one But still, other bands just love to hate us Talking shit behind us, but smiling to our face"
Propagandhi owns NOFX anyday
The bit about "the worst sausage party on earth" leads me to think he's referring to the NOFX video 'Leave It Alone'. Boring song, awful band, and the video basically involves NOFX playing at a barbecue, just as an excuse to show a bunch of goofy looking punks and douchebags, with the implication that the viewer should find that cool, instead of the lamest thing on the planet.
Haha, this reminds of how the transplants have a song on a shampoo commercial
4) Rock for Sustainable Capitalism: good laugh from Fat Mike, a little pissy, or didn't really give a shit?
Mike wasn't pissy. Just a little defensive as anybody would be , I suppose. The song is actually hoping that someday or somehow all these millionare punks will step up to the plate and be citizens of the world instead of just takers. It seems like it's something easy to ask for. We're frustrated. the things that could be done would be amazing. I'm hoping maybe Fat and the bands can at least get together to do recycled packaging or anything at all. Life can't just be about the bottom line. I hope something good comes out of it. If not, at least we said our piece. We are really disillusioned by what the music scene is all about. I'll tell you for sure it has nothing to do with music.
from a skapunkandotherjunk.com internview
This song also examines how society has attempted to change Punk to being Fashionable to drown out the real meaning behind it.
This song takes a shot at the music scenes and industry that punk rock has become. It also takes a shot at NOFX: “When did punk rock become so safe?” You’ll excuse me if I laugh in your face as I itemize your receipts and PowerPoint your balance sheets.
Well, I think when all is said and done, just cuz we were young doesn’t mean we were wrong.
Thats the best line.