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.
And sex was always there from when I was only eight years - tempting me leave thirsty
Sweat, skin, a pulse divine to balance this restless mind - it seemed so wonderfully physical
Oh the blood, the lust, the bodies that color the world: all drugs to die for! won't you share my fire?
How can love make that world a minefield of forbidden ground?
A map of untouchable skin and silenced desire?
And love was there in vain, profound and deep but traced with pain - too early for a child of ten
Loving the pure and sane he sought the goddess unstained - watching them turn to flesh again
Hungry for both the purity and sin
Life seemed to him merely like a gallery of how to be
And he was always much more human than he wished to be
But there is a logic to his world, if they could only see
Wishing, sickened, ill, ticking
Someone still this hunger (it's in my blood) always growing stronger (ticking)
Budapest I'm learning, budapest you're burning me
This is not who I wanted to be, this is not what I wanted to see
She's so young so why don't I feel free now that she is here under me?
Naked, touching , soft, clutching
And then after all it lead me here to wake up again
Seeking a love that might make me feel free in myself but then it proves to be
Something that hurts inside when we touch, so I move on, I lose my way
Astray I'm trying too much to feel unchained, to burn out this sense of feeling cold
And every day I seek my prey: someone to taste and to hold
I feel alive during the split second when they smile and meet my eyes
But I could cry 'cause I feel broken inside!
Come and drown with me- the undertow will sweep us away!
And you will see that I'm addicted to my honesty
Trust! 'cause after all my sense of truth once brought me here
But I've lost control and I don't know if I am true to my soul
I've lost control and I don't know if I am true to my soul
Losing control and I don't know if I am true at all
And we were always much more human than we wished to be...
And I remember when you said you've been under him - I was surprised to feel such pain
And all those years of being faithful to you despite the hunger flowing through my veins
And I have always tried to calm things down - swallow down swallow down
"It's just another small thorn in my crown"
But suddenly one day there was too much blood in my eyes, and I had to take this walk down
Remedy lane of when's and whys
Empty, licking, clean, choking
Someone still this hunger (possessing my mind) always growing stronger (craving)
Budapest I'm learning, budapest I'm burning me
This is not who I wanted to be, this is not what I wanted to see
She's so young so why I don't feel free now that she's under me?
In the morning she's going away in a budapest taxi I've paid
Seeking freedom I touched the untouched
it's too much - I'm beyond the pale
Prematurity is the story of both you and me, and we were always much more human than we wished to be
Prematurity is truly the story of both you and me, and we were always much more human than we wished to be
We were always much more human than we wished to be - we were always much more human than we wished to be
We will always be more human then we wish to be
We will always be so much more human than we wish to be
Sweat, skin, a pulse divine to balance this restless mind - it seemed so wonderfully physical
Oh the blood, the lust, the bodies that color the world: all drugs to die for! won't you share my fire?
How can love make that world a minefield of forbidden ground?
A map of untouchable skin and silenced desire?
And love was there in vain, profound and deep but traced with pain - too early for a child of ten
Loving the pure and sane he sought the goddess unstained - watching them turn to flesh again
Hungry for both the purity and sin
Life seemed to him merely like a gallery of how to be
And he was always much more human than he wished to be
But there is a logic to his world, if they could only see
Wishing, sickened, ill, ticking
Someone still this hunger (it's in my blood) always growing stronger (ticking)
Budapest I'm learning, budapest you're burning me
This is not who I wanted to be, this is not what I wanted to see
She's so young so why don't I feel free now that she is here under me?
Naked, touching , soft, clutching
And then after all it lead me here to wake up again
Seeking a love that might make me feel free in myself but then it proves to be
Something that hurts inside when we touch, so I move on, I lose my way
Astray I'm trying too much to feel unchained, to burn out this sense of feeling cold
And every day I seek my prey: someone to taste and to hold
I feel alive during the split second when they smile and meet my eyes
But I could cry 'cause I feel broken inside!
Come and drown with me- the undertow will sweep us away!
And you will see that I'm addicted to my honesty
Trust! 'cause after all my sense of truth once brought me here
But I've lost control and I don't know if I am true to my soul
I've lost control and I don't know if I am true to my soul
Losing control and I don't know if I am true at all
And we were always much more human than we wished to be...
And I remember when you said you've been under him - I was surprised to feel such pain
And all those years of being faithful to you despite the hunger flowing through my veins
And I have always tried to calm things down - swallow down swallow down
"It's just another small thorn in my crown"
But suddenly one day there was too much blood in my eyes, and I had to take this walk down
Remedy lane of when's and whys
Empty, licking, clean, choking
Someone still this hunger (possessing my mind) always growing stronger (craving)
Budapest I'm learning, budapest I'm burning me
This is not who I wanted to be, this is not what I wanted to see
She's so young so why I don't feel free now that she's under me?
In the morning she's going away in a budapest taxi I've paid
Seeking freedom I touched the untouched
it's too much - I'm beyond the pale
Prematurity is the story of both you and me, and we were always much more human than we wished to be
Prematurity is truly the story of both you and me, and we were always much more human than we wished to be
We were always much more human than we wished to be - we were always much more human than we wished to be
We will always be more human then we wish to be
We will always be so much more human than we wish to be
Lyrics submitted by Clint_Hamers, edited by tvkanters, Octavarium64
Beyond the Pale Lyrics as written by Pain Of Salvation Daniel Gildenloew
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I've gotten much different vibes off this song than just "he wanted sex when he was 8", this song is the climax of probably their most emotional album, and is tied into several times from the rest of the album, from the main theme which we hear in chain sling, to the lyrical content of fandango "We will always be so much more human than we wish to be"
I've never been able to figure it out completely, if at all. I've always felt it more desiring the warmth of another human to quell loneliness and distance. He's trying to fill the void with it, but it won't do it, there's no love, it's just desperate attempts to feel human contact.
and the song isn't about when he's 8, it STARTED when he was. <br /> Which is far back in most people's memory, as long as he can remember he's always wanted that human contact.<br /> But that seems too simple for this song, this song is a masterpiece, I can't hope to dissect it at all.