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.
Her name was written on a photograph,
Right next to her red, sunburnt face,
It all had happened in that long tall grass,
About a mile from her old place,
And I can't remember how it started and if it lasted that day in the sun.
We said that we were going to study hard,
We held our books instead of hands,
She held a blanket over cans of beer,
I can't deny I was so full of fear.
It's just another story caught up in another photograph I found.
And it seems like another person lived that life a great many years ago from now,
When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.
When I look back on my ordinary ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.
And there's the first time that I tried that stuff,
I think I look a little green,
I remember throwing up behind a bush,
And I found it hard to use my feet,
And who's that easily led little boy who's really off his head?
It was the same night that I kissed that girl,
The tall one with the auburn hair,
I remember laughing cause to kiss me,
The had to sit down on a chair!
She tasted like the schnapps she'd drunk,
And the cigarette she'd stolen from her mum.
And it's just another story caught up in another photograph I found.
When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.
When I look back on my ordinary ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.
Right next to her red, sunburnt face,
It all had happened in that long tall grass,
About a mile from her old place,
And I can't remember how it started and if it lasted that day in the sun.
We said that we were going to study hard,
We held our books instead of hands,
She held a blanket over cans of beer,
I can't deny I was so full of fear.
It's just another story caught up in another photograph I found.
And it seems like another person lived that life a great many years ago from now,
When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.
When I look back on my ordinary ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.
And there's the first time that I tried that stuff,
I think I look a little green,
I remember throwing up behind a bush,
And I found it hard to use my feet,
And who's that easily led little boy who's really off his head?
It was the same night that I kissed that girl,
The tall one with the auburn hair,
I remember laughing cause to kiss me,
The had to sit down on a chair!
She tasted like the schnapps she'd drunk,
And the cigarette she'd stolen from her mum.
And it's just another story caught up in another photograph I found.
When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.
When I look back on my ordinary ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.
Lyrics submitted by melton_isaac
Photograph Lyrics as written by Jamie Cullum
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I love the line "I remember laughing cause to kiss me, she had to sit down on a chair"
He's teeny tiny, he's only 5'4" and so adorable!