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.
Summer... it's gone and I don't know
Where everyone went or where I'll go
Summer... it's gone and I don't know
Which way is the best way to go
In dreams I hear voices that say:
"Look this way!"
But I can't see nothing
So I turn away to head down roads
Dead ends and holes
And crowds of fools
With common colds
And they live in cars
And their cars don't run
They fight with phones
And despise the sun
The sun of summer it's gone and I don't know
Where everyone went or where I'll go
(Where I'll go)
Summer... it's gone and now it's clear
That no one is showing up here
In dreams I hear voices that say:
"Look this way!"
But it's all too lovely
And so I turn away
To head down roads
Dead ends and holes
And crowds of fools
With common colds
They live in cars
And their cars don't run
They fight with phones
And they despise the sun
The sun of summer... it's gone
The sun of summer... it's gone
The sun of summer... it's gone
The sun of summer... it's gone
... It's gone
... It's gone
Where everyone went or where I'll go
Summer... it's gone and I don't know
Which way is the best way to go
In dreams I hear voices that say:
"Look this way!"
But I can't see nothing
So I turn away to head down roads
Dead ends and holes
And crowds of fools
With common colds
And they live in cars
And their cars don't run
They fight with phones
And despise the sun
The sun of summer it's gone and I don't know
Where everyone went or where I'll go
(Where I'll go)
Summer... it's gone and now it's clear
That no one is showing up here
In dreams I hear voices that say:
"Look this way!"
But it's all too lovely
And so I turn away
To head down roads
Dead ends and holes
And crowds of fools
With common colds
They live in cars
And their cars don't run
They fight with phones
And they despise the sun
The sun of summer... it's gone
The sun of summer... it's gone
The sun of summer... it's gone
The sun of summer... it's gone
... It's gone
... It's gone
Lyrics submitted by skttrbrain
Summer... It's Gone Lyrics as written by Jason Lytle
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think this song is about growing up. Summer is representative of childhood, and the singer is struggling with maturity.
Not necessarily about growing up, I think. I see it as a goodbye song for the end of an era. In Jason's case, it might be about the "seasons in the sun" spent in Modesto, just living it up and hanging with everybody. But now everyone's gone, and there are no specific plans to do anything else.
As for me, I love this song because I see it as the end of my own "extended childhood"; those years after finishing college, spent hanging with friends, drinking, smoking, screwing.. one of my seasons in the sun. But suddenly everyone's gone, off to work or marriage or whatever, and the feeling of "now what" starts to creep in. And all I can see is crowds of fools who fight with phones, obsessed with business and making money, who hate the sun and the idea of just living without a care.
Jason has a way of putting into words the malady of our times. Of my times, at least.
(ugh, I meant to say "I see this song as representative of my feelings at the end of my own "extended childhood")
Frijolito, you've made a perfet explanation of this song. But i prefer to listen to this song without bothering myself trying to analyse it. I take this song for what it is: the end of summer, the end of good time. Nevertheless, i'm writing this at the beginning of summer, and i'm expecting lots of joys and fun. When summer will reach to its end, i'll be listening to this song, for sure.
The song makes me think it's about the end of childhood, or young adulthood, as others have mentioned. It especially makes me think of leaving behind friends or people who you have outgrown.
You have to move on and leave behind the "crows of fools" who live in their broken down cars, who "fight with phones," or get into arguments and fights through text messages, and "despise the sun" or sleep all day because they are pot heads or slackers and don't have jobs.
Obviously I'm bringing to this my own history, but I like to think it's about realizing that the lazy summer is over, and you have to move on.