So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
When I was a young buck
I tried to be liked by
Everyone
Everyone
I tried so hard to be funny and nice
I tried so hard to be sugar and spice
Didn't work for me
Got old quickly
But now I'm not losing sleep at night
No one's calling me on the telephone
To see if I'm at home
'Cause now I've got everything that I have ever wanted, or so it seems
Yeah, so it seems, yeah
[Chorus]
You don't
Have to
Like me
Anymore
I've got money now
I don't care
What you say
About me
Anymore
I've got money now
When I got a little older
I realized
It's all lies
There is no prize
There is no prize
There is no heartache if you can afford
Everything delivered right to your door
Responsibilities
This life is easy
So, now, girl with everything
How could she complain?
Cause she's got it made
Yeah, she's got it made
I don't need to be tucked in at night
Told that everything is gonna be alright
Is gonna be alright
'Cause I don't have to fight
[Chorus]
I wouldn't trade a dollar for some sense
I wouldn't trade a lifetime for some friends
I've got everything
And all is what it seems
I worked so hard all of my life
Just to have things I could call mine
I don't need no love
Cause I have got enough
So, now I don't mind being alone all the time
It's alright
I've got money now
That's what it's all about
And I'm so busy buying things and traveling the world
I don't have time for friends
Or family
And that's fine with me
So it seems
[Chorus: x2]
I tried to be liked by
Everyone
Everyone
I tried so hard to be funny and nice
I tried so hard to be sugar and spice
Didn't work for me
Got old quickly
But now I'm not losing sleep at night
No one's calling me on the telephone
To see if I'm at home
'Cause now I've got everything that I have ever wanted, or so it seems
Yeah, so it seems, yeah
[Chorus]
You don't
Have to
Like me
Anymore
I've got money now
I don't care
What you say
About me
Anymore
I've got money now
When I got a little older
I realized
It's all lies
There is no prize
There is no prize
There is no heartache if you can afford
Everything delivered right to your door
Responsibilities
This life is easy
So, now, girl with everything
How could she complain?
Cause she's got it made
Yeah, she's got it made
I don't need to be tucked in at night
Told that everything is gonna be alright
Is gonna be alright
'Cause I don't have to fight
[Chorus]
I wouldn't trade a dollar for some sense
I wouldn't trade a lifetime for some friends
I've got everything
And all is what it seems
I worked so hard all of my life
Just to have things I could call mine
I don't need no love
Cause I have got enough
So, now I don't mind being alone all the time
It's alright
I've got money now
That's what it's all about
And I'm so busy buying things and traveling the world
I don't have time for friends
Or family
And that's fine with me
So it seems
[Chorus: x2]
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Love in a Vacuum
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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.
Jesse with the long hair....
Robert Earl Keen, Jr.
Robert Earl Keen, Jr.
Classic love story true to his western tx roots. One of my favorites as a story, but I think there are alot of songs that are amazing not even listed on this site. I guess I should figure out how to add them, because I have about 8 REK cd's.
Corpse I Fell In Love With
Gadjits, The
Gadjits, The
He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
Show Me a Little Shame
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
He certainly did earn that reputation.
i think she is saying in this song is that all her life she tried to be cool, popular and all that stuff and it didnt work out and she beacame a famouse singer and got millions and is saying it replaces everything all the hurt she went through of being "uncool" not "popular" says its all worth it, but than she says now is it, saying she may have everything she ever wanted, but she stilll nows no one wanted her.... i know cause i can relate with a dad who makes some were over $250,000 a year (i am 13 now) but its only been like this for 2 years the other years he made about $50,000 and now everyone wants to be my friend!