1
He was born in a small town
And he was given every reason to stay
Hallelujah, Mississippi, postcard living no sign of decay
Till Vietnam moved next door, then Hallelujah was off to war
In the dream he couldn't finish the deed
He didn't smoke any weed so why leave?
Going where I can't be found
And I won't be coming 'round
His father Tom said you better sign on
You'd better take up your gun and fight
I got nothing against them Viet Cong
What did they do wrong and why am I right?
He's on his way to Thunder Bay
Crossed the border late at night
And it was high stakes until he saw the Great Lakes
And he felt the cold wind bite
Going where I can't be found
And I won't be coming 'round
No, I'm an American on the Canadian Shield
And I'm putting down roots in your frozen fields
It gets cold but you feel so good to be a stranger in a town and you're understood
Missing his home, he would wake up in a cold sweat
And pick up the phone and hope that Tom found a way to forget
He's been teaching at the high school, learning the game
In Thunder Bay we're all the same
He's one of us, he has our trust
But there's no going back once the line is crossed
I'm an American on the Canadian Shield
And I'm putting down roots in your frozen fields
It gets cold but you feel so good to be a stranger in a town and you're understood
You can't ask what you're asking me to do
And I hope you understand when I refuse
I'm going North with my point of view
And I'm never gonna think the same as you
And I'm where I can't be found
And I won't be coming 'round
No, I'm an American on the Canadian Shield
And I'm putting down roots in your frozen fields
It gets cold but you feel so good to be a stranger in a town and you're understood
And he was given every reason to stay
Hallelujah, Mississippi, postcard living no sign of decay
Till Vietnam moved next door, then Hallelujah was off to war
In the dream he couldn't finish the deed
He didn't smoke any weed so why leave?
Going where I can't be found
And I won't be coming 'round
His father Tom said you better sign on
You'd better take up your gun and fight
I got nothing against them Viet Cong
What did they do wrong and why am I right?
He's on his way to Thunder Bay
Crossed the border late at night
And it was high stakes until he saw the Great Lakes
And he felt the cold wind bite
Going where I can't be found
And I won't be coming 'round
No, I'm an American on the Canadian Shield
And I'm putting down roots in your frozen fields
It gets cold but you feel so good to be a stranger in a town and you're understood
Missing his home, he would wake up in a cold sweat
And pick up the phone and hope that Tom found a way to forget
He's been teaching at the high school, learning the game
In Thunder Bay we're all the same
He's one of us, he has our trust
But there's no going back once the line is crossed
I'm an American on the Canadian Shield
And I'm putting down roots in your frozen fields
It gets cold but you feel so good to be a stranger in a town and you're understood
You can't ask what you're asking me to do
And I hope you understand when I refuse
I'm going North with my point of view
And I'm never gonna think the same as you
And I'm where I can't be found
And I won't be coming 'round
No, I'm an American on the Canadian Shield
And I'm putting down roots in your frozen fields
It gets cold but you feel so good to be a stranger in a town and you're understood
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i hear the seduction of new liberalistic pleasure in your cd
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Love in a Vacuum
'Til Tuesday
'Til Tuesday
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.
my uncle was a draft dodger. hell if mccain wins i could likely end up being one too. only an hour away from the border