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.
He stumbled into faith and thought,
God this is all there is
The pictures in his mind arose
And began to breathe
And all the gods in all the worlds
Began colliding on a backdrop of blue
Blue lips
Blue veins
He took a step but then felt tired
He said, I'll rest a little while
But when he tried to walk again
He wasn't a child
And all the people hurried past
Real fast and no one ever smiled
Blue lips
Blue veins
Blue, the color of the planet from far, far away
He stumbled into faith and thought,
God this is all there is
The pictures in his mind arose
And began to breathe
And no one saw and no one heard
They just followed lead
The pictures in his mind awoke
And began to breed
They started off beneath the knowledge tree
Then they chopped it down to make white picket fences
They marched along the railroad tracks
And smiled real wide for the camera lenses
They made it past the enemy lines
Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines
Blue lips
Blue veins
Blue, the color of the planet from far, far away
Blue lips
Blue veins
Blue, the color of the planet from far, far away
Blue, the most human color
Blue, the most human color
Blue, the most human color
Blue lips
Blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far, far away
God this is all there is
The pictures in his mind arose
And began to breathe
And all the gods in all the worlds
Began colliding on a backdrop of blue
Blue lips
Blue veins
He took a step but then felt tired
He said, I'll rest a little while
But when he tried to walk again
He wasn't a child
And all the people hurried past
Real fast and no one ever smiled
Blue lips
Blue veins
Blue, the color of the planet from far, far away
He stumbled into faith and thought,
God this is all there is
The pictures in his mind arose
And began to breathe
And no one saw and no one heard
They just followed lead
The pictures in his mind awoke
And began to breed
They started off beneath the knowledge tree
Then they chopped it down to make white picket fences
They marched along the railroad tracks
And smiled real wide for the camera lenses
They made it past the enemy lines
Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines
Blue lips
Blue veins
Blue, the color of the planet from far, far away
Blue lips
Blue veins
Blue, the color of the planet from far, far away
Blue, the most human color
Blue, the most human color
Blue, the most human color
Blue lips
Blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far, far away
Lyrics submitted by 16996602, edited by rswalrath, beyx2, scribyuniverse, KumonKitsune
Blue Lips Lyrics as written by REGINA SPEKTOR
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Love in a Vacuum
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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.
The Spy
Doors, The
Doors, The
Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
when rules change
Life in Your Way
Life in Your Way
High life
I get chills listening to this song.
In my opinion, it is about the history of religion and humanity, as the two are forever tied. Also, the hypocrisy of people who claim to be religious but end up become hypocrites.
It first begins with a religious leader (like Abraham) who "stumbles into faith, and thought this is all there is."
Then, humanity begins to follow, even though they didn't actually ever see any proof that he's right: "And no one saw and no one heard, they just followed lead." They are all united by these "breathing pictures" alighted in their mind, some great unifying idea like Monotheism, in which all the gods become One.
After this big spiritual revelation, though, people slowly stray from their ideals and begin to "hurry by real fast, and no one ever smiled." They became exactly what they were fighting against,
"They made it past the enemy lines Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines."
The part about the knowledge tree getting made into picket fences is so beautiful. And also, the protestors who end up becoming just the people they were protesting. Its about hypocrisy, and human nature.