Oh what a noble distinguished collection of fine little friends you have made
Hitting the tables without you again no we'll wait no we promise we'll wait
June makes these excellent sewing machines out of common industrial waste
She spends a few months at a time on the couch
But she's safe she wears shades she wears shades
Oh but no one can stare at the wall as good as you my baby doll
And you're aces for playing along
You're only human after all
And you're learning that just 'cause they call themselves friends
Doesn't mean they'll call
They made the comment in jest
But you've got the needle I guess that's the point of it all
Maybe a week in the tropics would help to remind you how nice life can be
We propped you right up in a chair on the deck with a beautiful view of the sea
But a couple days later we came back and you and the chair were nowhere to be seen
You had magically moved to the closet eyes fixed on the spot where the dryer had been
Oh yes no one can stare at the wall as good as you my baby doll
And you're racist for playing along
You're almost human after all
Why on earth would I keep you locked up in here where you so love the fall
Well the patterns laid out on the bed
With hundreds of colors of thread
But you've got the needle I guess that's the point in the end
It's better to waste your life watching the scenery change at a comatose rate
And to put yourself in and turn into one of those cigarette ads that you hate
And while you were sleeping some men came around and said they had some dementions to take
I'm not sure what they were talking about but they sure a mess of your face
But still no one can stare at the wall as good as you my baby doll
And you're racist for coming along you're almost human even now
And just cause they call themself experts doesn't mean that they'll call
Oh they've got the permanent price and the homes with a stable address
And they've got excitement and life by the fistful but you've got the meaning
I guess that's the point of it all
Hitting the tables without you again no we'll wait no we promise we'll wait
June makes these excellent sewing machines out of common industrial waste
She spends a few months at a time on the couch
But she's safe she wears shades she wears shades
Oh but no one can stare at the wall as good as you my baby doll
And you're aces for playing along
You're only human after all
And you're learning that just 'cause they call themselves friends
Doesn't mean they'll call
They made the comment in jest
But you've got the needle I guess that's the point of it all
Maybe a week in the tropics would help to remind you how nice life can be
We propped you right up in a chair on the deck with a beautiful view of the sea
But a couple days later we came back and you and the chair were nowhere to be seen
You had magically moved to the closet eyes fixed on the spot where the dryer had been
Oh yes no one can stare at the wall as good as you my baby doll
And you're racist for playing along
You're almost human after all
Why on earth would I keep you locked up in here where you so love the fall
Well the patterns laid out on the bed
With hundreds of colors of thread
But you've got the needle I guess that's the point in the end
It's better to waste your life watching the scenery change at a comatose rate
And to put yourself in and turn into one of those cigarette ads that you hate
And while you were sleeping some men came around and said they had some dementions to take
I'm not sure what they were talking about but they sure a mess of your face
But still no one can stare at the wall as good as you my baby doll
And you're racist for coming along you're almost human even now
And just cause they call themself experts doesn't mean that they'll call
Oh they've got the permanent price and the homes with a stable address
And they've got excitement and life by the fistful but you've got the meaning
I guess that's the point of it all
Lyrics submitted by zweiundzwei, edited by kberke, Cobalt0, BlessedBlogger, Majoofi, Monsterflower, ferol, arx255, zmd123, Anomalotus, z721, TiredTigress, discobiscu, hannielebed
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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.
i always thought the bit that goes "but while you were sleeping some men came around said they had some dimensions to take i’m not sure what they were talking about but they sure made a mess of your face" was about how drug dealers came to the house because the friend who's addicted to drugs owed them money, and they lied to the protagonist to get into the house to essentially beat the shit out of the addict. or something.