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.
Sitting in my car
We don't drive very far
The miles wouldn’t make a difference
The words I say
Cancel out the way
You'll think about me from now on
Don’t say a word
I know it sounds absurd
But I have reasons for what I’ve done
Though the fault is mine
And that fact haunts my mind
So I will make you take the blame somehow
You'll take it, yes you will
And I'll blame it on the way
You leave me here for days
So frequently you say
Farewell my friend
I’ll blame it on the planes
That takes you miles away
I’ll blame it on the planes
Those god damn planes.
I drive you home
Take the longest road
Stop at every sign I see
And I keep my speed real slow
Before you leave
I take one last look
At something I can never have
Again, again
The worst part of all of this is
I’m the one who violated
All the codes we kept
The whole charade was bitter sweet
Cause as I was beneath the sheets
I was hoping you would call me
Just so I could hear your voice
And I'll blame in on the way
You leave me here for days
So frequently you say
Farewell my friend
I’ll blame it on the planes
That take you miles away
I’ll blame it on the planes
Those god damn planes
Are you willing to give up those nights I spent over your house?
Straight from work I weaved through traffic just to sleep upon your couch
Now I feel like I have lost precious four years of my life
If you can end without a question over something that’s so shrine
This is the worst mistake I made and I make thousands everyday
If you give this one more shot I’ll make it up in everyway
Call you twice a day and drive you to the airport
Just so I can watch you leave… even if you’re leaving me.
We don't drive very far
The miles wouldn’t make a difference
The words I say
Cancel out the way
You'll think about me from now on
Don’t say a word
I know it sounds absurd
But I have reasons for what I’ve done
Though the fault is mine
And that fact haunts my mind
So I will make you take the blame somehow
You'll take it, yes you will
And I'll blame it on the way
You leave me here for days
So frequently you say
Farewell my friend
I’ll blame it on the planes
That takes you miles away
I’ll blame it on the planes
Those god damn planes.
I drive you home
Take the longest road
Stop at every sign I see
And I keep my speed real slow
Before you leave
I take one last look
At something I can never have
Again, again
The worst part of all of this is
I’m the one who violated
All the codes we kept
The whole charade was bitter sweet
Cause as I was beneath the sheets
I was hoping you would call me
Just so I could hear your voice
And I'll blame in on the way
You leave me here for days
So frequently you say
Farewell my friend
I’ll blame it on the planes
That take you miles away
I’ll blame it on the planes
Those god damn planes
Are you willing to give up those nights I spent over your house?
Straight from work I weaved through traffic just to sleep upon your couch
Now I feel like I have lost precious four years of my life
If you can end without a question over something that’s so shrine
This is the worst mistake I made and I make thousands everyday
If you give this one more shot I’ll make it up in everyway
Call you twice a day and drive you to the airport
Just so I can watch you leave… even if you’re leaving me.
Lyrics submitted by popbaby1
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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.
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Bertoldi Brothers
Bertoldi Brothers
Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
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This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
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Thursday
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
You know, I actually did the same thing. I was with (no sex) another guy for a few days while my boyfriend was away. He had lived away at college for two semesters and for the summer he was living away, too. And I couldn't take it. I, obviously commenting on this in 2006 and three years before my lapse in judgment, never really got deep into this song until this past summer when my world came crashing down. I really want to know what happened to Dave and this girlfriend. If it worked out. Because almost a year later, I still feel every ounce of remorse and every line in this song fits perfectly.