I once saw a dragonfly,
caught in a spider's web.
As I looked at her once more,
I thought that she was dead.

So I, left her alone and I went on my way
And I was dreaming of Paris & Pierre Boulez
But she called to me with a beat of her wing
She called to me and said free me

She said come and fly away with me tonight
Come and fly away with me
Come and fly away with me tonight
She said, oohh

I've been up there before
Riding the wind and laughing and open
But now I'm afraid of flying
I'm afraid of finding the black again
I'm afraid of flying
I'm afraid of finding the black
The black again

Come and fly away with me tonight
Come and fly away with me
Come and fly away with me tonight
She said, oohh


Lyrics submitted by WoodenPirate

Dragonfly Lyrics as written by

Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY

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Dragonfly song meanings
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    General Comment

    Wow, I'm surprised nobody has commented on this song yet, it's beautiful!

    The first time I heard this song I decided it was about heartbreak... or more specifically the aftermath of it. It is about the point at which you'd like to think you're "doing just fine" but in reality you still haven't gotten completely over being hurt so badly, and therefore refuse to take risks. However, I should point out that I think this song is a positive take on that situation, in that it represents the point where something tempts you out of your post-breakup comfort zone and reawakens your emotions.

    Following this logic, I think that when the speaker first sees the dragonfly she doesn't see/ doesn't want to see that they are reflections of each other... we see the dragonfly seemingly destroyed and thus the speaker starts to leave her behind (perhaps symbolic of the speaker's denial of her state.) Yet she isn't dead, and ironically it is the dragonfly that encourages the speaker to "fly away with me tonight" in spite of her apparently hopeless position.

    To me the next bit of the song suggests most strongly that it is about heartbreak. I think that most people who have found genuine love with another person, only to have it end badly can relate to the sentiment of this verse. "Riding the wind and laughing and open" reminds me of the seemingly limitless joy of being with someone you love and the subsequent lines echo what it feels like to lose that, as well as the fear of having it all happen again that can sometimes develop ("I am afraid of finding the black again".) However this verse also proves the most problematic in that it is somewhat hard to tell whether or not the point of view belongs to the dragonfly or the speaker. I like to think that it is the speaker's point of view in response to the dragonfly's offer. She has flown before because she's been in love.

    Lyrically, it is unclear whether or not she (the speaker) let's go of these fears, but the general mood of the song makes me think that she has. The repeated line at the end also seems to support this, I think. The repeated temptation to just let go, and give it a try again-- because ultimately flying (in this case, love) is worth the risk.

    And that is my very lengthy opinion on this song! : )

    AdiuvaMeon January 22, 2007   Link

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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.