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.
Open up the book you beat me with again
Read it off one sentence at a time
I'm tired of all the lines
Convictions and your lies
What right do you have to point at me?
Well, I'm sitting alone thinking about it all over coffee
And still crowdin' my space are the things you still hold against me
You cannot save me
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to break up this love
Keep it together now
It's not the time to break
Read it all, no need for separating here
You see what you want and try to justify
All your little lines
Convictions and your lies
What right do you have to point at me?
Well, I'm sitting alone thinking about it all over coffee
And still crowdin' my space are the things you still hold against me
You cannot save me
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to break up this love
Keep it together now
It's not the time to break
Open up the book you beat me with again
Read it off one sentence at a time
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to break up this love
Keep it together now
Well, it's not the time to break
Breakdown
Read it off one sentence at a time
I'm tired of all the lines
Convictions and your lies
What right do you have to point at me?
Well, I'm sitting alone thinking about it all over coffee
And still crowdin' my space are the things you still hold against me
You cannot save me
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to break up this love
Keep it together now
It's not the time to break
Read it all, no need for separating here
You see what you want and try to justify
All your little lines
Convictions and your lies
What right do you have to point at me?
Well, I'm sitting alone thinking about it all over coffee
And still crowdin' my space are the things you still hold against me
You cannot save me
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to break up this love
Keep it together now
It's not the time to break
Open up the book you beat me with again
Read it off one sentence at a time
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to breakdown
Well, it's not the time to break up this love
Keep it together now
Well, it's not the time to break
Breakdown
Lyrics submitted by xthatxkiddx
Breakdown Lyrics as written by Christopher A. Daughtry
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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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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.
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i think that it is about a guy who is being told how he should be or act by someone else in his life, who doesn't live the way they are telling him to. They are throwing the book at him without reading it for themselves.