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.
This world of pain and death, hate and tyranny
A war that's left a trail of dead
So many years of darkness pending
So many lives lost in the killing
My tears haven’t found their dead
Paint a picture with countless shades of red
This world that lies before us is dead
A shadow covers the sky, and black reigns through day and night
Beware the coming plague upon mankind
But even in time when all hope is lost, we find a ray of hope
The shinning light is a passage to the shadowlands
Guide me master, through the land of darkness
Past the fiends and demonkind
I travel swift among the mist and fog
This journey of mine must be concealed
I will not fail you father
I will not fail you master
The path before unveils past
The darkness leaving me behind
The key to hope is within my grasp
There is hope tonight
Where the shadows lie
I will not fail you now
This task is mine to complete
I shall not fail you brothers
I will come through the dark
Spreading through the world
I can feel the darkness breeding
Time is of the essence and the clock is slowly ticking
The hour of extinction is at hand
Come not without aid by your side
The dark forces have grown stronger from within
Come through the darkness
Bring with you light
There is hope tonight
Where the shadows lie
We shall not bow down before them
Perish we shall, but not enslaved
I will not fail you now
I will come through the dark
There is hope tonight
Where the shadows lie
My tears haven’t found their dead
It is not fate intervening
We have carved our destiny
The path has been made
We built this kingdom alone
A war that's left a trail of dead
So many years of darkness pending
So many lives lost in the killing
My tears haven’t found their dead
Paint a picture with countless shades of red
This world that lies before us is dead
A shadow covers the sky, and black reigns through day and night
Beware the coming plague upon mankind
But even in time when all hope is lost, we find a ray of hope
The shinning light is a passage to the shadowlands
Guide me master, through the land of darkness
Past the fiends and demonkind
I travel swift among the mist and fog
This journey of mine must be concealed
I will not fail you father
I will not fail you master
The path before unveils past
The darkness leaving me behind
The key to hope is within my grasp
There is hope tonight
Where the shadows lie
I will not fail you now
This task is mine to complete
I shall not fail you brothers
I will come through the dark
Spreading through the world
I can feel the darkness breeding
Time is of the essence and the clock is slowly ticking
The hour of extinction is at hand
Come not without aid by your side
The dark forces have grown stronger from within
Come through the darkness
Bring with you light
There is hope tonight
Where the shadows lie
We shall not bow down before them
Perish we shall, but not enslaved
I will not fail you now
I will come through the dark
There is hope tonight
Where the shadows lie
My tears haven’t found their dead
It is not fate intervening
We have carved our destiny
The path has been made
We built this kingdom alone
Lyrics submitted by Thrash Metal Rulez
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He certainly did earn that reputation.
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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?
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The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io