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 wanna, I wanna drown you in a pool of blood
And I wanna, I wanna fix you like a hawk
But I never had guts, no thanks I'm a velvet touch
Soft money, soft looks, soft until you stop
Untangle your wings and fly to the sheltered sky
No money, no poise, no bullet to chain
Cold water rush inside me like a seepin' die
Clear colder in place of what you became
Oh I'll just fight now, relock and release,
I thought you'd always be my brother in conflict
Drums beat, it's just the son and the beast
I thought you'd always be my brother in conflict, now
Shake body, shake fingers, shake fists, shake a lot of things
Shakin' myself all over the floor
Such really great moves I had, oh I thought I'd sing
My voice all wrecked and ragged before
I turned my back on beauty, it's a manmade crime
Most are, most were, will do it again
Blood money, blood money, blood money, it's a manmade lie
Conquest, conflex, call me to the end
Of all this
Fight now, relock and release,
I thought you'd always be my brother in conflict
Drums beat, it's just the son and the beast
I thought you'd always be my brother in conflict, now
I don't see, I don't see, I don't see anything
Take the car, take the cash, take the heat out of me
Every day, every day losin' my sympathy
I don't see, I don't see, I don't see
Oh, this
Fight now, relock and release,
I thought you'd always be my brother in conflict
Drums beat, it's just the son and the beast
I thought you'd always be my brother in conflict
Right now, it's just the thing that we need
I thought you'd always be my brother in conflict
Drums beat, it's just the son and the beast
I thought you'd always be my brother in conflict, now
I don't see, I don't see, I don't see anything
Take the car, take the cash, take the heat out of me
Every day, every day losin' my sympathy
I don't see, I don't see, I don't see
Why we
We took an axe
and thrust it in the sunshine
And through the glow, I lost you for the first time
And when it cleared, I hit you with a fast line
Why are you suffocating both of us now?
We picked a lot of trust over the wrong things
The freedom of our speech, and I'm just talking
When will I learn how to chew these words
I have teeth, I have teeth, I have teeth
I, have to lose my idols to find my voice
lose my idols to find my voice
I have to lose my idols
to find my voice
I have to lose my idols to find my voice
lose my idols to find my voice
I have to lose my idols
to find my voice
And I wanna, I wanna fix you like a hawk
But I never had guts, no thanks I'm a velvet touch
Soft money, soft looks, soft until you stop
Untangle your wings and fly to the sheltered sky
No money, no poise, no bullet to chain
Cold water rush inside me like a seepin' die
Clear colder in place of what you became
Oh I'll just fight now, relock and release,
I thought you'd always be my brother in conflict
Drums beat, it's just the son and the beast
I thought you'd always be my brother in conflict, now
Shake body, shake fingers, shake fists, shake a lot of things
Shakin' myself all over the floor
Such really great moves I had, oh I thought I'd sing
My voice all wrecked and ragged before
I turned my back on beauty, it's a manmade crime
Most are, most were, will do it again
Blood money, blood money, blood money, it's a manmade lie
Conquest, conflex, call me to the end
Of all this
Fight now, relock and release,
I thought you'd always be my brother in conflict
Drums beat, it's just the son and the beast
I thought you'd always be my brother in conflict, now
I don't see, I don't see, I don't see anything
Take the car, take the cash, take the heat out of me
Every day, every day losin' my sympathy
I don't see, I don't see, I don't see
Oh, this
Fight now, relock and release,
I thought you'd always be my brother in conflict
Drums beat, it's just the son and the beast
I thought you'd always be my brother in conflict
Right now, it's just the thing that we need
I thought you'd always be my brother in conflict
Drums beat, it's just the son and the beast
I thought you'd always be my brother in conflict, now
I don't see, I don't see, I don't see anything
Take the car, take the cash, take the heat out of me
Every day, every day losin' my sympathy
I don't see, I don't see, I don't see
Why we
We took an axe
and thrust it in the sunshine
And through the glow, I lost you for the first time
And when it cleared, I hit you with a fast line
Why are you suffocating both of us now?
We picked a lot of trust over the wrong things
The freedom of our speech, and I'm just talking
When will I learn how to chew these words
I have teeth, I have teeth, I have teeth
I, have to lose my idols to find my voice
lose my idols to find my voice
I have to lose my idols
to find my voice
I have to lose my idols to find my voice
lose my idols to find my voice
I have to lose my idols
to find my voice
Lyrics submitted by Brighterrr, edited by solvent_d
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Okay.. I am aware that some parts of this lyric makes no sense whatsoever. That's where other people are supposed to deposit the CORRECT lyrics, that I couldn't decipher.