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.
Woke up to that familiar feeling
Staring at an unfamiliar ceiling
Still got your jeans on but you're topless
Headache and the stomach feels nauseous
Grab your shirt off the bedroom floor
And trying to recollect the night before
How'd you get from the bar to this mattress?
And when you got here then what happened?
And where's the who that lives here?
In this house you wanna figure out how'd you get here
But the thought got cut by nature
Find the bathroom the gut got anger
Here it comes can't avoid it
Ain't the first time throwin' up in a strange toilet
Anyone else would leave but you?
You crawl back to the bed and fell back asleep
All we need is because
So come and party with us
Take care of you when you're passed out
Right there with you in your glasshouse
All we need is because
So come and party with us
Take care of you when you're passed out
Right there with you in your glasshouse
Woke up all alone with no friends
But you had to throw up again
Choke up the tears and the spit
Grab some tissue to wipe off your lips
And everything still spins
And then the chills begin
And the God please kill me right now hits
And you still don't know whos house this is
In between leftover dry heaves
You try to check out your timepiece
And you should call your job
But first gotta turn this hangover off
You dream that it's just a dream
Until the phone in your pocket starts to scream
Shut it down don't wanna hear a sound
Heavy is the head that wears that crown now
All we need is because
So come and party with us
Take care of you when you're passed out
Right there with you in your glasshouse
All we need is because
So come and party with us
Take care of you when you're passed out
Right there with you in your glasshouse
Hangover ain't a strong enough word
It don't describe what just occured
Lookin' at a phone full of missed calls
Probably all the people that you pissed off
Everything seems so sour
So you force yourself into the shower
Standin' up brings out the stars
And the whole bathroom smells just like a dive bar
Can't do it better sit
And let the tub be the catcher's mitt
Lay down face down
Thank God whoever lives here ain't around
Now what you need is silence
And you don't want no one to see you like this
Maybe you don't recognize it
But this is your home this is where your life lives
All we need is because
So come and party with us
Take care of you when you're passed out
Right here with you in your glasshouse
All we need is because
So come and party with us
Take care of you when you're passed out
Right there with you in your glasshouse
Staring at an unfamiliar ceiling
Still got your jeans on but you're topless
Headache and the stomach feels nauseous
Grab your shirt off the bedroom floor
And trying to recollect the night before
How'd you get from the bar to this mattress?
And when you got here then what happened?
And where's the who that lives here?
In this house you wanna figure out how'd you get here
But the thought got cut by nature
Find the bathroom the gut got anger
Here it comes can't avoid it
Ain't the first time throwin' up in a strange toilet
Anyone else would leave but you?
You crawl back to the bed and fell back asleep
All we need is because
So come and party with us
Take care of you when you're passed out
Right there with you in your glasshouse
All we need is because
So come and party with us
Take care of you when you're passed out
Right there with you in your glasshouse
Woke up all alone with no friends
But you had to throw up again
Choke up the tears and the spit
Grab some tissue to wipe off your lips
And everything still spins
And then the chills begin
And the God please kill me right now hits
And you still don't know whos house this is
In between leftover dry heaves
You try to check out your timepiece
And you should call your job
But first gotta turn this hangover off
You dream that it's just a dream
Until the phone in your pocket starts to scream
Shut it down don't wanna hear a sound
Heavy is the head that wears that crown now
All we need is because
So come and party with us
Take care of you when you're passed out
Right there with you in your glasshouse
All we need is because
So come and party with us
Take care of you when you're passed out
Right there with you in your glasshouse
Hangover ain't a strong enough word
It don't describe what just occured
Lookin' at a phone full of missed calls
Probably all the people that you pissed off
Everything seems so sour
So you force yourself into the shower
Standin' up brings out the stars
And the whole bathroom smells just like a dive bar
Can't do it better sit
And let the tub be the catcher's mitt
Lay down face down
Thank God whoever lives here ain't around
Now what you need is silence
And you don't want no one to see you like this
Maybe you don't recognize it
But this is your home this is where your life lives
All we need is because
So come and party with us
Take care of you when you're passed out
Right here with you in your glasshouse
All we need is because
So come and party with us
Take care of you when you're passed out
Right there with you in your glasshouse
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He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
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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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Mental Istid
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
its about the american public waking up "hungover" from the bush administration
if this song is an allegory, it definitely didn't start that way. there are way too many details that have no meaning when put in the context of the bush administration. slug probably wrote the song about being hungover, then applied the allegorical context.
agreed. i dont want to get into hipster mode and discuss what someone was thinking about at any particular moment in time but his writing styles do leave everything up to interpretation. he is just quoted as saying what i originally posted. i shouldve put that in the original comment i guess.
yeaaaa i'm not really seeing the bush connection. i would love to say its about bush, but no. its definitely about a hangover.
whoops nvm. just saw the vid below. good call specialed31.