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 can't help myself
I'm addicted to a life of material
It's some kind of joke
I'm obsessively opposed to the typical
All we care about is
Runway models, Cadillacs and liquor bottles
Give me something, I wanna be
Retro glamour, Hollywood, yes, we live for the
Fame (fame)
Doin' it for the fame (fame)
'Cause we wanna live the life of the rich and famous
Fame (fame)
Doin' it for the fame (fame)
'Cause we got a taste for champagne and endless fortune
Fame, fame, baby, the fame, fame
We live for the fame, fame, baby, the fame, fame
Isn't it a shame, shame, baby? A shame, shame
In it for the fame, fame, baby, the fame, fame
I can see myself
In the movies with my picture in city lights
Photograph my mind
And whatever else you'd like to shoot, you decide
All we care about is
Pornographic girls on film and body plastic
Give me something I wanna see
Television, and hot blondes in odd positions
Fame (fame)
Doin' it for the fame (fame)
'Cause we wanna live the life of the rich and famous
Fame (fame)
Doin' it for the fame (fame)
'Cause we got a taste for champagne and endless fortune
Fame, fame, baby, the fame, fame
We live for the fame, fame, baby, the fame, fame
Isn't it a shame, shame, baby? A shame, shame
In it for the fame, fame, baby, the fame, fame
Don't ask me how or why (or why)
But I'm gonna make it happen this time
My teenage dream tonight (tonight)
Yeah, I'm gonna make it happen this time (this time)
Fame
(Fame, doin' it for the fame)
('Cause we wanna live the life of the) rich and famous
Fame (fame)
Doin' it for the fame (fame)
'Cause we wanna live the life of the rich and famous
Fame (fame)
Doin' it for the fame (fame)
'Cause we got a taste for champagne and endless fortune
Fame (fame)
Doin' it for the fame (fame)
'Cause we wanna live the life of the rich and famous
Fame (fame)
Doin' it for the fame (fame)
'Cause we got a taste for champagne and endless fortune (fame)
I'm addicted to a life of material
It's some kind of joke
I'm obsessively opposed to the typical
All we care about is
Runway models, Cadillacs and liquor bottles
Give me something, I wanna be
Retro glamour, Hollywood, yes, we live for the
Fame (fame)
Doin' it for the fame (fame)
'Cause we wanna live the life of the rich and famous
Fame (fame)
Doin' it for the fame (fame)
'Cause we got a taste for champagne and endless fortune
Fame, fame, baby, the fame, fame
We live for the fame, fame, baby, the fame, fame
Isn't it a shame, shame, baby? A shame, shame
In it for the fame, fame, baby, the fame, fame
I can see myself
In the movies with my picture in city lights
Photograph my mind
And whatever else you'd like to shoot, you decide
All we care about is
Pornographic girls on film and body plastic
Give me something I wanna see
Television, and hot blondes in odd positions
Fame (fame)
Doin' it for the fame (fame)
'Cause we wanna live the life of the rich and famous
Fame (fame)
Doin' it for the fame (fame)
'Cause we got a taste for champagne and endless fortune
Fame, fame, baby, the fame, fame
We live for the fame, fame, baby, the fame, fame
Isn't it a shame, shame, baby? A shame, shame
In it for the fame, fame, baby, the fame, fame
Don't ask me how or why (or why)
But I'm gonna make it happen this time
My teenage dream tonight (tonight)
Yeah, I'm gonna make it happen this time (this time)
Fame
(Fame, doin' it for the fame)
('Cause we wanna live the life of the) rich and famous
Fame (fame)
Doin' it for the fame (fame)
'Cause we wanna live the life of the rich and famous
Fame (fame)
Doin' it for the fame (fame)
'Cause we got a taste for champagne and endless fortune
Fame (fame)
Doin' it for the fame (fame)
'Cause we wanna live the life of the rich and famous
Fame (fame)
Doin' it for the fame (fame)
'Cause we got a taste for champagne and endless fortune (fame)
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
QUOTES FROM GAGA ON WHAT FAME MEANS TO HER: "I think there's different kinds of fame," she says. "I think there's 'fame', which is plastic and you can buy it on the street, and paparazzi and money and being rich, and then there's 'the fame', which is when no one knows who you are but everybody wants to know who you are. That's what this whole record's about, this record beckons for everybody on the planet to stop being either jealous or obsessive about what they don't have and start acting like they do."
And how does one act like you do? "It's carrying yourself down the street like, 'I'm beautiful and dirty rich but I've got no money,'" she says. "Fame is not pretending to be rich, it's carrying yourself in a way that exudes confidence and passion for music or art or fishing or whatever the hell it is that you're passionate about, and projecting yourself in a way that people say, 'Who the fuck is that?' It has nothing to do with money. I can wear a $2 pair of pants and a T-shirt and a pair of sunglasses for two bucks on the street, but I can make it look like I'm Paris Hilton. You gotta have the fame, you gotta exude that thing. You gotta make people care, you gotta know and believe how important you are. You gotta have conviction in your ideas."
So obviousely, this song is about the obsurdity of the value of fame (money, stature, sex, power ... not for what you've done). She's always been famous to herself. It's the way you view yourself, like you're full of money, sex, stature, power... even if you don't have it.