1
Just like an amnesiac
Trying to get my senses back
(Oh, where did they go?)
Laughing with a mouth of blood
From a little spill I took
(Oh, what are you laughing at?)
See I traded my plot of land
For a plane to anywhere
(Oh, where do you go?)
And I can't see the future
But I know its got big plans for me
(Oh what does it see?)
All of my old friends aren't so friendly
All of my old haunts are now all haunting me
Holed up at the motel ritz
With a televangelist (Oh what did he say?)
At the bottom of a swimming pool
With all the water out of it
(How'd you get in there?)
I'm sending consolation prizes to my next of kin, allies
(Oh, they'll be so thrilled)
I can't see the future
But I know it's watching me
(wonder what it sees)
All of my old friends aren't so friendly
All of my old haunts are now all haunting me
Tell my sister that I miss her
Tell my brother that it gets much easier
Tell my sister that I miss her
Tell my brother that it gets much easier
All of my old friends aren't so friendly
And all of my old haunts are now all haunting me
All of my old friends aren't so friendly
And all of my old haunts are now all haunting me
Trying to get my senses back
(Oh, where did they go?)
Laughing with a mouth of blood
From a little spill I took
(Oh, what are you laughing at?)
See I traded my plot of land
For a plane to anywhere
(Oh, where do you go?)
And I can't see the future
But I know its got big plans for me
(Oh what does it see?)
All of my old friends aren't so friendly
All of my old haunts are now all haunting me
Holed up at the motel ritz
With a televangelist (Oh what did he say?)
At the bottom of a swimming pool
With all the water out of it
(How'd you get in there?)
I'm sending consolation prizes to my next of kin, allies
(Oh, they'll be so thrilled)
I can't see the future
But I know it's watching me
(wonder what it sees)
All of my old friends aren't so friendly
All of my old haunts are now all haunting me
Tell my sister that I miss her
Tell my brother that it gets much easier
Tell my sister that I miss her
Tell my brother that it gets much easier
All of my old friends aren't so friendly
And all of my old haunts are now all haunting me
All of my old friends aren't so friendly
And all of my old haunts are now all haunting me
Lyrics submitted by rainandrev
Laughing with a Mouth of Blood Lyrics as written by Anne Erin Clark
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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.
“Well, they’re more like little meta moments; story-within-the-story things. There’s an emotional truth to all of the songs, but I fictionalized the time and place and event. A song like ‘Laughing with a Mouth of Blood’ is the story of a young person going to Los Angeles, living in a motel, sending letters back home that say ‘everything is going well, I’m doing great out here’ but the reality is that they’re just watching televangelists on TV, and finding themselves in more and more desperate situations. I think desperation is a big part of the record. And of the life of any actor. To me, there’s nothing more admirable, but also more bad, this archetype of artistic endeavour, than an actor’s work. That image, to me, is like a metaphor for the whole artistic mindset.” - Annie Clark
part of these lyrics are missing. fuck if i know all of them, but whoever posted these, fix 'em up, please.
i love:
"I can't see the future but I know it's watching me. (I wonder what it sees)."
It's a great and mysterious, thoughtful bit.
I really like this song, it reminds me of Talking Heads, in sound and subject matter, a song like Mind or Don't Worry About The Government.
lyrics tell of a time when she isn't so happy with herself or with others (ex. old friends) but she knows it will be better (since the future itself exists to watch her)
this is my favorite cut from actor. it sounds so lush and pretty.
The first few measures of this song are straight up Dan Fogelberg
i think it's about going through this phase where you trying to come to terms with everything that changed, you are trying hard to remember your older, more sensible self. but you're also embracing the current self and being a little cynical yet humorous about it (laughing with a mouth of blood). it all happened so fast that you can no longer see your future. for now you just want to get by by living in a motel, sitting at the bottom of a pool with no water in it. but you're not depressed. you're just recovering. that's why you are telling your sister that you miss her, and giving a piece of advice to your brother that everything gets easier after a while, the pain recedes. the only bitter part is the realization that your friends aren't really all that friendly when you're kind of down. they probably keep away. so you're left there, wounded but cynically laughing with a mouth of blood, taking it as a part of life.