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.
Light one up (uh)
Headbanger
Uh
(Dot Da Genius)
Yup
(Midwest Action) yup
Look at me, Lee (I got it)
Come look at me, Lee, I'm a star (Takeover)
These people love me, man (I got it)
These people love me
Mcfly-high
I come from Cleveland
Y'all can really hear it now
Hit 'em like comic books, kaboom pow-pow
Into a girl's mind, spit fine, no wine dine
I keep two phones, sidekick for bad dimes
And the topic in question is why I'm so chill
Girls don't understand, he ain't even made a mil'
And say I'm complexed just like the magazine
I wear my closet complex like the magazine
I get in their head (uh-huh, I do)
They don't even see my bread (uh-huh, oh no)
Oh so, oh so fly (wow)
Cool as I wanna be, one hell of a guy
I keep 'em short and sweet, thick and petite
Ridin' alongside in my Cutlass Supreme
I'm from a place where Old Schools are common (yup, yup)
Gotta explain every time I'm rhymin' I be (I be)
I be all day rollin' in my whip (uh)
Got my sippin' cup out on the low (uh-huh, ayy)
I keep two pretty women by my side
I'm cooler than a polar bear's toes and I say
Cleveland is that (oh), Cleveland is the (oh)
Cleveland is the reason I'm cool
Cleveland is that (oh), Cleveland is the (oh)
Cleveland is the reason I'm leanin'
Cleveland is that (oh), Cleveland is the (oh)
Cleveland is the reason I'm cool
Cleveland is that (oh), Cleveland is the (oh)
Cleveland is my, my city, my city (wow, oh)
Yup, yuppers, smile all the time while
I chop it up like Michael Watt's slow talk style
So the girlies can really catch all my accent
And the double O got her own accent
Some niggas sell drugs to provide for they fam
Some niggas sell CD's up out they trunk, man
Some niggas they go to school for that higher learnin'
I play the O'Jays while I'm turnin' lanes
We be on our shit (uh-huh)
Freakin' Black & Milds, still controllin' the whip (oh, just chillin')
Ain't no city like Cleveland (no)
Cruisin' wit my bad bitch in the evenin'
You wanna know exactly why I'm this way
Take a trip to the land, swing this way
After the song done, ain't much I can say (yup, yup)
Cleveland is my city, city (I be, oh)
I be all day rollin' in my whip (uh)
Got my sippin' cup out on the low (uh-huh, ayy)
I keep two pretty women by my side
I'm cooler than a polar bear's toes and I say
Cleveland is that (oh), Cleveland is the (oh)
Cleveland is the reason I'm cool
Cleveland is that (oh), Cleveland is the (oh)
Cleveland is the reason I'm leanin'
Cleveland is that (oh), Cleveland is the (oh)
Cleveland is the reason I'm cool
Cleveland is that (oh), Cleveland is the (oh)
Cleveland is my, my city, my city (oh)
Headbanger
Uh
(Dot Da Genius)
Yup
(Midwest Action) yup
Look at me, Lee (I got it)
Come look at me, Lee, I'm a star (Takeover)
These people love me, man (I got it)
These people love me
Mcfly-high
I come from Cleveland
Y'all can really hear it now
Hit 'em like comic books, kaboom pow-pow
Into a girl's mind, spit fine, no wine dine
I keep two phones, sidekick for bad dimes
And the topic in question is why I'm so chill
Girls don't understand, he ain't even made a mil'
And say I'm complexed just like the magazine
I wear my closet complex like the magazine
I get in their head (uh-huh, I do)
They don't even see my bread (uh-huh, oh no)
Oh so, oh so fly (wow)
Cool as I wanna be, one hell of a guy
I keep 'em short and sweet, thick and petite
Ridin' alongside in my Cutlass Supreme
I'm from a place where Old Schools are common (yup, yup)
Gotta explain every time I'm rhymin' I be (I be)
I be all day rollin' in my whip (uh)
Got my sippin' cup out on the low (uh-huh, ayy)
I keep two pretty women by my side
I'm cooler than a polar bear's toes and I say
Cleveland is that (oh), Cleveland is the (oh)
Cleveland is the reason I'm cool
Cleveland is that (oh), Cleveland is the (oh)
Cleveland is the reason I'm leanin'
Cleveland is that (oh), Cleveland is the (oh)
Cleveland is the reason I'm cool
Cleveland is that (oh), Cleveland is the (oh)
Cleveland is my, my city, my city (wow, oh)
Yup, yuppers, smile all the time while
I chop it up like Michael Watt's slow talk style
So the girlies can really catch all my accent
And the double O got her own accent
Some niggas sell drugs to provide for they fam
Some niggas sell CD's up out they trunk, man
Some niggas they go to school for that higher learnin'
I play the O'Jays while I'm turnin' lanes
We be on our shit (uh-huh)
Freakin' Black & Milds, still controllin' the whip (oh, just chillin')
Ain't no city like Cleveland (no)
Cruisin' wit my bad bitch in the evenin'
You wanna know exactly why I'm this way
Take a trip to the land, swing this way
After the song done, ain't much I can say (yup, yup)
Cleveland is my city, city (I be, oh)
I be all day rollin' in my whip (uh)
Got my sippin' cup out on the low (uh-huh, ayy)
I keep two pretty women by my side
I'm cooler than a polar bear's toes and I say
Cleveland is that (oh), Cleveland is the (oh)
Cleveland is the reason I'm cool
Cleveland is that (oh), Cleveland is the (oh)
Cleveland is the reason I'm leanin'
Cleveland is that (oh), Cleveland is the (oh)
Cleveland is the reason I'm cool
Cleveland is that (oh), Cleveland is the (oh)
Cleveland is my, my city, my city (oh)
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I'm not from Cleaveland but this song is dope as fuck.
I'd really like to know what he was thinking when he wrote this line...
"I get in their head, They don't even see my bread. Oh so, oh so fly cool as I wanna be with another guy."
Sounds a little gay. Still an awesome song though.
Im thinking the same thing!
that's cuz those lyrics are wrong... he actually sez:<br /> <br /> "I get in their head, They don't even see my bread.<br /> Oh so, oh so fly cool as I wanna be, one hell of a guy."<br />