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.
Everybody got the right to speak their mind
So don't shoot me for saying mine
Everybody talking about racial equality
Cause everybody's equal in the good Lord's eyes
But if I told you that God was black
What would you think of that
I bet you wouldn't believe it
There's a self made prophet living right next to me
He said the Black Messiah's gonna come and set the whole world free
He looked at me with his evil eye and prophesied
And he really believed it
He said a Black Messiah is gonna set the world on fire
And he's no liar, 'cause he has truly heard the word
Everybody talking about racial equality
But I'm the only honky living on an all black street
They knock me down 'cause they brown and I white
Everybody got the right to speak their mind
So don't shoot me for saying mine
Everybody talking about racial equality
You hear everybody talking about equal rights
But white's white, black's black and that's that
And that's the way you should leave it
Don't want no Black Messiah to come and set the world on fire
A Black Messiah is gonna come and rule the world
Everybody got to show a little give and take
Everybody got to live with a little less hate
Everybody gotta work it out, we gotta sort it out
Everybody got the right to speak their mind
So don't shoot me for saying mine
So don't shoot me for saying mine
Everybody talking about racial equality
Cause everybody's equal in the good Lord's eyes
But if I told you that God was black
What would you think of that
I bet you wouldn't believe it
There's a self made prophet living right next to me
He said the Black Messiah's gonna come and set the whole world free
He looked at me with his evil eye and prophesied
And he really believed it
He said a Black Messiah is gonna set the world on fire
And he's no liar, 'cause he has truly heard the word
Everybody talking about racial equality
But I'm the only honky living on an all black street
They knock me down 'cause they brown and I white
Everybody got the right to speak their mind
So don't shoot me for saying mine
Everybody talking about racial equality
You hear everybody talking about equal rights
But white's white, black's black and that's that
And that's the way you should leave it
Don't want no Black Messiah to come and set the world on fire
A Black Messiah is gonna come and rule the world
Everybody got to show a little give and take
Everybody got to live with a little less hate
Everybody gotta work it out, we gotta sort it out
Everybody got the right to speak their mind
So don't shoot me for saying mine
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The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
The "Black Messiah" is probably former Ethiopian ruler Haile Selassie, revered as a deity by Rastafarians and scorned as a Marxist by others, as underscored by the reggae beat. Aside from that, the lyrics seem a little jumbled and confused ... "white's white and black's black and that's that," and then a verse later "everybody's got to live with a little less hate." Come again, Ray? Challenging everyone to think about their "racist tribal tendencies" as mycology101 suggests is timeless. The gratuitous use of ebonics ("they brown and I white"), not so much.