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.
You said you cried a thousand times
But I don't believe a word of it
You loved it when my heart stopped
So you start to listen
Just sit and listen
Don't test my words
Just believe
Like I did believe
Just believe
I did believe
Who am I to say I miss you?
Fall Amy, fly
You can't lie your way out of this one
You can't lie your way out of this one
Put faith aside
We have no way of knowing how short our tie is
Before the Devil knows your dead
There will be blood
There will be blood
Now you know just how I feel
Fall Amy, fly
You can't lie your way out of this one
You can't lie your way out of this one
Oh, baby, just maybe you're not the one
Oh, baby, just maybe you're not the one
The fall, will destroy at the end of it all
And after it all
The hopes of the sinners will lose hope and break for me
Oh, baby, just maybe you're not the one
You never were
It was all sympathy and simple words of
Nothingness, nothingness
This is where you die
But I don't believe a word of it
You loved it when my heart stopped
So you start to listen
Just sit and listen
Don't test my words
Just believe
Like I did believe
Just believe
I did believe
Who am I to say I miss you?
Fall Amy, fly
You can't lie your way out of this one
You can't lie your way out of this one
Put faith aside
We have no way of knowing how short our tie is
Before the Devil knows your dead
There will be blood
There will be blood
Now you know just how I feel
Fall Amy, fly
You can't lie your way out of this one
You can't lie your way out of this one
Oh, baby, just maybe you're not the one
Oh, baby, just maybe you're not the one
The fall, will destroy at the end of it all
And after it all
The hopes of the sinners will lose hope and break for me
Oh, baby, just maybe you're not the one
You never were
It was all sympathy and simple words of
Nothingness, nothingness
This is where you die
Lyrics submitted by dieromantic69, edited by strath, BDoG01
I Used to Have a Best Friend (But Then He Gave Me an STD) Lyrics as written by Danny Robert Worsnop Benjamin Paul Bruce
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
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He certainly did earn that reputation.
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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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Insane Ian
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The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
It is indeed HE not SHE. Whatever the actual meaning is, brendenXelectric