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.
Sleep in some safe song to hum
The dreams we've spun and will run from.
The heavy head that goes to bed
Wishing for some new day to come,
It is a heartload of the beating of your memories
That in their light make your days bright or dark,
Said "In my pockets, there is sand from many different lands,
But I long only for the on that's marked with start,
Yes, my home it holds my bed, my head, my heart."
Spent your days searching for some sunset,
Searched for sunset,
Yeah, you searched for so long.
Drenched in darkness,
Are you so full of regret because you saw what you were seeking,
Now the sunset is gone,
But the sun will rise a thousand times,
And will you still be so surprised to say
"For every sun that is somewhere setting,
There is one that is somewhere set to rise."
For every pretty thing that you find yourself forgetting,
There's a million magic moments set to widen your eyes,
So I know it's best to hold my tongue,
Not cry "Please, oh, please will you come home and
Listen for the ones you cannot remember?
They sing as loud as the ones you can't forget!"
As autumn fades into another December
Furnished with a feeling that you haven't shaken yet,
And on and on,
And what went wrong,
We sing a separate story to the some old song
It was in some warehouse where I said I'd always love,
Indiana where I never knew your name.
In our lifetimes, there's so many things we could do
So I wish we wouldn't spend them polishing our own pain
And you sang a song for dying,
Well, give me the one that's right for flying
Into the ones as they go past you,
Into the ones that you will one day leave behind.
Speak kindly to the ones who never found the words to ask you
Though a million years could pass
And they would never seem to mind.
And I refuse to believe it was ever naive to say
"Give your heart to everything that you can find."
Try as though we try
It's a very pretty thing to say
And everything that matters is sure to take time.
That fearsome face will find its place,
Give it time and give it space.
Give it a name, it'll come if you call it,
Forgive its shame,
Even if that's how you recall it.
The dreams we've spun and will run from.
The heavy head that goes to bed
Wishing for some new day to come,
It is a heartload of the beating of your memories
That in their light make your days bright or dark,
Said "In my pockets, there is sand from many different lands,
But I long only for the on that's marked with start,
Yes, my home it holds my bed, my head, my heart."
Spent your days searching for some sunset,
Searched for sunset,
Yeah, you searched for so long.
Drenched in darkness,
Are you so full of regret because you saw what you were seeking,
Now the sunset is gone,
But the sun will rise a thousand times,
And will you still be so surprised to say
"For every sun that is somewhere setting,
There is one that is somewhere set to rise."
For every pretty thing that you find yourself forgetting,
There's a million magic moments set to widen your eyes,
So I know it's best to hold my tongue,
Not cry "Please, oh, please will you come home and
Listen for the ones you cannot remember?
They sing as loud as the ones you can't forget!"
As autumn fades into another December
Furnished with a feeling that you haven't shaken yet,
And on and on,
And what went wrong,
We sing a separate story to the some old song
It was in some warehouse where I said I'd always love,
Indiana where I never knew your name.
In our lifetimes, there's so many things we could do
So I wish we wouldn't spend them polishing our own pain
And you sang a song for dying,
Well, give me the one that's right for flying
Into the ones as they go past you,
Into the ones that you will one day leave behind.
Speak kindly to the ones who never found the words to ask you
Though a million years could pass
And they would never seem to mind.
And I refuse to believe it was ever naive to say
"Give your heart to everything that you can find."
Try as though we try
It's a very pretty thing to say
And everything that matters is sure to take time.
That fearsome face will find its place,
Give it time and give it space.
Give it a name, it'll come if you call it,
Forgive its shame,
Even if that's how you recall it.
Lyrics submitted by skaskaskaska
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