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.
Easy
Easy
My man and me
We could rest and remain here, easily
We are tested and pained by
What's beyond our bed
We're blessed and sustained by
What is not said
No one knows what is coming
Or who will harvest what we have sown
Or how I've been dulling and dumbing
In the service of the heart alone
Or how I am worn to the bone by the river
And in the river, made of light
I'm your little life-giver
I will give my life
Haven't you seen what I've seen?
Don't you know what you ought to do?
I was born to love
And I intend to love you
Down in the valley where the fields are green
Watch my luck turn, fro and to
Pluck every last daisy clean
Till only I may love you
I am easy
Easy to keep
Honey, you please me
Even in your sleep
But my arms want to carry
My heart wants to hold
Tell me your worries
I wanna be told
Sit and see how the fog from the port in the bay
Lays like snow at the foot of the Roanoke
Hear the frog going courtin'
Till the day he croaks
Saying even then
How there is light in the river
And there's a river made of light
C'mon, you little life-giver
Give your life
Who asked you?
Who asked you if you wanna be
Loved by me?
Who died and made you
In charge of who loves who?
All the livelong day
If I have my way I will love you
But one can't carry the weight
Or change the fate of two
I've been waiting for a break
How long's it gonna take?
Let me love you
How about it?
How about what I have to say?
How about that livelong day?
How am I gonna stay here without you?
Easy
Easy
You must not fear
You must meet me to see me
I am barely here
But like a Bloody Mary
Seen in the mirror
Speak my name
And I appear
Speak my name
And I appear
Speak
And I appear
Easy
My man and me
We could rest and remain here, easily
We are tested and pained by
What's beyond our bed
We're blessed and sustained by
What is not said
No one knows what is coming
Or who will harvest what we have sown
Or how I've been dulling and dumbing
In the service of the heart alone
Or how I am worn to the bone by the river
And in the river, made of light
I'm your little life-giver
I will give my life
Haven't you seen what I've seen?
Don't you know what you ought to do?
I was born to love
And I intend to love you
Down in the valley where the fields are green
Watch my luck turn, fro and to
Pluck every last daisy clean
Till only I may love you
I am easy
Easy to keep
Honey, you please me
Even in your sleep
But my arms want to carry
My heart wants to hold
Tell me your worries
I wanna be told
Sit and see how the fog from the port in the bay
Lays like snow at the foot of the Roanoke
Hear the frog going courtin'
Till the day he croaks
Saying even then
How there is light in the river
And there's a river made of light
C'mon, you little life-giver
Give your life
Who asked you?
Who asked you if you wanna be
Loved by me?
Who died and made you
In charge of who loves who?
All the livelong day
If I have my way I will love you
But one can't carry the weight
Or change the fate of two
I've been waiting for a break
How long's it gonna take?
Let me love you
How about it?
How about what I have to say?
How about that livelong day?
How am I gonna stay here without you?
Easy
Easy
You must not fear
You must meet me to see me
I am barely here
But like a Bloody Mary
Seen in the mirror
Speak my name
And I appear
Speak my name
And I appear
Speak
And I appear
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