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.
Oh my God, think I'm lost at sea
The silent waves are my company
And I lost the land between the sky it seems
And wondering, "Will the wind ever come free?"
Yeah
Cause I don't know, I don't know where I am
Can you tell me, will I break or will I bend
Will the wind ever come again
Oh, oh
I feel the sun coming out, rising from the east
And I see the empire, falling to her knees
And I lost the land between, her and me
My troubles are gone if the wind ever comes free
Yeah
Cause I don't know, I don't know where I am
Can you tell me, will I break or will I bend
Will the wind ever come
You, left me on the shoreline
You will stand and bare
But you, I'll find you waiting
You were waiting for me, waiting for me
Tried to kiss the emptiness
Lost the line between sky and sea
I feel the sun coming up, coming up, coming up, coming up
But I don't know, I don't know where I am
I will break or I will bend
Will the wind ever come again?
The silent waves are my company
And I lost the land between the sky it seems
And wondering, "Will the wind ever come free?"
Yeah
Cause I don't know, I don't know where I am
Can you tell me, will I break or will I bend
Will the wind ever come again
Oh, oh
I feel the sun coming out, rising from the east
And I see the empire, falling to her knees
And I lost the land between, her and me
My troubles are gone if the wind ever comes free
Yeah
Cause I don't know, I don't know where I am
Can you tell me, will I break or will I bend
Will the wind ever come
You, left me on the shoreline
You will stand and bare
But you, I'll find you waiting
You were waiting for me, waiting for me
Tried to kiss the emptiness
Lost the line between sky and sea
I feel the sun coming up, coming up, coming up, coming up
But I don't know, I don't know where I am
I will break or I will bend
Will the wind ever come again?
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
This song, as stated in several interviews, is about Joe King's divorce - and in a broader sense, it is the story of someone being forced to start over. The speaker is floating in the sea, waiting for the wind to push him back in the direction he was going. It was as if he had found an island to make a life on but is now back out at sea. It's a song about finding your way when everywhere you used to go no longer exists and everything is suddenly unfarmilar.
The lyrics above are incorrect. These are right.
Oh my god I think I'm lost at sea These silent waves Are my company And I lost the line between the sky and sea And I'm wondering will the wind ever come for me? Yeah
I don't know I don't know where I am Can you tell me? Will I break or will I bend? Will the wind ever come again?
I see the sun coming up Rising from the east And I see the empire Falling to her knees And I lost the line between her and me My troubles are gone if the wind ever comes for me Yeah
I don't know I don't know where I am Can you tell me? Will I break or will I bend? Will the wind ever come?
I dreamed I found a shoreline You were standing there I dreamed I found you waiting You were waiting for me, Waiting for me
Tried to kiss the emptiness Lost the line between Sky and sea I feel the sun coming up Coming up, Coming up, Coming up
I don't know I don't know where I am I will break or I will bend Will the wind ever come again?
Is this song about being lost in life in general..? or being lost at sea?
love this song! <3
I believe this song is about those choice that may change your life. We feel lost because we have to make a choise about an opportunity, "the wind", and we really don't know if it will ever come again.
"Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." - Jesus in John 3:7-8.
He's sort of waiting for The Wind, this motion of new birth to come into his life. He feels alone, and feels like his spirit is breaking, but he's hoping it's just a bad time, and that he will bend and The Wind will come and renew him. He realizes that God was waiting for him on the shoreline where he thought he had been left alone. God never really left.
When he says, "Tried to kiss the emptiness," I think he means he was getting sucked into the world and what it does, trying to embrace the emptiness in hopes that it would bring some fulfillment, but really there is nothing in emptiness, and he finally realized that.
As stated in the previous comments, the members are Christians, originally a teen worship band at their church. I feel like Scars and Stories has much more religious themes than any of their other stuff (I think they tried to avoid it so they didn't get labeled as "Christian").
I think what the fray is trying to say in this song is that you may feel lost in life (oh my god, i think I'm lost at sea) and "the wind" is hope for an opportunity in life. "Will i bend or will i break" is talking about if when the wind comes (an opportunity) will it be too much for you to handle? Will you break? Or will you make lemonade with lemons? Will you bend? We never know when the wind will come again but once the wind comes your troubles may be gone.
I think, in general, it's just about being lost. That first line says everything, "Oh my God, I think I'm lost at sea."
It's about standing in one spot, and realizing that it's completely different than the one you were standing in before. And you don't know how you got there, or how to deal with the changes, so the result is that you're inexplicably lost. You have to start over again, in a different way, and all you really ever want is to be found and told that everything is okay, and will be okay. I suppose that's what the wind is for: it's a break from the change, a familiar air that reminds you it's okay to be lost sometimes, and that you'll find your way back.
It makes sense that this is about a divorce, then. But in a more general standpoint I think it can be related to any situation that turns your life upside down, one you have to slowly be accustomed to.