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've gotta stay away
I've got a voice inside my head that doesn't wanna play
With you tonight
My calendar's blocked off for days
Just him and I alone
We're drawing plays for ways to take the cake
But he won't ever sleep
So this won't take much more time
Look, I got a lot to say
But not to you, not yet
There's gotta be a better way for me to skin this cat
And now I'm another day behind
On catching up with my friend deep inside
My crooked head
No, he won't stop until I'm dead
That's the only way to make him leave
He gives me super powers like the wizards in "Twin Towers"
Big thanks for the vase of flowers
Sure I've got ten minutes, but it's not for hours
We're aligning planets too
That's how you call Cthulu
No I'm not lying to you
Wait a goddamn minute, don't push the issue
You've gotta stay away
Cause I've gotta use this place in a way that your mind won't erase
If you witness it, no saving grace will deliver you from dreams
That always end in screams
And leave you paralyzed inside your mind chock full of lies
It won't be clean and organized, it won't be neat or undisguised
In fact it's best if you're baptized
If you surmise you'll be surprised by thighs cut up
And thrown aside with knives at least two inches wide
This time go, or I'll pluck out your eyes and fry them up for me to dine on
We'll fall 10,000 feet and it's you who's coming with
He gives me super powers like the wizards in "Twin Towers"
Big thanks for the vase of flowers
Sure I've got ten minutes, but it's not for hours
We're aligning planets too
That's how you call Cthulu
No I'm not lying to you
Wait a goddamn minute, don't push the issue
I've got a voice inside my head that doesn't wanna play
With you tonight
My calendar's blocked off for days
Just him and I alone
We're drawing plays for ways to take the cake
But he won't ever sleep
So this won't take much more time
Look, I got a lot to say
But not to you, not yet
There's gotta be a better way for me to skin this cat
And now I'm another day behind
On catching up with my friend deep inside
My crooked head
No, he won't stop until I'm dead
That's the only way to make him leave
He gives me super powers like the wizards in "Twin Towers"
Big thanks for the vase of flowers
Sure I've got ten minutes, but it's not for hours
We're aligning planets too
That's how you call Cthulu
No I'm not lying to you
Wait a goddamn minute, don't push the issue
You've gotta stay away
Cause I've gotta use this place in a way that your mind won't erase
If you witness it, no saving grace will deliver you from dreams
That always end in screams
And leave you paralyzed inside your mind chock full of lies
It won't be clean and organized, it won't be neat or undisguised
In fact it's best if you're baptized
If you surmise you'll be surprised by thighs cut up
And thrown aside with knives at least two inches wide
This time go, or I'll pluck out your eyes and fry them up for me to dine on
We'll fall 10,000 feet and it's you who's coming with
He gives me super powers like the wizards in "Twin Towers"
Big thanks for the vase of flowers
Sure I've got ten minutes, but it's not for hours
We're aligning planets too
That's how you call Cthulu
No I'm not lying to you
Wait a goddamn minute, don't push the issue
Lyrics submitted by MX5
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