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.
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
I was left to my own devices
Many days fell away with nothing to show
And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Grey clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
We were caught up and lost in all of our vices
In your pose as the dust settles around us
And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Grey clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
Eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Oh, where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?
Oh-oh, where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?
And the walls kept tumbling down (oh, where do we begin?)
In the city that we love (the rubble or our sins?)
Grey clouds roll over the hills (oh, where do we begin?)
Bringing darkness from above (the rubble or our sins?)
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
Oh, how am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
If you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
I was left to my own devices
Many days fell away with nothing to show
And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Grey clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
We were caught up and lost in all of our vices
In your pose as the dust settles around us
And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Grey clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
Eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Oh, where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?
Oh-oh, where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?
And the walls kept tumbling down (oh, where do we begin?)
In the city that we love (the rubble or our sins?)
Grey clouds roll over the hills (oh, where do we begin?)
Bringing darkness from above (the rubble or our sins?)
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
Oh, how am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
If you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Lyrics submitted by psychedelicglee, edited by noelsguitar, henrymo, thatismahogony, Ashleeeee, amrj, tuckerka, marlize105, Jbail2322
Pompeii Lyrics as written by Daniel Campbell Smith
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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.
As with MANY great artistic interpretations of human experience, this song demonstrates our cyclic nature to persist in things that we despise despite our best efforts to avoid them. It could be interpreted as a perpetually dysfunctional relationship, the cyclic abuse of oneself in any forms of expression. That's what makes this song so perfect for an audience. We have all struggled with fighting our own selves against our better judgement. For example, a person in an abusive relationship, they build a safe city for themselves until it crumbles around them and they have to deal with the reality that this wasn't a safe place, or wasn't healthy in any way. Apply this to drug/alcohol addiction. We've lost so many days with nothing to show, and now this city (our environment, drug-fueled reality) that we love has to be reckoned with, at which time the walls come tumbling down and we have to deal with the dark clouds of withdrawal and sobriety coming rolling in over the mountains. It could be applied to a self-deprecating relationship, a situation where you are trying to constantly failing and having to restart with "optimism" about not failing this time. Very poignant, insightful, and deep for a man so young. Not to be mistaken for a back-handed compliment. I only wish I was so creative in the expression of my feelings.