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.
From lashes to ashes and from lust to dust
In your sweetest torment I'm lost
And no heaven can help us
Ready, willing and able to lose it all
For a kiss so fatal and so warm
Oh it's heartache every moment
From the start till the end
It's heartache every moment
With you
Deeper into our heavenly suffering
Our fragile souls are falling
It's heartache every moment
Baby with you
And we sense the danger
But don't want to give up
'cause there's no smile of an angel
Without the wrath of god
Oh it's heartache every moment
From the start till the end
It's heartache every moment with you
Deeper into our heavenly suffering
Our fragile souls are falling
It's heartache every moment
Baby with you
My darling with you
From lashes to ashes and from lust to dust
In your sweetest torment I'm lost
And we sense the danger
But don't want to give up
Oh it's heartache every moment
From the start till the end
It's heartache every moment
With you
Deeper into our heavenly suffering
Our fragile souls are falling
It's heartache every moment
Baby with you
That's right
In your sweetest torment I'm lost
And no heaven can help us
Ready, willing and able to lose it all
For a kiss so fatal and so warm
Oh it's heartache every moment
From the start till the end
It's heartache every moment
With you
Deeper into our heavenly suffering
Our fragile souls are falling
It's heartache every moment
Baby with you
And we sense the danger
But don't want to give up
'cause there's no smile of an angel
Without the wrath of god
Oh it's heartache every moment
From the start till the end
It's heartache every moment with you
Deeper into our heavenly suffering
Our fragile souls are falling
It's heartache every moment
Baby with you
My darling with you
From lashes to ashes and from lust to dust
In your sweetest torment I'm lost
And we sense the danger
But don't want to give up
Oh it's heartache every moment
From the start till the end
It's heartache every moment
With you
Deeper into our heavenly suffering
Our fragile souls are falling
It's heartache every moment
Baby with you
That's right
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It's a fcking great song.Don't you agree?
sure do
absolulty amazing song by an abslutly amazin band, a friend played me about 2mins of the album and i had 2 go out and buy it!! definatly 1 of my fave songs at the mo
totally agree with you all. The band are AMAZING and the lyrics 2 each song are so beautiful! And ville valo is really cute, but neway... (!) i'm really glad and happy that i discovered them. =)
First song I heard by HIM. Nowadays I'm a big fan. (Best thing that had ever happend to me.)
"from lashes to ashes and from lust to dust" truly amazing line with so many double meanings perhaps my favourite of the whole song
absoultely love this song. especially the lines "from lashes to ashes and from lust to dust" ...i dunno exactly what it means, but "lashes" can mean something that is insulting, or a powerful impact, attack...so when it says from "lashes to ashes" maybe its implying that attacking someone inevitably ends up in failure and gets you nowhere, the "ashes". and from "lust to dust" implies that there is no real force behind lust and nothing can really keep it going, so it too fails and turns to "dust" i dunno???
No, what it means are literal lashes, like eyelashes, to ashes, and from lust to dust. It's about losing the one you love, after sacrificing everything for them, as in <i>"ready willing and able to lose it all, for a kiss so fatal so worn"</i>. But that too is my favourite line in the song, I also like "<i>we sense the danger, but don't wanna give up"</i> I think that is what true love is.
i heard it as lashes like lashes from a whip, in a bdsm context. so both lashes and lust are portraying a passionate relationship, turning to ashes, dust.
This is my favourite HIM song. Simply Awesome!!!!