1
When people say it's sad
You know it can't be bad
And on any other day I'd be soul destroyed
But now I can't afford to listen to a word they say
And of all the times we had
Oh the ultimate late night
Didn't taste right
True words that I should know
Blood on my hands
When you looked around I couldn't be found
A crime's a crime, I'll have to pay
Now I find that I'm thigh deep
Too young for the worst of my mind
You whispered behind me
If I may make so bold
Call it young and wild
But I ran a mile in a minute and there's no going back
True words that I should know
Blood on my hands
When you looked around I couldn't be found
A crime's a crime, I'll have to pay
True words I said to myself
As the wind chilled my bones
Home alone, you call that a late night?
When people say you're dead
You know you caught their eye
And on any other day I'd be soul destroyed
But that's just not the way now
I don't mind telling you
Nothing is quite what it seems
True words that I should know
Must have been blood on my hands
When you look around I couldn't be found
A crime's a crime but I don't mind
True words that I should know well
But surely by now I could say to myself
The days are getting longer so I better get stronger fast
Surely by now?
You know it can't be bad
And on any other day I'd be soul destroyed
But now I can't afford to listen to a word they say
And of all the times we had
Oh the ultimate late night
Didn't taste right
True words that I should know
Blood on my hands
When you looked around I couldn't be found
A crime's a crime, I'll have to pay
Now I find that I'm thigh deep
Too young for the worst of my mind
You whispered behind me
If I may make so bold
Call it young and wild
But I ran a mile in a minute and there's no going back
True words that I should know
Blood on my hands
When you looked around I couldn't be found
A crime's a crime, I'll have to pay
True words I said to myself
As the wind chilled my bones
Home alone, you call that a late night?
When people say you're dead
You know you caught their eye
And on any other day I'd be soul destroyed
But that's just not the way now
I don't mind telling you
Nothing is quite what it seems
True words that I should know
Must have been blood on my hands
When you look around I couldn't be found
A crime's a crime but I don't mind
True words that I should know well
But surely by now I could say to myself
The days are getting longer so I better get stronger fast
Surely by now?
Lyrics submitted by spliphstar, edited by ItGirlX
Blood on My Hands Lyrics as written by Harriet Wheeler David Gavurin
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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.
I think this song expresses guilt and the disillusionment in regards to a failed relationship left because it wasn't what was imagined it would be. In the process, the other person was badly hurt. Classic relationship dynamic wherein one person likes the other more and the feelings are not reciprocated.
The opening lyric and first verse, speaks to an impression of other people's judgement of the situation. "When people say. 'It's sad,' and you know it can't be bad...now I can't afford to listen to a word they say..." There is disappointment in a connection being not at all, all that it was imagined it would be. This is expressed in the line, "Oh, the ultimate late night, didn't taste right." Spending what should have been a really romantic night with her lover, "left a bad taste in her mouth."
The chorus, "Blood on my hands," reflects on having hurt someone badly. "True words that I should know," a response to second-guessing one's intuition about the relationship. "A crime's a crime, I have to pay," feeling guilt about perhaps leading someone on for at least some period of time.
The lyric tells some of the relationship story and flashes between reminiscence, fear of other's expectations and guilt for not fulfilling some of the expectations of society. Then it speaks to the self-reflection of being alone where we tend to judge our past actions. It goes on to realization that things don't turn out as you expect them to based on the "story" society gives us about love.
Finally we're left with a bit of the loneliness and self doubt that occurs after a relationship is over and we feel fragile in our aloneness; how we need to buck up and get on with life. "Surely by now."
A one night stand that could've been more, or maybe a single person sleeping with a married one, explaining "blood on my hands."
I could have swear a couple of these lyrics are incorrect:
but now I can afford to "listen to the willfull say NO"
and
too your for the "widsom in my mind"
and
the days are getting longer so I better get stronger "Balls."
Some of the lyrics are wrong--the last verse is: <br /> <br /> And the fates await <br /> if I'm gonna stay<br /> You'll come in to find that I don't mind<br /> <br /> The back-up vocal after the second chorus is: "Listen to your life, listen to your life."<br /> <br /> Also, the line "The days are getting longer so I better get stronger--fast." Not 'balls,. Since Harriet has no balls, I think it's doubtful she would use that word. If one listens closely, it can be heard that it's her British pronunciation of 'fast' with an "ahh" short "A" sound; "F-ahh-st." The word 'fast' is congruent with the beginning of the lyric, " ..days longer...stronger...fast."
A lot of the Sundays songs seem to be about memories and guilt. Harriet always sounds so innocent though!