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.
Backside melts into the sofa
My world, my TV and my food
Besides listening to my belly gurgle
There ain't much else to do
Yeah, I sweat a lot
Hmm, no, eh, shit, oh
Pants fall down every time I bend over
My feet itch
Yeah, I married a scarecrow
I hate you
Talkin' to myself
Everybody's staring at me
I'm only bleedin'
Someone taps me on the shoulder every five minutes
Nobody speaks English anymore
Would anybody tell me if I was getting stupider?
I hate you
Talkin' to myself
You don't feel it after a while
You take the beating
I'm a swingin' guy
Throw a belt over the shower curtain rod
And swing
Toss me inside a hefty
And put me in the ground
A drink needs me
I don't
I ain't about to guzzle no tears
So kiss my ass
Newscasters and cockroaches and desserts
I hate you
Talking to myself
Everybody's staring at me
I'm only bleeding
Where are the kids? I don't know
Maybe getting pregnant or on drugs or on welfare
On top of the world
Honor roll, parole, or reruns
Dodgers on the backs of milk cartons
On stakes in the middle of cornfields
On covers of future history books, old lady's mantles
Walkin' on water, nailed on crosses
I think it's time I had a talk with my kids
I'll just tell 'em what my daddy told me
You ain't never gonna amount to nothin'
My world, my TV and my food
Besides listening to my belly gurgle
There ain't much else to do
Yeah, I sweat a lot
Hmm, no, eh, shit, oh
Pants fall down every time I bend over
My feet itch
Yeah, I married a scarecrow
I hate you
Talkin' to myself
Everybody's staring at me
I'm only bleedin'
Someone taps me on the shoulder every five minutes
Nobody speaks English anymore
Would anybody tell me if I was getting stupider?
I hate you
Talkin' to myself
You don't feel it after a while
You take the beating
I'm a swingin' guy
Throw a belt over the shower curtain rod
And swing
Toss me inside a hefty
And put me in the ground
A drink needs me
I don't
I ain't about to guzzle no tears
So kiss my ass
Newscasters and cockroaches and desserts
I hate you
Talking to myself
Everybody's staring at me
I'm only bleeding
Where are the kids? I don't know
Maybe getting pregnant or on drugs or on welfare
On top of the world
Honor roll, parole, or reruns
Dodgers on the backs of milk cartons
On stakes in the middle of cornfields
On covers of future history books, old lady's mantles
Walkin' on water, nailed on crosses
I think it's time I had a talk with my kids
I'll just tell 'em what my daddy told me
You ain't never gonna amount to nothin'
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its amazing how far music can come.. 24 years after it released and its one of the most heartfelt songs ive heard
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Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
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.
Ahhh I love this song! You can get such a visual of a fat P.O.S. sitting in his broken down trailer, drunk and rambling to himself. This song makes you want to say "Go ahead throw that belt over the shower curtain rod, do everyone a favor, loser."
@pikki Maybe if your psychopathic.
@pikki <br /> <br /> be more precise, please.<br /> <br /> and, by the way, do you know you are talking about Jim Martin without knowing it? at least if i consider certain, many lyrics.