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.
At the record company meeting
On their hands - a dead star
And oh, the plans they weave
And oh, the sickening greed
At the record company party
On their hands - a dead star
The sycophantic slags all say :
"I knew him first, and I knew him well"
Re-issue! Re-package! Re-package!
Re-evaluate the songs
Double-pack with a photograph
Extra track (and a tacky badge)
A-list, playlist
"Please them , please them !"
"Please them !"
(sadly, this was your life)
But you could have said no
If you'd wanted to
You could have said no
If you'd wanted to
BPI, MTV, BBC
"Please them ! Please then!"
(sadly this was your life)
But you could have said no
If you'd wanted to
You could have walked away
...Couldn't you?
I touched you at the soundcheck
You had no real way of knowing
In my heart I begged "Take me with you ...
I don't care where you're going..."
But to you I was faceless
I was fawning, I was boring
Just a child from those ugly new houses
Who could never begin to know
Who could never really know
Oh...
Best of! Most of!
Satiate the need
Slip them into different sleeves!
Buy both, and feel deceived
Climber - new entry, re-entry
World tour! ("media whore")
"Please the Press in Belgium!"
(This was your life...)
And when it fails to recoup ?
Well, maybe :
You just haven't earned it yet, baby
I walked a pace behind you at the soundcheck
You're just the same as I am
What makes most people feel happy
Leads us headlong into harm
So, in my bedroom in those 'ugly new houses'
I danced my legs down to the knees
But me and my 'true love'
Will never meet again...
At the record company meeting
On their hands - at last! - A dead star !
But they can never taint you in my eyes
No, they can never touch you now
No, they cannot hurt you, my darling
They cannot touch you now
But me and my 'true love'
Will never meet again
On their hands - a dead star
And oh, the plans they weave
And oh, the sickening greed
At the record company party
On their hands - a dead star
The sycophantic slags all say :
"I knew him first, and I knew him well"
Re-issue! Re-package! Re-package!
Re-evaluate the songs
Double-pack with a photograph
Extra track (and a tacky badge)
A-list, playlist
"Please them , please them !"
"Please them !"
(sadly, this was your life)
But you could have said no
If you'd wanted to
You could have said no
If you'd wanted to
BPI, MTV, BBC
"Please them ! Please then!"
(sadly this was your life)
But you could have said no
If you'd wanted to
You could have walked away
...Couldn't you?
I touched you at the soundcheck
You had no real way of knowing
In my heart I begged "Take me with you ...
I don't care where you're going..."
But to you I was faceless
I was fawning, I was boring
Just a child from those ugly new houses
Who could never begin to know
Who could never really know
Oh...
Best of! Most of!
Satiate the need
Slip them into different sleeves!
Buy both, and feel deceived
Climber - new entry, re-entry
World tour! ("media whore")
"Please the Press in Belgium!"
(This was your life...)
And when it fails to recoup ?
Well, maybe :
You just haven't earned it yet, baby
I walked a pace behind you at the soundcheck
You're just the same as I am
What makes most people feel happy
Leads us headlong into harm
So, in my bedroom in those 'ugly new houses'
I danced my legs down to the knees
But me and my 'true love'
Will never meet again...
At the record company meeting
On their hands - at last! - A dead star !
But they can never taint you in my eyes
No, they can never touch you now
No, they cannot hurt you, my darling
They cannot touch you now
But me and my 'true love'
Will never meet again
Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Paint a Vulgar Picture Lyrics as written by Johnny Marr Steven Morrissey
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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James Dean? What would he do at a sound check?
It's about Morrissey twice. Paints a vulgar picture of himself as a disgusting arrogant star. As the young obsessed guy AND as the older star who has become a very whorelike person to the fan who thought he was true. Nice prediction though :P
And it's about self-hate. Ever occurred to one of you that the fan murders his idol and that this is why they have a dead star on their hands? He wants to keep the idol from turning furthermore into a disgrace. He knows what will happen to his future self as a star, and pictures a fan like he once was killing him.
Look at the lyrics and read between the lines:
"I walked a pace behind you at the soundcheck You're just the same as I am What makes most people feel happy Leads us headlong into harm"
harm? what harm? He's clearly following his idol after being brutally rejected. I walked a pace behind you... Seems like a bit of stalking to me. "They cannot touch you now" right...
@Duffo reminds me of Ziggy Stardust- "when the kids had killed the man"