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.
Do you ever question your life?
Do you ever wonder why?
Do you ever see in your dreams?
All the castles in the sky
Oh, tell me why
Do we build castles in the sky?
Oh, tell me why
Are the castles way up high?
Please tell me why
Do we build castles in the sky?
Oh, tell me why
Are the castles way up high?
Do ever question your life?
Do you ever wonder why?
Do you ever see in your dreams
All the castle in the sky?
Oh, tell me why
Do we build castles in the sky?
Oh, tell me why
Are the castles way up high?
Please tell me why
Do we build castles in the sky?
Oh, tell me why
Are the castles way up high?
Do you ever wonder why?
Do you ever see in your dreams?
All the castles in the sky
Oh, tell me why
Do we build castles in the sky?
Oh, tell me why
Are the castles way up high?
Please tell me why
Do we build castles in the sky?
Oh, tell me why
Are the castles way up high?
Do ever question your life?
Do you ever wonder why?
Do you ever see in your dreams
All the castle in the sky?
Oh, tell me why
Do we build castles in the sky?
Oh, tell me why
Are the castles way up high?
Please tell me why
Do we build castles in the sky?
Oh, tell me why
Are the castles way up high?
Lyrics submitted by selfwilledfate
Castles in the Sky [Radio Mix] Lyrics as written by Erik Jos Vanspauwen Christophe Chantzis
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
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Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
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The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
Techno Ted
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Techno Ted may be a person who caused Chris incredible emotional pain & trepidation as well as moments of peace & happiness but now is removed and awaiting his fate. Darling may be a different person who is also free of him and can live her life free of Ted's tyranny. "In between all the laughing, and daydreams ... lies: a desert of truth" Lies are like a desert or the omission of Truth: Where there were Lies then Truth was absent. The song, "Techno Ted", may be a cathartic celebration of the downfall of this person.
Classic trance. Great song. To me this song is more about big industries and how they go down, go up, and then so on. What happens next? Why do we do it, anyways..? Do we need to? America's so obsessed with things that it's not even funny. And we got other countries with us, though.
I have wondered if "Why do we build castles in the sky?" is really asking: Why do we have false hope in God, Heaven, etcetera? It is just as possible, if not more so, that those things do not exist than it is possible that they do. Realistically, they can not be seen or proven. Yet, people believe in them wholeheartedly, Maybe just so they can feel better about life and death? "Build castles in the sky" could mean a belief in "Heaven", while also saying that it is unreachable, unrealistic, and/or impossible. Maybe?
The people who say this song is about heaven, they're right in a way. A castle in the sky clearly seems a wonderful, magical, and ideal place. So more accurately, I'm sure it represents imagination and "goals". "Why do we build castle's in the sky?" appears equivalent to "Why do we idealize?", "why do many feel the grass greener on the other side of the fence?", and/or "why do people feel the future can ever be better than the present, when the present is habituated to be received in a certain way by each one of us?" This song is about happiness, about dreams, about goals, and it is basically questioning the reasons why any of us do what we do each day. Are we striving for something without knowing why? Or do we know and understand what we're doing and why? This song is a calling: Find out what life means to you. Then live that with no remorse. Religion is nonsense, an afterlife seem unimportant speaking that once we lose our brains we can't carry any memories with us (e.g. if we get into a car accident and damage our brains, it changes our world perception. In other words, our "soul" and the information it holds is dependent upon physical characteristics to exist.) All that we have is our lives and life itself is comnpletely unapologetic. What happens happens for better or worse and there's no reckoning, no reconciliation, no balance that will ever take place outside of what creatures and forces of nature themselves inflict upon one another. After that, the rest is silence. Enlightenment is to know and behave on knowledge of the real truth about life. And that is, everyone has an agenda so follow your own, maxims are basically useless because every delivered "truth" about life can be done or translated in an opposing way that will also be real world relevant, and the ability to discern the difference between reality and imagining, of which each is a part to the other, is of utmost importance. Taking time to sit alone and think things through will eventually show you to what you really want in your life and what it really means to you.
The concept of "Castles in the Sky" is taken from Henry David Thoreau. It's been a very important quote in my and my family's life.
"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."
In the quote, it's saying it's okay to have your ambitions up high where they may seem unattainable. However, they're not necessarily impossible, if you just take steps underneath to reach them.
The song is questioning why you have such lofty goals, but perhaps looking back on the original quote will help. It's okay, as long as you build the foundations under so your dreams don't collapse.
DiZ soNg be PuttIng Me in A tRaNCe.... it chills me out when I'm mad or ticked! AND this be best tRaNCe and rave song ever... :)
This song is so awesome! It's kinda like it's asking you why exactly do you live.... Well, that's the way I see it at least...Hmm... It's a great song, I listen to it all the time
i think this song poses the question "why do you continue to set unattainable goals?"
build the castles closer to the ground; your dreams where you can reach them.
This is one of my fave techno songs no matter what I am always in the mood to rave when I hear this.. I makes me wonder alot of things though too.. --Mackie
there's a lot of questions in this song.. :op
tight ass song.
This is an awesome song. I kind of agree with you, wilco. But I seem to think there's something else in there. I can't really touch on it, though. It really makes you think about your life though. Great song.