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.
featuring Tha Alkaholiks
Xzibit:
When it comes to shit like this
I always get it right the first time
playa haters and snakes
waitin' for mistakes
But that's the breaks the highs and lows
Of the industry
D.I.T.C. and X to the Z
Bringin' it live
Get it crackin' to the third degree
Xzibit breakin' niggas down like H.I.V.
We gring rap to your city like B.E.T.
But still feel California
Is the place to be, Catashtrophy...
Tash:
The Alkaholiks is back to fry you
Xtra crispy
With the skills that make the plots
to dis me Xtra risky
Cause the time it takes to infiltrate
And stop my forward motion
California will have broken off
And fell into the ocean
Cause i rocked around the world
With my ill type skill
Step for real or I'll leave your grill scarred like Seal
Cause I regulate the sectin where the drinks
Is gettin blended
Certifed bartender
So catch the 40
When I send it your way
Xzibit:
Niggas that hustle
Till the day light break
Go to county 20 times
Still can't go straight
Don't nothin in the mothafuckin'
World come free
I'll never see a nine to five
Cause it just ain't me
(It's like this)
Xzibit shall hustle, lift build muscle
And think like Russell
Survive and bring it live and direct
To any crowd through out the world
Like this come home
And smoke a spliff in the benz
With Swift
Chorus(2 Times)
Xzibit:
I'm fucked up J-Ro
J-Ro:
Yo i'm fucked up to
Lookin' at these bitches
From a birds eye view
My name is J-Ro from tthe Likwit Crew
Hurricane G:
So what nigga is it you want to do
J-Ro:
My flow is metaphorical
Historicly correct
What do you expect from a nigga
With my intellect
East coast representing West coast gangsta
New I ain't trippin'
I call up King Tee we go dippin'
Through the streets
Pumpin' hard core Likwit beats
Flowin' air blowin' loungin'
Inn them leather seats
Think gback how we used to rock the house party
Now we just fuckin' it up for everybody
Xzibit:
How dare you try to compare
Yourself to the original
Professional Xzibit break you down
Like correctional Facilitys
Limit all capabilities muthafuck MC's
Hard to read like Japanese
I'm spreading like disease
So I can't be stopped
By who you run with your click
Or the Btich ass cops
Xzibits' first LP
It hit your black like crack rock
I'm blowin' up your spot by remote
Mr. Cut Throat
J-Ro:
I"m from Cystal-ifornia
I warned ya I'd be on ya
The Ro is outer national
Cold as Henne-sota
I smoke 12 MC's a day
Just to fill my quota
From forty 0-hio
All the way to Ore-gin
Buddy my fingers are bloody Now I'm Washing-ten
I clown from Brew-york
Down to Mi-ti-ami
I soak up game like a shammy
Understand me?
Hook
Tash:
So Elizabeth it's MC's
That's comin' to join ya
Some will be from NYC And some will be from California
Cause I drop the lyrics on you
From beneath the Earth's surface
Where I write rhymes so fresh
I try to bite my own verses
Cause the purpose of my flow
Is to let you know
My style is badder than the water
Down in Mexico
Cause RICO blend styles like juice and gin
I got the Likwit shit
That have you seein' double
Like the Twins
Xzibit:
When it comes to shit like this
I always get it right the first time
playa haters and snakes
waitin' for mistakes
But that's the breaks the highs and lows
Of the industry
D.I.T.C. and X to the Z
Bringin' it live
Get it crackin' to the third degree
Xzibit breakin' niggas down like H.I.V.
We gring rap to your city like B.E.T.
But still feel California
Is the place to be, Catashtrophy...
Tash:
The Alkaholiks is back to fry you
Xtra crispy
With the skills that make the plots
to dis me Xtra risky
Cause the time it takes to infiltrate
And stop my forward motion
California will have broken off
And fell into the ocean
Cause i rocked around the world
With my ill type skill
Step for real or I'll leave your grill scarred like Seal
Cause I regulate the sectin where the drinks
Is gettin blended
Certifed bartender
So catch the 40
When I send it your way
Xzibit:
Niggas that hustle
Till the day light break
Go to county 20 times
Still can't go straight
Don't nothin in the mothafuckin'
World come free
I'll never see a nine to five
Cause it just ain't me
(It's like this)
Xzibit shall hustle, lift build muscle
And think like Russell
Survive and bring it live and direct
To any crowd through out the world
Like this come home
And smoke a spliff in the benz
With Swift
Chorus(2 Times)
Xzibit:
I'm fucked up J-Ro
J-Ro:
Yo i'm fucked up to
Lookin' at these bitches
From a birds eye view
My name is J-Ro from tthe Likwit Crew
Hurricane G:
So what nigga is it you want to do
J-Ro:
My flow is metaphorical
Historicly correct
What do you expect from a nigga
With my intellect
East coast representing West coast gangsta
New I ain't trippin'
I call up King Tee we go dippin'
Through the streets
Pumpin' hard core Likwit beats
Flowin' air blowin' loungin'
Inn them leather seats
Think gback how we used to rock the house party
Now we just fuckin' it up for everybody
Xzibit:
How dare you try to compare
Yourself to the original
Professional Xzibit break you down
Like correctional Facilitys
Limit all capabilities muthafuck MC's
Hard to read like Japanese
I'm spreading like disease
So I can't be stopped
By who you run with your click
Or the Btich ass cops
Xzibits' first LP
It hit your black like crack rock
I'm blowin' up your spot by remote
Mr. Cut Throat
J-Ro:
I"m from Cystal-ifornia
I warned ya I'd be on ya
The Ro is outer national
Cold as Henne-sota
I smoke 12 MC's a day
Just to fill my quota
From forty 0-hio
All the way to Ore-gin
Buddy my fingers are bloody Now I'm Washing-ten
I clown from Brew-york
Down to Mi-ti-ami
I soak up game like a shammy
Understand me?
Hook
Tash:
So Elizabeth it's MC's
That's comin' to join ya
Some will be from NYC And some will be from California
Cause I drop the lyrics on you
From beneath the Earth's surface
Where I write rhymes so fresh
I try to bite my own verses
Cause the purpose of my flow
Is to let you know
My style is badder than the water
Down in Mexico
Cause RICO blend styles like juice and gin
I got the Likwit shit
That have you seein' double
Like the Twins
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