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.
The storm is bad tonight,
So how could I awake without you here?
Your picture's on the wall,
You haven't called
But I'll wait for you
To her own reflection, she says, "I will hold on"
To her own reflection, she says, "I will be strong"
The storm is letting up,
But it won't die
If you weren't right was I?
Your picture still remains,
But I wonder are you still the same?
To her own reflection, she says, "I will hold on"
To her own reflection, she says, "I will be strong"
Am I losing you?
I've waited, I've waited til it's over
It's over now
When weakened, when will you rise?
So how could I awake without you here?
Your picture's on the wall,
You haven't called
But I'll wait for you
To her own reflection, she says, "I will hold on"
To her own reflection, she says, "I will be strong"
The storm is letting up,
But it won't die
If you weren't right was I?
Your picture still remains,
But I wonder are you still the same?
To her own reflection, she says, "I will hold on"
To her own reflection, she says, "I will be strong"
Am I losing you?
I've waited, I've waited til it's over
It's over now
When weakened, when will you rise?
Lyrics submitted by startingsocostudent
Without You Here Lyrics as written by Alejandro Martinez Linares Alejandro M. Linares
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Love in a Vacuum
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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.
The Spy
Doors, The
Doors, The
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?
Grand Theft Auto
Insane Ian
Insane Ian
The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"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.
this is one of my favorite finch songs. i can't believe nobody added it. what it is to burn is by far one of the best cds on drive thru
so me it sounds like he's saying "to her own reflection she says: i will hold on" not "to her only friends..." maybe it's just me...
i also heard it irulelorenzo's way
i think she's having a hard time as well as he, because he can't be there with her to calm her down... she can only speak to her reflection because she's so lonely....
What album is this song on? I didn't see it on "What it is to Burn."
lovely lovely song. one of my fave. finch songs aswell.
This song is in face on What it is to Burn, track 7. The meaning of this song I think is how he can't be with her, and she was having a hard time coping with that, so she looks at herself and resassures herself that she'll be ok without him.
When i heard this song, it really did sound like to her own reflection. so i was singing along and my friend was cracking up cuz it was, "to her only friends who say things," so i decided to check it out and even though it isnt on their website it showed up as "to her only friends" on most the other websites so i felt pretty stupid. But if u sing along to it right, it makes sense.
FINCH KICKS ASS. THEYRE DEFINITELY THE BEST DRIVE THRU BAND.
I love this song so much. Finch is by far one of my fave bands and i found them by stumbling upon one of their songs on kazaa and since then i fell in love with them. But does anybody know where they're from?