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 telephone is ringing, disconnect the line
The tension is building but I'm alright, yeah I'm alright
And the stars are colliding
So you might as well, oh might as well
Let me go
The television is burning, I set it on fire
But the wheels, they keep turning, but I'm fine, yeah I'm fine
What about the questions we have
Locked up inside?
Somewhere, somehow
We've been denied
Hand in hand we walk, blind
Pretending, defending while our souls are tied
It's only the third hour, my conscience subsides
But something will remind me that you lied, yeah you lied
What about the consequences?
This can't be right
Somewhere, somehow
We've been denied
Hand in hand we walk, blind
Pretending, defending while our souls are tied
What about
What about
Sometime ago, I know
Somebody go
Somewhere, somehow
Somewhere, somehow
We've been denied
Hand in hand we walk, blind
Pretending, defending while our souls are tied
tied
No, no, no
Oh no, we been denied
Oh oh no
Oh no, we been denied
No, no, no
No, no, no
(No, no, no) no we been denied
No, no, no
The tension is building but I'm alright, yeah I'm alright
And the stars are colliding
So you might as well, oh might as well
Let me go
The television is burning, I set it on fire
But the wheels, they keep turning, but I'm fine, yeah I'm fine
What about the questions we have
Locked up inside?
Somewhere, somehow
We've been denied
Hand in hand we walk, blind
Pretending, defending while our souls are tied
It's only the third hour, my conscience subsides
But something will remind me that you lied, yeah you lied
What about the consequences?
This can't be right
Somewhere, somehow
We've been denied
Hand in hand we walk, blind
Pretending, defending while our souls are tied
What about
What about
Sometime ago, I know
Somebody go
Somewhere, somehow
Somewhere, somehow
We've been denied
Hand in hand we walk, blind
Pretending, defending while our souls are tied
tied
No, no, no
Oh no, we been denied
Oh oh no
Oh no, we been denied
No, no, no
No, no, no
(No, no, no) no we been denied
No, no, no
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And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
I think the song is about a breakup. The guy turns off the phone lines so his ex can't call him, and simply sits around, bemoaning his fate. He thinks, and angrily destorys the TV. With that and the phone, he's eliminated a lot of the possible contact with the outside world . He thinks about how the times they spent together were a lie, and it was all fake. He and she both did wrong things in the relationship, and it was bound to fail.
However, I also like this version, which is a bit more fantastic- I think of it as a guy, who has kidnapped someone. He cuts off the phone line and TV so that no one will think they're where they are.He feels so much tension, and just keeps thinking about what he did. But the lyrics don't match that version so well :D