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.
Been thinking about you, your records a hit
Your eyes are on my wall, your teeth are over there
But I'm still no one, and you're not a star
What do you care?
Been thinking about you, and there's no rest
Shit, I still love you, still see you in bed
But I'm playing with myself
What do you care when the other men are far, far better?
All the things you got
All the things you need
Who bought you cigarettes
Who bribed the company to come and see you, honey
I've been thinking about you, so how can you sleep?
These people aren't your friends, they're paid to kiss your feet
They don't know what I know
Why should you care, when I'm not there?
Been thinking about you, and there's no rest
Shit, I still love you, still see you in bed
But I'm playing with myself?
What do you care when I'm not there?
All the things you got
That you'll never need
All the things you got
I've bled and I bleed to please you
Been thinking about you
Your eyes are on my wall, your teeth are over there
But I'm still no one, and you're not a star
What do you care?
Been thinking about you, and there's no rest
Shit, I still love you, still see you in bed
But I'm playing with myself
What do you care when the other men are far, far better?
All the things you got
All the things you need
Who bought you cigarettes
Who bribed the company to come and see you, honey
I've been thinking about you, so how can you sleep?
These people aren't your friends, they're paid to kiss your feet
They don't know what I know
Why should you care, when I'm not there?
Been thinking about you, and there's no rest
Shit, I still love you, still see you in bed
But I'm playing with myself?
What do you care when I'm not there?
All the things you got
That you'll never need
All the things you got
I've bled and I bleed to please you
Been thinking about you
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My opinion: Thom switching roles with his girlfriend, her becoming the famous one, him saying what he thinks he'd feel.
I actually think this song is meant to be satirical: it is about our obsessions with celebrities. The subject in the song is absolutely infatuated with this celebrity and is deluded into thinking there is something there that isn't .(To digress: that reminds me of There There's lyrics, "Just cause you feel it, doesn't mean it's there.) These lines seem to infer that she is famous: "Your records are here" could literally be that the subject owns her music. "Your eyes on my wall" makes me think that the subject has a poster of her on his wall. I think some people here have already realized that this person is a celebrity. In the chorus, the lines "Who bribed the company to see you honey" could literally mean that the subject bribed security so he could go and see her at her show. Furthermore, the lines "these people aren't your friends, they're paid to kiss your feet/ they don't know what I know" mean that the subject is jealous/angry at this celebrity's company because he thinks he is the only sincere one who really loves her and the others are just there to feed off her fame. The rest of the song is pretty much straightforward about how he does everything for her and she doesn't seem to care.
I think this interpretation makes more sense if you think about Thom's character back in the late 80s/early 90s. He wouldn't just make a cheesy love song so it's entirely possible he's critiquing society. People now are just starting to see 'Creep' as a sarcastic song too.
It's about masturbation.
of course the line about playihg with himslef is about flogging hte dolphin, but the rest of it is about missing the person you know you should be with, how is that hard to get?
DeathRockBoy is right...Jonny Greenwood said something about how "Thinking About You" is his mum's favourite song, but he doesn't have the heart to tell her it's about wanking.
Well i first looked at kaisute's responce and that makes alot of sense and then i thought death was pretty dumb..... i look at the song now and it really could mean about masturbation..... When he says "your eyes are on my wall" it could be when u daydream and u think about someone and u realise ur just staring at a wall....
I also think that it is about rejection..... rejection and the thom masturbating.... He says how he bought her cigarettes and gave her everything she needed but yet she rejects him..... well thats my thought. I love the song tho.
ITS NOT ABOUT WANKING or what have you, its about the sweet love a male cheetah makes to a female cheetah. in this case the male heetah is thom and the female cheetah is the wall... so all in all hes humping a wall, with eyes. yes
yes. im ready
NO NO NO! its NOT ABOUT MASTERBATION you sick perverts! Jonny Greenwood never said that and these lyrics are all f--ked up! read the real lyrics at greenplastic.com! GODDAMN!
Yes. It IS ABOUT WANKING!
Johnny did say that, infact I have it in writing; The Radiohead Story, their unofficial biography has it very clear in it. I don't care if you don't want to imagine your favorite band as once writing a masturbation song, but get over it.
i think the line about wanking is about wanking. the song is about unrequited love. the two things can happen at the same time. the whole song isn't about wanking, in my opinion, but if jonny says it's about wanking i think the 'playing with myself' line is.
i have no problem with radiohead talking about masturbation. they are my favourite band and i love them. it's a good song.