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.
Love I get so lost, sometimes
Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart
When I want to run away
I drive off in my car
But whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are
All my instincts, they return
And the grand facade, so soon will burn
Without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside
In your eyes
The light the heat
In your eyes
I am complete
In your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
In your eyes
The resolution of all the fruitless searches
In your eyes
I see the light and the heat
In your eyes
Oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
The heat I see in your eyes
Love, I don't like to see so much pain
So much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away
I get so tired of working so hard for our survival
I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive
And all my instincts, they return
And the grand facade, so soon will burn
Without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside
In your eyes
The light the heat
In your eyes
I am complete
In your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
In your eyes
The resolution of all the fruitless searches
In your eyes
I see the light and the heat
In your eyes
Oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light,
The heat I see in your eyes
In your eyes, in your eyes
In your eyes, in your eyes
In your eyes, in your eyes
Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart
When I want to run away
I drive off in my car
But whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are
All my instincts, they return
And the grand facade, so soon will burn
Without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside
In your eyes
The light the heat
In your eyes
I am complete
In your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
In your eyes
The resolution of all the fruitless searches
In your eyes
I see the light and the heat
In your eyes
Oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
The heat I see in your eyes
Love, I don't like to see so much pain
So much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away
I get so tired of working so hard for our survival
I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive
And all my instincts, they return
And the grand facade, so soon will burn
Without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside
In your eyes
The light the heat
In your eyes
I am complete
In your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
In your eyes
The resolution of all the fruitless searches
In your eyes
I see the light and the heat
In your eyes
Oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light,
The heat I see in your eyes
In your eyes, in your eyes
In your eyes, in your eyes
In your eyes, in your eyes
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This song is about someone whom is confessing thier love for someone else. They want to run and hide, but no matter what, fate keeps pulling them back to where they are now. A very beautiful love song indeed. The set of lyrics that go "And all my instincts, they return..." and so on, he's realizing that his facade of denial is fading and that there's no turning back, which means that he has to say what he feels...and by looking in the person's eyes, they feel as if, they're whole again. This is definitely a nice song to identify with.
I can see how people will get the song confused with god and the love for a woman. But in fact you are all correct. Peter Gabriel loves to reference god and he is a strong advocate in Humanitarianism. In most of his concert, he has a african singing the course "Your Eyes". He is speaking about pure love for humans. I thinking he wanted to wield two to give a double meaning since they both represent the samething. When you look in to someones eyes, you can sometimes see yourself. He looks into that persons eyes and sees a resolution to the worlds problem. The lack of love for someone just being a human. Not even a thousand churches to open this door. He relates it to churches because Jesus Christ is the Messiah of Humanism and since his death, the establishment has exploited his teachings to impossible matters. I almost cried when I heard this song in concert. Cause it was the setting his was at, the advocation he was making that it was clear he wishes for world peace.
@TasChiBandGirl
every time now i hear this song, i cry...my mother recently died and this song has a new meaning to me. My mother actually liked Sledgehammer & this brought me back to my Peter Gabriel CD.
This song is an incredible explanation of how when people are in love, there's no way of escaping it, it's just daily bread to feel so desperately in love and needy to be with someone.
To me, this is about loving someone so deeply that it becomes spiritual. When you're that connected, that person can always pull you back from the brink of insanity ("All my instincts, they return") and the craziness of the fronts we have to put on ("And the grand facade so soon will burn"). To love someone that way is metaphysical--I think that's what the lyrics about the doors of a thousand churches refers to. The light, the heat, the completeness you have with them is something beyond this world, something only music can explain.
guys who said it was about rosanna arquette, you're absolutely right. Peter Gabriel said so himself. Actually it was a kind of response to what the band Toto did. Their keyboardist used to date ms Arquette, but she broke it off with him for Peter, So the band got together and penned the song "Rosanna" for her. Funnily enough, she wasn't overly impressed, and was only truely blown away when Peter Gabriel released "in your eyes" in response. Man, that key boardist at Toto, gotta feel for him, and Rosanne Arquette had got to be the hot stuff back then! two excellent songs in her name
I didn't know Peter dated Rosanna?<br /> <br /> Anyway, one of his many great songs.
@deluded <br /> I think thos story is not completely accurate. Rosanna Arquette dated Steve Porcaro at that time. David Paich wrote the song and kind of borrowed the name. But they emphasized, the song was not about Arquette, but about what they had experienced with women generally. And yes, PG dated R. Arquette at that time, one of the reasons that made his first marriage with Jill Moore crash.
@deluded thing song was written and recorded in 1985 and released in 1986 before he dated Rosanna Arquette. He wasn’t divorced from his wife Jill until 1987. While people split up and move on before divorces are finalized I doubt Rosanna had an effect one way or another on the end of his marriage. Jill had an affair with his producer David Lord. I suspect this is about the struggles his marriage was going through. Fighting for the marriage, fighting for survival, still in love with his wife but exhausted, hurt, and struggling. Reflecting on the love they have shared brings his back when he just wants to run away. It’s a love song with common theme: the struggle of marriage and how one partner make feel they are working harder than the other to keep things together.
dont think it actually has anything to do with christianity, although he mentions churches..what he means with 'seeing the doorway to a thousand churches' is probably that in his lovers eyes he feels the peace and protection of a thousand churches..dont we just love this guys music :)
when i first heard this song and actually listened to it, i definitely felt that it was about his relationship with God, indirectly. but I also think that maybe only Christians would notice that because they feel it too. But it can also be a very beautiful love song to others. And I think that's one reason it's written like that, so you can make it relate to what you want it to be.
@ilostmyfork <br /> <br /> Seems to me that it's about both. I feels it's a triangle, a man, a woman and God.
This song is about God. Only in God's eyes are we complete. I don't think there is any discussion to this. Love is God. Yes this song is the ultimate love song, and can be used to convey your feelings for someone. But God's love is the ultimate, and this is about the ultimate love, wanting to be divine. It is divine love.
I want to be that complete!
I agree. In his acoustic version, he squarely gave it away when he mentioned... you and you and you... when speaking of the light and heat in your eyes. This song is about love for humanity and the struggle we all face to help save each other along with the hope and belief that we will accomplish exactly that.... by 2012 of course :-)
I think there is a discussion to this... who are you to think that your interpretation is the only correct one. Interpret it as you feel... whatever the song means to you, thats what the song means. I personally feel this song is about self discovery and a man searching for something and finding that feeling in a significant other as well... not so much the Christian God but more so to do with just love... GOD is LOVE but I have a hard time swallowing the idea that its just about the Christian God and we are complete in HIS eyes... GOD doesnt have eyes. BAH! religious people really really need to open their minds, fundamentalists tick me off. He mentions a the word "churches" in the line and you think its about GOD... give me a break. its about self discovery and love and living in the moment... and guess what, this topic is OPEN for discussion.
He seems to me to be having some struggles with this love. He says he's tired of fighting for their survival. He's trying to pull away, but cannot because his love for her trumps everything else. For some reason he cannot completely be with her and it's hurting him, but he won't give up. There's pain, emptiness, fears the moments slipping away. But he loves her so much and he's too far gone. Vulnerable. In love. Without saying a word, ignoring his pride, he reaches out from the inside anyways and expresses his love to her
I must confess I've never made any research regarding Gabriel's interviews and so forth. My impressions are: 1) There's nothing about God for sure. 2) It's related to his first marriage, the conflict that generated his exit from Genesis (his band versus his wife, both asking for more time). The line "I get so tired of working so hard for our survival" is emblematic of the probable arguments which filled his head and led him to "drive off on his car" to blow off the steam. If his marriage's problems and final dissolution provoked him into so much suffering, they also provided inspiration for masterpieces as (this song included) washing of the water and blood of Eden. 3) It's one of the most sincere and down-to-earth love songs I know.
It's not about religion, so stop thinking so literally. In Chinese culture there are muses to the hell of (whatever) I.E. The hell were people are skinned alive..etc. In this reference Peter is using a metaphor. The doorway to the church of happiness, the church of pulsating breasts, church of lifelong bliss..get it?
Ever look in someone's eyes and see your future? That is the doorway to the church of fate. chao..