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.
Wait a minute, baby
Stay with me awhile
Said you'd give me light
But you never told me 'bout the fire
Drowning in the sea of love
Where everyone would love to drown
But now it's gone
It doesn't matter what for
When you build your house
Then call me home
And he was just like a great dark wing
Within the wings of a storm
I think I had met my match, he was singing
And undoing, and undoing the laces
Undoing the laces
Said Sara, you're the poet in my heart
Never change, never stop
But now it's gone
It doesn't matter what for
But when you build your house
Then call me home
Hold on
The night is coming and the starling flew for days
I'll stay home at night, all the time
I'd go anywhere, anywhere, anywhere
Ask me and I'm there, yeah
Ask me and I'm there, I care
In the sea of love
Where everyone would love to drown
But now it's gone
They say it doesn't matter anymore
If you build your house
Then please call me home
Sara, you're the poet in my heart
Never change, and don't you ever stop
Now it's gone
No it doesn't matter anymore
When you build your house
I'll come by
Sara
Sara
Stay with me awhile
Said you'd give me light
But you never told me 'bout the fire
Drowning in the sea of love
Where everyone would love to drown
But now it's gone
It doesn't matter what for
When you build your house
Then call me home
And he was just like a great dark wing
Within the wings of a storm
I think I had met my match, he was singing
And undoing, and undoing the laces
Undoing the laces
Said Sara, you're the poet in my heart
Never change, never stop
But now it's gone
It doesn't matter what for
But when you build your house
Then call me home
Hold on
The night is coming and the starling flew for days
I'll stay home at night, all the time
I'd go anywhere, anywhere, anywhere
Ask me and I'm there, yeah
Ask me and I'm there, I care
In the sea of love
Where everyone would love to drown
But now it's gone
They say it doesn't matter anymore
If you build your house
Then please call me home
Sara, you're the poet in my heart
Never change, and don't you ever stop
Now it's gone
No it doesn't matter anymore
When you build your house
I'll come by
Sara
Sara
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Love in a Vacuum
'Til Tuesday
'Til Tuesday
Corpse I Fell In Love With
Gadjits, The
Gadjits, The
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.
when rules change
Life in Your Way
Life in Your Way
High life
Grand Theft Auto
Insane Ian
Insane Ian
The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Sara was my favorite [song] ~ for that kind of song. Sara was, and is, the love of my life. There are different kinds of favorites. You have your miserable favorites and your happy favorites. I can't pick just one [song]. ~Stevie Nicks, Arizona Living Magazine, September 1983
Dreaming...and the wind became...crazy! And he hugged me, gently. ~Stevie Nicks, additional ending lyrics from an unreleased, 7 minute version of Sara
Sara was pretty much about Mick. So, he was the 'great dark wing'. And, ah, it was about everything that was going on at that particular time, too, but he was the, the reason for the, you know, the beginning of it. ~Stevie Nicks, MTV Fanatic, 1998
Sara [is my most personal song] It's about myself, and what all of us in Fleetwood Mac were going through at the time. The true version of that song is 16 minutes long. It's a saga with many verses people haven't heard. ~Stevie Nicks, Us magazine, July 1990
[On who Sara is] Probably my alter ego, my other self. ~Stevie Nicks, Montreal Interview
I wrote Sara on the piano, by myself. The original Sara was 16 minutes long. Like about nine more verses than what you hear on the record. It got edited down to 14 minutes, down to 11 minutes, down to 9 minutes, down to 7 minutes, down to 4 minutes and 40 seconds. I was to the point where I went, 'Is the word Sara even going to be left in the song?'
I knew that Sara would be very popular because I loved writing that song. I've had more fun writing that...I remember the night I wrote it. 'I sat up with a very good friend of mine whose name is Sara, who was married to Mick Fleetwood. She likes to think it's completely about her, but it's really not completely about her. It's about me, about her, about Mick, about Fleetwood Mac. Its about all of us at that point. There's little bits about each one of us in that song and when it had all the other verses it really covered a vast bunch of people. Sara was the kind of song you could fall in love with, because I fell in love with it... ~Stevie Nicks, Tommy Vance show, May 1994
[On whether the line in the song Sara, 'When you build your house, I'll come by' is about Don Henley, whom she was dating at the time?] (laughs) That is true. He did [build the house]. And I was in it before he finished it. ~Stevie Nicks, Us magazine, July 1990
If I ever have a little girl I will name her Sara. It's a very special name to me. I love singing it on stage. It's the absolute delight of my night. There's so much in Sara. And it is ~ the poet in my heart, for sure. ~Stevie Nicks, Jim Ladd Innerview, 1979
There were some great similarities [in the lyrics], and I never said she didn't write the words she wrote. Just don't tell me I didn't write the words I wrote. Most people think that the other party will settle out of court, but she picked the wrong songwriter. To call me a thief about my first love, my songs, that's going too far. [After a few months, the woman's lawyers finally gave up, stating] 'We believe you.' ~Stevie Nicks, on her lawsuit over the song Sara, Rolling Stone, 1981
Stevie was a "cleaning lady" before she joined FM. I believe it was her producers house that she cleaned.
Supposedly, the song is about an abortion.
jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/H/Henley_Don/2000/05/21/745953.html
The first and second verse is about one night Stevie and Mick slept together in which much to Stevie’s surprise, had the kind of sparks most only dream of having, including Stevie’s friend, Sara, whom had a crush on Mick. Because their affair was secret, the only time they could meet was at night, so Stevie would stay home and wait for Mick’s call to meet him somewhere the rest of the band wasn’t. She’s the starling who would literally fly anywhere to be with him, which were random places as he may have been married at the time as well. (When you build your house, call me home.) The bird references are throughout as she is the starling, he is the great dark wing she found comfort in and the laces he undoes are on her boots he’s taking off. The wings of the storm were Stevie and Lindsey breaking up along with Christine and John divorcing. Knowing nothing could ever come of their affair, they ended it. Mick was then free to pursue Sara and visa versa. (Said) Sara, you’re the poet in my heart is Sara and Mick proclaiming their love for each other in their eventual marriage. There’s a heartbeat and it never really died means in spite of everything, the love was still there between Stevie and Mick because it never ran it’s course and faded out, they had to end it because their band was more important. The implication is they would be together otherwise.