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.
I'm young enough to see the passionate boy that I used to be
But I'm old enough to say I got a good look at the other side
I know we got to work real hard, maybe even for the rest of our lives
But right now I just want to take what I can get tonight
While the night is still young
I want to keep making love to you
While the night is still young
I'd like to settle down
Gettin' married and maybe have a child someday
I can see a time coming when I'm gonna throw my suitcase out
No more separations
Where you have to say goodnight to a telephone
Baby I've decided that ain't what this life is all about
Oh
While the night is still young
While I keep making love to you
While the night is still young
I want to try to make the world brand new
While the night is still young
Rock and Roll music was the only thing I
Ever gave a damn about
There was something that was missing
But I never used to wonder why
Now I know you're the one
Who's gonna make things right again
And I may lose the battle
But you're giving me the will to try
Oh
While the night is still young
Because the night is still young
I've got a lot of catching up I've got to do
While the night is still young
While the night is still young
Oh
While the night is still young
I want to try to make the world brand new
While the night is still young
I wanna keep making love to you
While the night is still young
While the night is still young
While the night is still young
But I'm old enough to say I got a good look at the other side
I know we got to work real hard, maybe even for the rest of our lives
But right now I just want to take what I can get tonight
While the night is still young
I want to keep making love to you
While the night is still young
I'd like to settle down
Gettin' married and maybe have a child someday
I can see a time coming when I'm gonna throw my suitcase out
No more separations
Where you have to say goodnight to a telephone
Baby I've decided that ain't what this life is all about
Oh
While the night is still young
While I keep making love to you
While the night is still young
I want to try to make the world brand new
While the night is still young
Rock and Roll music was the only thing I
Ever gave a damn about
There was something that was missing
But I never used to wonder why
Now I know you're the one
Who's gonna make things right again
And I may lose the battle
But you're giving me the will to try
Oh
While the night is still young
Because the night is still young
I've got a lot of catching up I've got to do
While the night is still young
While the night is still young
Oh
While the night is still young
I want to try to make the world brand new
While the night is still young
I wanna keep making love to you
While the night is still young
While the night is still young
While the night is still young
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its amazing how far music can come.. 24 years after it released and its one of the most heartfelt songs ive heard
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The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
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Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
This song is really beautiful but i am not sure what billy intended it to be about. I always think it is about getting the important things done while you can.
I heard an interview where BJ said the lyrics are sung by him in two tracks - a high voice (representing a young man) and a low voice (representing an old man)....but I still don't get it.
At age 37 I think I understand this song in a way I haven't been able to over the past couple of decades. There's a space in between youth and middle age that's rife with struggle, doubt, resistance to aging and regret. Lots of regret. This song captures that moment when both "worlds" come together, but youth wins by a nose.
Bill679. You've pretty much got it! I'm only 32, but life is just really starting to dawn on me. Great song, for your 30s. Sums up that time between youth and middle age well.
I think this song is about pure regret in a liberal life, maybe joel is expressing how much he regrets not having a loved one by his side, but at the time there is nothing he can do about it, so he just wants to take what he can in the meantime... He wishes to settle down, and have someone by his side, not having any separations.
I can see a time coming when I'm gonna throw my suitcase out No more separations Where you have to say goodnight to a telephone Baby I've decided that ain't what life is all about