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.
It doesn't take a genius
To tell me what I am
Or lecture me with poetry
And tell me that I can
I don't remember
What happened yesterday
But I don't give a damn about
What all those people say
It takes years to find the nerve
To be apart from what you've done
To find the truth inside yourself
And not depend on anyone
It takes years to find the nerve
To be apart from what you've done
To find the truth inside yourself
And not depend on anyone
It don't take no Houdini
To tell me what I am
Parasites and literates
They'd burn me if they can
But I don't give a damn about
What those people say
They pick you up and kick you out
They hurt you every day
It takes years to find the nerve
To be apart from what you've done
To find the truth inside yourself
And not depend on anyone
It takes years to find the nerve
To be apart from what you've done
To find the truth inside yourself
And not depend on anyone
It takes years to find the nerve
To be apart from what you've done
To find the truth inside yourself
And not depend on anyone
It takes years to find the nerve
To be apart from what you've done
To find the truth inside yourself
And not depend on anyone
To tell me what I am
Or lecture me with poetry
And tell me that I can
I don't remember
What happened yesterday
But I don't give a damn about
What all those people say
It takes years to find the nerve
To be apart from what you've done
To find the truth inside yourself
And not depend on anyone
It takes years to find the nerve
To be apart from what you've done
To find the truth inside yourself
And not depend on anyone
It don't take no Houdini
To tell me what I am
Parasites and literates
They'd burn me if they can
But I don't give a damn about
What those people say
They pick you up and kick you out
They hurt you every day
It takes years to find the nerve
To be apart from what you've done
To find the truth inside yourself
And not depend on anyone
It takes years to find the nerve
To be apart from what you've done
To find the truth inside yourself
And not depend on anyone
It takes years to find the nerve
To be apart from what you've done
To find the truth inside yourself
And not depend on anyone
It takes years to find the nerve
To be apart from what you've done
To find the truth inside yourself
And not depend on anyone
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
It's a song about not letting pretentious people for telling you how wrong your steps on life have been. You and only you can find the right answers for your own life and no matter how many mistakes you've been commited, you are totally able to start again every time you're gonna fall. Follow your way without caring about those people that just want to put you down on judging your acts. It can take a long time, but you will find your own truth, which you cannot find in any book, not even in the most brilliant one.
From the jump, the driving propulsion of this song, is a dizzying realization and revelation. This is spiritual pop! "All the way" reflects a dazzling wonderfully mature grounding. The ethereal jangles supporting the chorus convey the wonder of self-acceptance and/or self-forgiveness ("to be apart from what you've done" can be taken that way as well). "To find the truth inside yourself/and not depend on anyone" (The emphasis "truth" and "inside your-seelf" !!). It takes years to find this "nerve", in fact, it can be a monumental reach.
New Order is always great at broadly painting the societal forces that bear on us so strongly in simple yet profound ways. One of their great lines is "lecture me with poetry/and tell me that I can" reflecting the bromides of smiling middle class culture patronizingly telling you 'you can do it'. "Parasites and litricites" only savaging because they can. This lecturing of the small-minded (and maayyybe the music press), academia and the hanger-ons who want to tear you down is all a blur here. It's a lot of noise as Sumner's voice brushes them off with the sardonic "it doesn't take a genius" and "it don't take no Houdini" lines. Sumner reflects on this low-level pettiness, realizes it's vacuity ("I don't give a damn about what all those people say"), and points to a new direction, a wonderful new order.
As I read it, the title "All the Way" is a commitment to go all the way with yourself. The lingering keyboard lines create a new world after this realization. And those guitar riffs after the second chorus are uplifting turbo-boosters into pop paradise. This is one of those pop songs that no matter what happens in life, I always got it in my backpocket. It's a life-saving song all the way.
this is the good stuff.
Does anyone else see a huge similarity with the cure's 'just like heaven'? Seems at least very inspired by it to me.
@Valkyriebs41 New order and the Cure have a lot of songs very similar to each other. Pictures of You lifts loads of things from the Village. Its really fun to see how they both inspired each other.