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 walking out in a force-ten gale
Birds thrown around, bullets for hail
The roof is pulling off by its fingernails
Your voice is rapping on my window-sill
Yesterday's headlines blown by the wind
Yesterday's people in a scatterbrain
Any fool can easy pick a hole
I only wish I could fall in
A moving target in a firing range
Somewhere I'm not
Scatterbrain
Somewhere I'm not
Scatterbrain
Lightning fuse, powercut
Scatterbrain
Birds thrown around, bullets for hail
The roof is pulling off by its fingernails
Your voice is rapping on my window-sill
Yesterday's headlines blown by the wind
Yesterday's people in a scatterbrain
Any fool can easy pick a hole
I only wish I could fall in
A moving target in a firing range
Somewhere I'm not
Scatterbrain
Somewhere I'm not
Scatterbrain
Lightning fuse, powercut
Scatterbrain
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Love in a Vacuum
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Spirit Within
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Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
The Spy
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Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
This song is often overlooked. It dosen't stand out on the album. That's why I like it. It's just like me.
okay...<br />
i agree with whysogreenandlonely and skatesa207. it's all about lonliness and being mind-fucked by society or a love interest. this song always reminds me of the vulnerability i have felt from having feelings for a lady; especially one u can't be with for whatever reason. scatterbrain is such a good word for this day and age; at least for me.
ohhh... this is my favourite song in hail to the thief, so far...
I think this song is about our culture of "Here today, gone tommorow".
when thom says "I only wish i could fall in" my heart sinks everytime. this song is about self loathing and feeling alone in an image based society and the shit we take in everyday that just ends up leaving us untrue..or scatterbrain. one of the best i think
extended lyrics:
somewhere I'm not in a force ten gale swimming in an oil slick pulled out by the tide broke over lines, tonadoes eye. going out o fmy mind, bad fucking vibess. somewhere I cant hear this noise. wildlife dying somewher with sunshine. poisoned or poor no sharp pains or lumps. a rare species being wiped out scattered far and wide. eyes open him confused at al oss. avoiding your gaze were the voices stop. lightning fuse. power cut. on black ice, under floorboards. just keeping afloat. somewhwer Im not just keeping afloat. fingers dead in the ice skin burning watching the growths. somewhere I cant just change sides bumper to bumper nose to tail always in my face tv ariels bendt double, ina force ten gale. watching someopne elses lights on the gangplank. ive lost my train of thought, it happens all the time. dont kno how old iam, tumbling down. dont recognize us, thinking the wrong thoughts. shoulkd maybe grow up somwhere I dont give a fuck. somwhere Im not under breaking oaks. pulling up asphalt pulling up rocks. the roots dig up the road a blobk of ice not in a rash doing bad dance. more rain,sticking rain. there used to be a field, now thers a lake. somewhere im not, sandbagging.
After seeing some footage courtesy of Al Jazeera of an Iraqi child with her skull broken open and empty, I believe Thom Yorke is illustrating what it must be like to be caught in an airstrike, and the song title must be describing what may happen to the contents of your head in that event.
This song is so amazing; gives me chills.
This song is about vulnerability.
what version are the extended lyrics on