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.
All these people drinking lover's spit
They sit around and clean their face with it
And they listen to teeth to learn how to quit
Tied to a night they never met
You know it's time
That we grow old and do some shit
I like it all that way, I like it all that way
All these people drinking lover's spit
Swallowing words while giving head
They listen to teeth to learn how to quit
Take some hands and get used to it
You know it's time
That we grow old and do some shit
I like it all that way, I like it all that way
I like it all that way
They sit around and clean their face with it
And they listen to teeth to learn how to quit
Tied to a night they never met
You know it's time
That we grow old and do some shit
I like it all that way, I like it all that way
All these people drinking lover's spit
Swallowing words while giving head
They listen to teeth to learn how to quit
Take some hands and get used to it
You know it's time
That we grow old and do some shit
I like it all that way, I like it all that way
I like it all that way
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Love in a Vacuum
'Til Tuesday
'Til Tuesday
The Spy
Doors, The
Doors, The
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?
Step
Ministry
Ministry
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.
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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.
I've read interviews on many occasions where Kevin Drew (who wrote the song) has sait it was a song he wrote fro his wife. All he said about the song was that it's basically about loving the one you're with (wanting to grow old with them) and not wasting time in pointless meaningless relationships. I was also at a live show and right before the first chords he said this "Love the one your with" His wife also appears in the lover's spit video on the BSS website
Yes, five years later, Kevin still says "Love the one you're with" after performing this song. This meaning is spot on :)
Thanks for posting this. I love when I get some insight on the artist's intentions and meanings. This just touched me sweetly. Thank you.
I don't know about that. I mean, sure the song is talking about giving head. But I get something a little deeper out of it. I think it's a cry out against meaningless love; there seems to be a desire for this Socratic ascension to find real love and real happiness. "It's time we grow old and do some shit." He's saying... let's quit fucking around and do soemthing that means something.
i completely agree with this. And as for the comments about this song being about a gay couple....even if this is true, there's no way of really proving it, and it doesn't matter. the message stays the same no matter the gender of the subjects....
fellatio and naivete, this is why I love this band.
this song is like the epiphany of realizing that you want more than just sex to connect with someone. One day you open your eyes to realize that you've been just experiencing physical closeness with another person for whatever reason.
Protection? Fear?
I think this song is beautiful and captures the reality of today. People have lost the ability to believe in love so they just fuck...and while this song is like an anthem to our generation...maybe its also telling us to want more. Its ok to want more. Its ok to want to experience emotional love and not just sex in order to connect with someone else.
And perhaps realize that while we hide our desire to actually love in fucking people we don't, we are holding ourselves back from truly loving ourselves and someone else so that we can have both: Sex and Love
I first heard this song in the movie Lie With Me ...great film.
the version of this on the Bee Hives ep is beautiful. such a great song.
andrew whiteman wrote Im Still Youre Fag, Kevin Drew wrote this song.
n439.., I wish it didn't bother you. We can all appreciate the work of homo/bisexual artists (Tori Amos, Freddie Mercury, kd lang, Broken Social Scene, even Dusty Springfield. It's about the love, not the bumsex.
As for the song, I saw it as feeling alienated by "all these people" (not the singer?), "drinking lover's spit" - is this disgust or simply a new way of looking at fellatio? "Clean their face with it" certainly seems to be disgust and incomprehension.
To be hones, it's yet another BSS song that I can't make head nor tail of.
Let me just say that this song introduced me to Broken Social Scene and I LOVE it.
But I heard that the song is about giving head but not wanting to and regreting it
"Swallowing words while giving head" Maybe you just want to say no but do it anyway
to me, this song is about all the people just trying to get laid, and falling for each other's bull. "lover's spit" are those sweet nothings a guy tells you to get into your pants and basically the lies and compliments exchanged during flirting. especially the "tied to the night they never met part", you never really met him, it was just sex.
Nice.
maybe its about..people who think love will solve all their problems? to the point where they ignore all problems just to trick themself into thinking its working.
im kind of guessing. anyone else have ideas?