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 don't know
Because she says so
He's a faggot boy
The TV says so
He's a junkie piece of shit because he says so
All that first-class jet set brings me down, down, down
All that first-class drug shit brings me down, down, down
It's a big machine, it's a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
It's a big machine, it's a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
All tied up to a big machine
I got houses
Got cars
I got a wife
I got kids
Got money in the bank
Get away without borders
I'm a slave, New World Order
I guess I chose to be
I guess I chose to be
I guess I chose to be
I guess I chose to be
All that first-class jet set brings me down, down, down
All that first-class drug shit brings me down, down, down
It's a big machine, it's a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
It's a big machine, it's a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
All tied up to a big machine
I got houses
Got cars
I got a wife
I got kids
Got money in the bank
Hope I teach my son how to be a man
Now before he hits thirty five
Comic book lives don't really have any real life do they now
Hope I teach my son how to be a man
Now before he hits thirty five
Comic book lives don't really have any real life do they now
I don't know
Because she says so
He's a faggot boy
The TV says so
He's a junkie piece of shit because he says so
All that first-class jet set brings me down, down, down
All that first-class drug shit brings me down, down, down
It's a big machine, it's a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
It's a big machine, it's a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
All tied up to a big machine
I got houses
Got cars
I got a wife
I got kids
Got money in the bank
We're all slaves to a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
It's a big machine, it's a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
It's a big machine, it's a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
All tied up to a big machine
I got houses
Got cars
I got a wife
I got kids
Got money in the bank
Because she says so
He's a faggot boy
The TV says so
He's a junkie piece of shit because he says so
All that first-class jet set brings me down, down, down
All that first-class drug shit brings me down, down, down
It's a big machine, it's a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
It's a big machine, it's a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
All tied up to a big machine
I got houses
Got cars
I got a wife
I got kids
Got money in the bank
Get away without borders
I'm a slave, New World Order
I guess I chose to be
I guess I chose to be
I guess I chose to be
I guess I chose to be
All that first-class jet set brings me down, down, down
All that first-class drug shit brings me down, down, down
It's a big machine, it's a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
It's a big machine, it's a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
All tied up to a big machine
I got houses
Got cars
I got a wife
I got kids
Got money in the bank
Hope I teach my son how to be a man
Now before he hits thirty five
Comic book lives don't really have any real life do they now
Hope I teach my son how to be a man
Now before he hits thirty five
Comic book lives don't really have any real life do they now
I don't know
Because she says so
He's a faggot boy
The TV says so
He's a junkie piece of shit because he says so
All that first-class jet set brings me down, down, down
All that first-class drug shit brings me down, down, down
It's a big machine, it's a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
It's a big machine, it's a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
All tied up to a big machine
I got houses
Got cars
I got a wife
I got kids
Got money in the bank
We're all slaves to a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
It's a big machine, it's a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
It's a big machine, it's a big machine
We're all slaves to a big machine
All tied up to a big machine
I got houses
Got cars
I got a wife
I got kids
Got money in the bank
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
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.
Techno Ted
Audioslave
Audioslave
Techno Ted may be a person who caused Chris incredible emotional pain & trepidation as well as moments of peace & happiness but now is removed and awaiting his fate. Darling may be a different person who is also free of him and can live her life free of Ted's tyranny. "In between all the laughing, and daydreams ... lies: a desert of truth" Lies are like a desert or the omission of Truth: Where there were Lies then Truth was absent. The song, "Techno Ted", may be a cathartic celebration of the downfall of this person.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
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”
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
The jist of the song I think basically means the hole world is livin in a big machine, he's livin in one... everyone is. 'Big Machine' refering to the Tv, radio...any kind of media shuving sh*t into your head. At least thats what he's probably trying to get across in the song, dont let them con you into thinking you need a big house, or you are a faggot cause you dont wear this and that, so on and so forth.
I would agree that this song is aimed at what the media makes up about people, certainly on behalf of himself, but also others suffering, what they do. But when he says "I guess i chose to" it refers to the fact that he choose this life maybe? When he says "Hope I teach my son how to be a man Now before he hits 35" it possibly refering to what the media says about him being gay or what not, which is supposedly a result of him not being masculine enough, so if he shows his son how to be a man he wont be gay, hence "Hope I teach my son how to be a man" i dunno im probably wrong.
Simple enough, society is a machine and we're all trapped in it. Whether we know it or not.
personally, i thought this song is about scott and his how his personal life (drug problems, marriage...etc) is portrayed in the media.
About Scott and his portrayal by the media.
"He's a faggot boy, The TV says so..."
About how he's constantly thought of being gay when he's been married twice and has 2 kids.
yeah its a classic meaning and how people critizing him when hes just a celeb.
What about the part mentioning his son before his becomes 35? I didn't get that part with comic books and stuff...
i always make typos but i think ull get the jist of it
I love this song it rocks way hard. Nothing is better than going down the road and blasting this song at full volume.
Pressure