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.
Rockets launch us to outerspace, far away from the human wasteland
We're bringing heaven to other worlds, abandoning the home fires of our birth
There are fools who believe we can't live here as one
There are wisemen who believe it still can be done
Chorus:
Who is watching the world, who is changing the balance of power
Who is watching the world, are we building a future or just standing still
We will harvest your fields of wheat for the promise of food to eat
Forging ploughs of swords of war
We can stop all this fighting and open the door
Only fools would believe we can't live here as one
Who's to say it cannot be done
(chorus repeats 2x)
Watching the world, who is watching the world
Only fools would believe we can't live here as one
Who's to say it cannot be done
(chorus repeats 2x)
Who is watching the world, watching the world, watching the world
Who is watching the world - I don't see this world changing, yeah
Who is watching the world, watching the world, watching the world
Who is watching the world... (to fade)
We're bringing heaven to other worlds, abandoning the home fires of our birth
There are fools who believe we can't live here as one
There are wisemen who believe it still can be done
Chorus:
Who is watching the world, who is changing the balance of power
Who is watching the world, are we building a future or just standing still
We will harvest your fields of wheat for the promise of food to eat
Forging ploughs of swords of war
We can stop all this fighting and open the door
Only fools would believe we can't live here as one
Who's to say it cannot be done
(chorus repeats 2x)
Watching the world, who is watching the world
Only fools would believe we can't live here as one
Who's to say it cannot be done
(chorus repeats 2x)
Who is watching the world, watching the world, watching the world
Who is watching the world - I don't see this world changing, yeah
Who is watching the world, watching the world, watching the world
Who is watching the world... (to fade)
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Watching the World Lyrics as written by Karlheinz Wallner Juergen Lang
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, SCHUBERT MUSIC PUBLISHING INC., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.