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.
With our backs to the wall
The darkness will fall
We never quite thought
We could lose it all
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire
An empire is falling
In just one day
You close your eyes
And the glory fades
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire away
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire away
Off in the distance
There is resistance
Bubbling up and festering
Hey mr motion
Make me a potion
Shake it all up
With your mistery
How come I've never seen
Your face around here
I know every single face
Around here
A man on a mission
Changing the vision
I was never welcome here
We don't have the choice to stay
We'd rather die than
Do it your way
With our backs to the wall
The darkness will fall
We never quite thought
We could lose it all
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire
An empire is falling
In just one day
You close your eyes
And the glory fades
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire away
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire away
Checking the casing
Shaking and pacing
This is the tunnels life
Blood in the writting
Stuck in the fighting
Look through the riffle's sight
How come I've never seen
Your face around here
I know every single face
Around here
Hearing the echo
Holding the shackle
I was never welcome here
We don't have the choice to stay
We'd rather die than
Do it your way
With our backs to the wall
The darkness will fall
We never quite thought
We could lose it all
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire
An empire is falling
In just one day
You close your eyes
And the glory fades
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire away
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire away
Oh
Oh oh
Oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh
Oh
With our backs to the wall
The darkness will fall
We never quite thought
We could lose it all
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire
An empire is falling
In just one day
You close your eyes
And the glory fades
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire away
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire away
The darkness will fall
We never quite thought
We could lose it all
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire
An empire is falling
In just one day
You close your eyes
And the glory fades
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire away
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire away
Off in the distance
There is resistance
Bubbling up and festering
Hey mr motion
Make me a potion
Shake it all up
With your mistery
How come I've never seen
Your face around here
I know every single face
Around here
A man on a mission
Changing the vision
I was never welcome here
We don't have the choice to stay
We'd rather die than
Do it your way
With our backs to the wall
The darkness will fall
We never quite thought
We could lose it all
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire
An empire is falling
In just one day
You close your eyes
And the glory fades
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire away
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire away
Checking the casing
Shaking and pacing
This is the tunnels life
Blood in the writting
Stuck in the fighting
Look through the riffle's sight
How come I've never seen
Your face around here
I know every single face
Around here
Hearing the echo
Holding the shackle
I was never welcome here
We don't have the choice to stay
We'd rather die than
Do it your way
With our backs to the wall
The darkness will fall
We never quite thought
We could lose it all
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire
An empire is falling
In just one day
You close your eyes
And the glory fades
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire away
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire away
Oh
Oh oh
Oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh
Oh
With our backs to the wall
The darkness will fall
We never quite thought
We could lose it all
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire
An empire is falling
In just one day
You close your eyes
And the glory fades
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire away
Ready aim fire
Ready aim fire away
Lyrics submitted by iceblink-luck, edited by maddierose
Ready Aim Fire Lyrics as written by Alexander Junior Grant Joshua Francis Mosser
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song to me is about a rebellion. Perhaps a rebellion against the evil things in the world people just accept. But in the song he's helping to rebel against evil (after all, this song was made for ironman 3) "off in the distance, there is a resistance, bubbling and festering." So that means a rebellion is starting."a man on a mission, changing the vision, I was never welcome here" so he is basically saying that he wants to change the world for the better and defeat evils, but people are basically slaves and too afraid to stand up for what they think is right, so they just go with it. However, since he stands out and won't put up with wrongdoing, people look at him as an outsider and they look down on him for standing up against evil.
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Instantly brings up memories of The Tiananman Square Massacre, June 1989, where Chinese Government declared Marshal Law on a student lead protest that lasted 7 weeks.
Armed with assault rifles and tanks, 241 to possibly as many as 2400 civilians were killed in and outside Beijing.
Protests were predemoninantly peaceful with hunger strikes/sit-ins/occupation of the square, for social equality, democracy, freedom of press.
Also, although in Medieval times:
"According to the writings of Valerius Maximus and Florus, the king of the Teutones, Teutobod, was taken in irons after the Teutones were defeated by the Romans. Under the conditions of the surrender, three hundred married women were to be handed over as Roman slaves. When the matrons of the Teutones heard of this stipulation, they begged the consul that they might instead be allowed to minister in the temples of Ceres and Venus. When their request was denied, the Teutonic women slew their own children. The next morning, all the women were found dead in each other's arms, having strangled each other during the night. This act passed into Roman legends of Germanic heroism." - Wikipedia
So for me, this song honours all those throughout history who've stood up for what is right, but got struck down for doing so.
I thought it was "Here in the heckle" not "Hearing the echo"