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.
Ooh
You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life
Ooh, see that girl
Watch that scene
Digging the dancing queen
Friday night and the lights are low
Looking out for a place to go
Where they play the right music
Getting in the swing
You come to look for a king
Anybody could be that guy
Night is young and the music's high
With a bit of rock music
Everything is fine
You're in the mood for a dance
And when you get the chance
You are the dancing queen
Young and sweet
Only seventeen
Dancing queen
Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah
You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life
Ooh, see that girl
Watch that scene
Digging the dancing queen
You're a teaser, you turn 'em on
Leave 'em burning and then you're gone
Looking out for another
Anyone will do
You're in the mood for a dance
And when you get the chance
You are the dancing queen
Young and sweet
Only seventeen
Dancing queen
Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah
You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life
Ooh, see that girl
Watch that scene
Digging the dancing queen
Digging the dancing queen
You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life
Ooh, see that girl
Watch that scene
Digging the dancing queen
Friday night and the lights are low
Looking out for a place to go
Where they play the right music
Getting in the swing
You come to look for a king
Anybody could be that guy
Night is young and the music's high
With a bit of rock music
Everything is fine
You're in the mood for a dance
And when you get the chance
You are the dancing queen
Young and sweet
Only seventeen
Dancing queen
Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah
You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life
Ooh, see that girl
Watch that scene
Digging the dancing queen
You're a teaser, you turn 'em on
Leave 'em burning and then you're gone
Looking out for another
Anyone will do
You're in the mood for a dance
And when you get the chance
You are the dancing queen
Young and sweet
Only seventeen
Dancing queen
Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah
You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life
Ooh, see that girl
Watch that scene
Digging the dancing queen
Digging the dancing queen
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae
Dancing Queen Lyrics as written by Bjoern K. Ulvaeus Benny Goran Bror Andersson
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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its amazing how far music can come.. 24 years after it released and its one of the most heartfelt songs ive heard
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everyone's right! this is such a happy song! it's so danceable! just about having a good time! :D
has to be one of the best songs of the 70's for sure.
i sing this song to myself while doing the happy dance.
sigh this was THE song back in my 17th year of life. it's just the most perfect dancy song i can think of. props to tha 2 singing couples.
I have the exact opposite take on the song that Saivi does. I don't think the lyrics are sad at all. Sweden is the only country in the world without a sexual double standard. Swedish women are free to go out and be sexy. It is such an advanced country that women are never called slu*s. Dancing Queen is a celebration of the feedom Swedish women have.
At one time I thought the U.S and other countries would become as advanced as Sweden. I have long since given up hope. Whenever I hear a guy criticize a woman for looking sexy or being sexual I feel so depressed. It especially makes me sad when I realize most of the guys who use criticize sexy women weren't even alive when "Dancing Queen" was released.
I don't think the Swedes theemselves fully appreciated how wonderful their culture was. They have allowed a large number of immigrants to move into their country who HATE independent, sexy women. The new immigrants are outraged that Swedish women arent "modest" They call Swedish women "hookers". This will change Swedish culture to the point where "Dancing Queen" will represent the way Sweden USED to be in an earlier, more innocent, time period.
Yes I do think about all of these issues everytime I hear "Dancng Queen"..which is one of the best pop songs of all time.
@Jay F Agreed. I see that your post was 10 years ago and, sadly, Sweden's fortunes have gotten much worse since then. Migrants have turned Sweden into the rape capital of the world. It's a tragedy.
@Jay F This comment is complete nonsense and I don't know how it got any upvotes.
This is, first and foremost, a happy song. It's about saying what you are really able to be when you get the chance. Lyrics like "Anybody could be that guy" or "leave em burning and then you're gone, looking out for another, anyone will do" represent feelings you have when you are in the top notch state of social mind. Put quite simply, this song is ABBA's tribute to happiness.
I was only ten or eleven when this came out, we played the 45 on my cousins' little red plastic kid's record player (the one with the flashing lights in the speaker on front), and hearing it through a tinny speaker still takes me back there, to the time when I first started to really appreciate music. It was the first ABBA song I ever heard, and it seemed like the ultimate expression of the exhilaration of dancing.
To the guy who was confused by "rock" and "jive" appearing in a disco song...sorry to disillusion you, but disco IS a form of rock - more akin to the old-style rock'n'roll of the 50's & early 60's than to the psychedelic rock and early metal of its time, but still a subset of rock. Rock has tried to cut all its ties to disco in its struggle to be taken seriously, so disco has become its disowned, red-headed stepchild, but you can't ignore the family resemblance. As for "jive..." the divisions between genres of American music aren't so obvious to people in other countries. Plus, "jive" was entering white slang and was used somewhat generically for a while....
people say this is my theme song. they even used to call me dancing queen. then i took an internet quiz & it said that this is my theme song. i was just like wow. it really makes me happy. these lyrics are wonderful too. tambourine - hell yeah ! you're a teaser turn them on leave them burning and then you're gone ooops ! but no, the whole song really touches me
Everything about this song is bliss. The production is so layered and the chord progressions are beautiful. Sometimes just listening to the music brings a tear to my eye. It also takes me back to the group of people I knew from 1995-1998. Good times, never quite been matched since. God bless ABBA!
You have said what I have felt so many times listening to this flawlessly-crafted gem of pop! Swirling bliss - vague disco emanations of Euro-nostalgia and unrequited love.<br /> There is some intangible hopeful sense of yearning in the actual chord progressions. They rise right to the threshold of some terrible revelation - until you realize IT"S JUST A SONG ABOUT A TEEN in a DISCOTHEQUE !!!!<br /> The drumming is so perfectly precise - and also innovative.<br /> In my case, it brings me back to the sights and sounds and faces of 8th grade: 1977.<br /> <br /> Yes - say it again - God Bless ABBA ! Don't even TRY to fight it....
This song proves that dance music can be great music even to just listen to. Incredible arrangement.
Always will feel <i>young and sweet</i>... Only [i]17[/i]