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.
You're a song written by the hands of God
Don't get me wrong 'cause this might sound to you a bit odd
But you own the place where all my thoughts go hiding
Right under your clothes, is where I find them
Underneath your clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl, honey
'Cause of you, I forgot the smart ways to lie
Because of you, I'm running out of reasons to cry
When the friends are gone, when the party's over
We will still belong to each other
Underneath your clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl, honey
Underneath your clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl
For being such a, hey
I love you more than all that's on the planet
Movin', talkin', walkin', breathin'
You know it's true, oh baby it's so funny
You almost don't believe it
As every voice is hangin' from the silence
Lamps are hangin' from the ceiling
Like a lady tied to her manners
I'm tied up to this feeling
Underneath your clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl, honey
Underneath your clothes
Whoa oh, oh, oh
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl
For being such a good girl
Don't get me wrong 'cause this might sound to you a bit odd
But you own the place where all my thoughts go hiding
Right under your clothes, is where I find them
Underneath your clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl, honey
'Cause of you, I forgot the smart ways to lie
Because of you, I'm running out of reasons to cry
When the friends are gone, when the party's over
We will still belong to each other
Underneath your clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl, honey
Underneath your clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl
For being such a, hey
I love you more than all that's on the planet
Movin', talkin', walkin', breathin'
You know it's true, oh baby it's so funny
You almost don't believe it
As every voice is hangin' from the silence
Lamps are hangin' from the ceiling
Like a lady tied to her manners
I'm tied up to this feeling
Underneath your clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl, honey
Underneath your clothes
Whoa oh, oh, oh
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl
For being such a good girl
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anyway, it's a love song. "underneath your clothes" is both literal and deeper. it's about sex, but it's also just about closeness between two people.
I think this song plain and simple describes how much she loves this guy...... and how she is so glad that she is with him. Its a beautiful love song, there aren't very many out there recently that are about true love - most are lust filled. I am impressed with this!
@dork_the_fish I feel this one is about sex too though
my favorite line is "And of all the things I deserve For being such A good girl honey"
Ya. Probably a lot of it is cuz Shakira wrote it herself. She doesn't fit in the typical Britney-Christinia-teeny bopper-genre. This is an honest song, and she has a great voice.
Here in Colombia, we thought Shakira betrayed us because she got all comercial and she forgot about her roots, but now I see that she is trying to be true to herself and not take any more &%$% from people. I started loving her again after hearing this great song
I agree with all that say this is a beautifully written love song, but there certainly is an air of sex to it. Sex really connects people in a relationship, and it isn't strange to feel affectionate towards everything your lover is.
And, to whomever said that Shakira needs to stop dying her hair blond... how many Colombians do you know? While Shakira may dye her hair frequently, I know a handful of Colombians with simply dark roots.
i wish she still sang this live often :(
this is probably my favorite shakira song
i completely respect her as an artist, but i miss this era of her music.
just a personal opinion, and some of what i'm saying has already been mentioned, but i would agree with tinamarie in that she is not literally talking about what is underneath his clothes, but more using clothes as a metaphor for the act people put on when around strangers, which everyone does; and that she is talking about the man underneath the act the rest of the world knows.
"Because of you I forgot the Smart ways to lie"
The song can be taken at face value, just to mean that she loves him; but i think it can also be interpreted as telling us to look beneath the 'clothes'(acts) people wear, and to know the person behind them, and basically coming back to the time honoured fable of 'don't judge a book by it's cover'
please give me your opinions on my interpretation of this amazingly evocative song
love you pippa xxxxxxxxxxxx <3
I think this is my favourite song of hers. Love the lyrics "You own the place where all my thoughts go hiding / Right under your clothes, is where I find them". It's partly about sex but the connection between them is implied on a deeper level. In "'Cause of you I forgot the smart ways to lie" it's obvious that she trusts him enough to let her guard down and she is extremely proud of who he is, calling him her territory. It's very clearly a love song, she seems overwhelmed with the way she feels for him.
I really love this song!! Actually, I have fallen in love with all of Shakira's music. All of her songs sort of bring me back to my latin love...but this song especially stuck out in my head when i bought the cd and listened to it...its really a slow song, and even though I am normally listen to hard rock, I really love this song!!!