1
When your mother sends back all your invitations
And your father, to your sister he explains
That you're tired of yourself and all of your creations
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Now, when all of the flower ladies what back what they have lent you
And the smell of their roses does not remain
And all of your children start to resent you
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Now, when all the clowns that you have commissioned
Have died in battle or in vain
And you're sick of all this repetition
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
When all of your advisers heave their plastic
At your feet to convince you of your pain
Trying to prove that your conclusions should be more drastic
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Now, when all of the bandits that you turn your other cheek to
All lay down their bandannas and complain
And you want somebody you don't have to speak to
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Ah won't you come see me, Queen Jane
And your father, to your sister he explains
That you're tired of yourself and all of your creations
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Now, when all of the flower ladies what back what they have lent you
And the smell of their roses does not remain
And all of your children start to resent you
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Now, when all the clowns that you have commissioned
Have died in battle or in vain
And you're sick of all this repetition
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
When all of your advisers heave their plastic
At your feet to convince you of your pain
Trying to prove that your conclusions should be more drastic
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Now, when all of the bandits that you turn your other cheek to
All lay down their bandannas and complain
And you want somebody you don't have to speak to
Won't you come see me, Queen Jane
Ah won't you come see me, Queen Jane
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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.
Here's an analysis I sent to a friend:
Lots of people have wondered who Queen Jane was in Dylan's song. Joan Baez (and others) wanted to believe it was Baez. No hope there. Dylan was fond of Baez but didn't consider her a peer, much less someone he would immortalize as a queen.
I was wondering if it was Nico from the Velvet Underground. (I suspect that Nico may be the muse of "Visions of Johanna.") But that didn't really fit. Nico was the mysterious solitary feminine, but Queen Jane has a troublesome entourage she administers with some amount of boredom, and no equal with whom to commiserate.
Then I picked up on "creations," "plastic," and "repetition," and I just knew it was Warhol. In the song's atmosphere of bored sophistication, Warhol was the perfect. Then I scanned the rest of the verses and everything else fell into place.
It also made sense that Dylan, who was quite a socially competitive guy in those days, would appeal to Warhol as an equal. Later I looked up the song on wiki and found this quote:
"However, in 1965 Dylan himself told journalist Nora Ephron that "Queen Jane is a man."
I rest my case.
Queen Jane Approximately
[Warhol: Close relationship to mother / boredom with self, art]
When your mother sends back all your invitations And your father to your sister he explains That you’re tired of yourself and all of your creations Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane? Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
[Flower Ladies: Transvestites / hangers-on]
Now when all of the flower ladies want back what they have lent you And the smell of their roses does not remain And all of your children start to resent you Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane? Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
[Clowns: Hangers-on / drug casualties / theme of repetition in W.'s art]
Now when all the clowns that you have commissioned Have died in battle or in vain And you’re sick of all this repetition Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane? Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
[Advisers/plastice: Exploding Plastic Fantastic Inevitable - Warhol's "happening"]
When all of your advisers heave their plastic At your feet to convince you of your pain Trying to prove that your conclusions should be more drastic Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane? Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
[Bandits: Gay hustlers in Warhol films / boredom]
Now when all the bandits that you turned your other cheek to All lay down their bandanas and complain And you want somebody you don’t have to speak to Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane? Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
I usually don't give credence to this sort of interpretation, but yours is really interesting. Thanks for the thoughts. Must think about it further.