Small Blue Thing

Even after 100 or more songs in her portfolio, this remains one of Vega's most enigmatic works. It is open to multiple interpretations, given its abstract vagueness.

The tone overall is one of passivity, of "being done to." The speaker imagines herself as an object, a "thing," as small as a "marble or an eye." These things are spherical, but the speaker clarifies that she is "perfectly round," too, and not only marble-sized.

She achieves this state by assuming what is known as the "fetal position": "With my knees against my mouth," like one in utero.

However, this imagery should not be taken to mean she feels infantile. Rather-- both ultimately vulnerable, yet ultimately protected. Later, she says she feels fragile, "made of china, made of glass." Accordingly, she is also "smooth."

We learn two more things. One is her temperature. She is "cold," then merely "cool" (which could also mean "aloof"). This was somewhat foreshadowed by the mention that she is "blue," usually a color associated with cold (a blue flame notwithstanding!).

We also learn another way she is "like... an eye"-- she is attentive. "I am watching you," she says, and later, also somewhat ominously (and even omnisciently?) "I never blink." She also says she is "curious," which also could mean "deserving of curiosity," but here probably means it in its usual sense, given that the next words are about being unblinking.

These are the elements that define her, then-- the adjectives, if you will. In the chorus, we see the verbs with which she is acted upon.

She begins by explaining that she is in contact with the other. Just so we don't have two sets of female pronouns to keep track of, let's say this is a man. She is in contact with his "skin," so she is touching him.

But then this contact is lost, and she is merely "reflecting" him. So we know now that the object's surface is closer to a mirror than to opaque "china," a translucent toy "marble," or transparent "glass."

This is interesting, given that she repeatedly evokes the idea that she is observing him. Evidently, they can see each other, but she can see him better.

Next, she begins a series of movements; we will trace their trajectory. She begins in his "pocket," where she is "lost." He is in complete possession of her, to the degree that she does not know her own orientation in space. No, she has not broken contact, ask she is being touched by his "fingers," which is even more disorienting. However, at no time does she feel that this is troubling, but, it seems, pleasurable.

Now, we truly begin to see some motion. The first move is a jostling descent: "I am falling down the stairs," and not, say, rolling down a hill. Then there is a lateral movement, but also with some fluctuations and oscillations: "I am skipping on the sidewalk."

Then, a sudden, propulsive ascent! "I am thrown against the sky."

Rather than shattering on impact, she shatters while aloft, to begin "raining down in pieces," perhaps like a firework. Lastly, she becomes diffuse: "I am scattering like light."

I submit that this entire passage, taken together, describes sexual climax. First, we have "fingers" in a "pocket" (which is denoted as his, but that could be part of the sexual submissiveness and passivity). Then, a deepening sensation, a series of tremors, an up-swinging release... and pervasive sense of never having quite landed, but simply dispersed. Graphed on an x-y axis, it would match a chart generated by Masters and Johnson.

Until now, she has been passive and aloof. She has been observant and acted-upon.

Now, she responds with a positive action. As a sphere, she cannot do much but rotate. And that, she does. "I am turning in your hand."

This could refer to erotic writhing. But, perhaps, also something more emotional. In his hand, she feels herself "turning." She is changing her position, in the metaphoric sense, on the idea of a relationship with him.

She had been "cool" to the idea of a romance with him. On the sofa, or perhaps the bed, she was curled up in self-protection. But his insistent "fingers" uncurled her until she "lost" her reserve. And then she felt like she was "falling... skipping... thrown... and scattered."

She felt so fragile. But once she trusted him and found her trust not only not betrayed but rewarded, she began turning.

Has she fully "warmed" to him? Not yet, as we don't see any word of that nature. But... she is turning.


Next Song: Straight Lines