The song starts with the diagnosis of the patient's temperature and "stable" status, but then adds the prognosis "...with rising possibilities." That's not usually what a doctor says... what is it that might actually be rising? Hmmm....
Also, the prescription? "Stay awake at night." A doctor faced with a real fever might suggest sleep instead.
So this seems to be a couple engaged in some sort of sexy medical role play. The line "it could be normal, but it isn't quite" seems to belie a hidden kink as well.
There is a lot of repetition in this song-- it seems to have multiple choruses. The bridge is only sung once. "Pale as a candle" is a nice line because it evokes something pallid, yes, but also aflame (it's not "pale as snow," or "wool.")
The metaphor of contagion is used to evoke the idea that one person's passion could ignite another's: "If I touch you/ I might get what you've got."
One repeated element is this verse: "Something cool against the skin/ Is what you could be needing." This is almost certainly a reference to the song "Small Blue Thing," with its line: "I am cold against your skin."
The implication of "If I touch you," is that she hasn't yet, so this reinforces the idea that she is still "cool" while he is warm with his... temperature(?) still "rising."
In a later song on this album, "If You Were in My Movie," Vega again explores the idea of romantic role play, and this doctor/patient game is one of the scenarios described.
It is probably not all that surprising that someone so focused on medical issues could sexualize the idea. If hospital visits were consuming someone's time, this might be a natural way to take ownership of that unwelcome circumstance.
Next Song: Blood Sings
No comments:
Post a Comment