Ruth recently reminded me of Suzanne Vega, a musician I loved to listen to back in college. I had the cassette version of her 1985 album, and there were several songs on it that I loved.

My favorite was “Small Blue Thing”:

Today I am
A small blue thing
Like a marble
Or an eye
With my knees against my mouth
I am perfectly round
I am watching you

You can read the rest of the lyrics here, along with some of her comments about it. Apparently this song has been understood in many ways, including as a statement about autism, feminism, and love. To me it’s always been simply an imaginative speculation, playful at the surface, very tactile, but reflecting truthfully a certain kind of emotional experience in momentary shimmers. It politely resists too much analysis. Here’s what Vega has to say about it, followed by her performance of the song:

Sometimes, when I ask the audience to ask me questions, I’ll get strange questions like: “Well, what is the Small Blue Thing?” or, “Why do you feel like a Small Blue Thing?” If I could answer those questions, I wouldn’t need to write the songs, I would just explain what I meant.”

This week I read Vega’s The Passionate Eye, a compilation of her writings that includes an interview with Leonard Cohen. Review is here. The Poetry Friday roundup is at Under the Covers today. Head on over to savor a few, or post one of your own.