So Small

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a picture of a quiet, almost melancholic scene on a Montreal porch as the sun sets. The narrator observes someone catching flies "for fun," a simple, perhaps aimless, activity. This immediate image establishes a tone of gentle observation, tinged with a sense of insignificance, as the repeated phrase "So small" underscores throughout. The core tension seems to stem from an internal feeling of diminishment or a loss of vitality, which the narrator explicitly states isn't due to external factors like drink. Instead, the lyrics suggest a more profound, perhaps self-inflicted, source of this feeling. The line "If you assume / That what you say is your own doom" hints at a mindset where negative self-talk or a pessimistic outlook actively contributes to a sense of decay, even as the narrator acknowledges that "flowers bloom in light just right." The most striking craft element is the juxtaposition of the personal "I feel" with the collective "they've had / To sip" and the subsequent imagery of wilting flowers and withering grass. This shift from individual experience to a broader, almost natural, cycle of decline reinforces the "so small" motif. The crow's call, a traditional harbinger of ill omen, further amplifies this feeling of inevitable decay and insignificance. Ultimately, the effectiveness of these lyrics lies in their understated portrayal of existential unease. By grounding profound feelings of smallness and decay in specific, yet ordinary, images like catching flies and wilting flowers, the writing creates a quiet, resonant impact. The contrast between the potential for beauty ("flowers bloom") and the pervasive sense of decline makes the narrator's feeling of being "so small" feel both personal and universally understood.