When We Were Small is a collection of songs that
describe an evolution of maturity. There is an arc,
and it is her growth and understanding of what it means
to love and what it means to get out of pain in a
relationship.
In "2 Dollar Shoes", she writes to show us that her actions
prove her love for her husband or lover. Does he or will
he notice? She says "I'll put my favorite white dress
on ... Tie my hair up the way you like ... Play your favorite
records ... Get you ready for your day". But at the end of
the song, I realize that she is in love as an adolescent,
or even younger, and is describing what she imagines life
will be like when they live together, "I'll Tuck you into
bed ... Tell you stories till you fall asleep ... and hope
that you will always be this close to me." Her emotional
growth has not yet matched the maturity of her desire. "Wedding
Day" is not about the magic she felt the day she married. It
describes her moving out on her husband and the scenes she
will encounter, as she drives carefree across the country. She
says "It's gonna be so great ... just like my wedding day." The
listener is left to infer that she felt alone and hurt on her wedding
day. In "Finish Line" she wishes strength to a friend in pain. In
"October" she describes how she would want to be loved. "I Run" is
a complex song, in which Rosie knows there are "No more swingset
for the girl who is all grown up / No more tea parties, parades, or
mothers in love". It seems that she is running from someone she
loves: "I run far from you to the watered streets of Oregon ... and
im praying that my savior would just place a gun in my hands." She
runs to escape. In the liner notes, above the song "Charlotte", there
is the date February 17. Perhaps this is the date Charlotte, the
protagonist of the song, ended her marriage and the life of her
abusive husband. The date at the top of page and the handwritten
lyrics mimic a journal entry. In "Have you seen my love?" the title
is its thesis. "Bicycle Tricycle" ends the CD with another song that
describes how to continue after a relationship. Thomas uses the tricycle
as her metaphor, which causes me to think about the title of the
album When We Were Small. This is a CD about innocence,
maturity, and pain.
I am amused by the punctuation in the lyrics provided in the liner notes.
The words are handwritten and Thomas chooses not to use common punctuation,
like commas, periods, apostrophes. The style of writing and the
artwork drive the theme of the album, that we are protected from
complicated love When We Were Small.
