For you younguns who don’t know what I’m talking about.
I always thought it was about a guy finally admitting he likes guys but I’ve just read two different pieces-- one that says it’s about masturbation and another that says everyone thinks it’s about masturbation but it’s not. The Femmes themselves equivocate. That’s a lot of interpretation for a song with less than 10 sentences in it.
P.S., I don’t care what The Vapors say, Turning Japanese is totally about masturbation
I honestly believe it’s just a random bunch of nonsensical verses. I read Gano saying that it was about a girlfriend of his who liked men with big hands or something and it made little sense as explanations go. I honestly believe it’s neither about that not about masturbation, it’s one of those “I got real high and I don’t know what I meant when I wrote it” songs.
Huh, I thought it was about a guy with a gastrointestinal disorder which was inflamed when he ate beets.
Don’t know the answer to your question ( other than it is a great song ), but I totally agree with you here.
Having reviewed the song in question, I totally agree with your interpretation. Guy admitting to himself that guys turn him on.
And masturbating while thinking about guys - the stain my sheets reference.
Damn if I know, really, I’ve always liked that song though.
I always thought the “stain my sheets” was about a wet dream. About a guy.
About whacking off? Yes. While thinking about other guys, not so sure.
I always thought it was the age old problem of a guy preferring to wax his carrot (Big hands I know you’re the one) to boinking (My girlfriend, she’s at the end, she is starting to cry).
And thirding that Turning Japanese is another ode to self-loving.
I’m going with, ‘‘masturbating about other dudes.’’
It’s about fast food fish sammiches.
And here I always thought it was about the importance of using a good sunscreen.
I really think so.
Where is all this guy fantasizing about guy stuff going on? I’ve heard the masturbation theory before and, sure, I can see that working , but where are others getting the “to another guy” part from?
It’s subtle but some of the clues are in how he pronounces, or pauses then pronounces certain words and phrases. He seems to be engaging in double entendre and letting the audience (if you can crack our secret gay knowledge) in on it.
I found this online (source: VH1)…
According to lead singer Gordon Gano, this song is not about masturbation as popularly thought. He wrote this song about a girl he had a crush on in high school. Gordon was sensitive about his small hands, and on the first day of school a girl came up to him, held his hands in the air, and exclaimed, “Look what small hands he has!” So, he wrote the song from the perspective of a girl lusting after a boy with big hands.
''Body beats, I stain my sheets"?
I’m willing to believe this song is about a girl, but it’s also definitely about masturbation (or wet dreams.)
Yeah, that’s what I was referring to. Thanks. And sure, that story may have been part of the stream of consciousness that formed the lyrics, but I think that it’s mostly him avoiding saying “I just strung together a bunch of sentences that sounded good in a song”.
This is what led me to believe all these years that he was singing about a certain level of gastrointestinal distress-- I thought the lyric was “If I eat up beets, I stain my sheets…”
I thought he said “Body and feets.”
Me too.
I thought it was about premature ejaculation or wet dreams…