# Is Blister In The Sun about masturbation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2015, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blister-in-the-sun-about-masturbation/708809 "2015-01-02T22:22:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blister-in-the-sun-about-masturbation/708809/21 "2015-01-04T04:06:59Z")
What does a blister on the sun refer to? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blister-in-the-sun-about-masturbation/708809/22 "2015-01-04T04:10:14Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > What does a blister on the sun refer to? The singer blisters in the sun. Maybe the sun is a reflection on being ginger. While jacking off to Furry Bear magazine. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blister-in-the-sun-about-masturbation/708809/23 "2015-01-04T04:17:56Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > What does a blister on the sun refer to? It’s a simile. The real question is why he’s going white. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blister-in-the-sun-about-masturbation/708809/24 "2015-01-04T04:34:47Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > 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”._ That’s more-or-less what I think is going on here. It’s just words that sound good together that kind of make sense and might have some thematic coherence but, then again, they might not. It’s not a completely uncommon form of songwriting. I’m not convinced it’s explicitly “about” masturbation, and I don’t get the homosexual angle at all. I just can’t figure out how people are getting that. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blister-in-the-sun-about-masturbation/708809/25 "2015-01-04T04:43:04Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That’s more-or-less what I think is going on here. It’s just words that sound good together that kind of make sense and might have some thematic coherence but, then again, they might not. It’s not a completely uncommon form of songwriting. I’m not convinced it’s explicitly “about” masturbation, and I don’t get the homosexual angle at all. I just can’t figure out how people are getting that. I assume it’s the _“big hands, I know you are the one”_ line. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blister-in-the-sun-about-masturbation/708809/26 "2015-01-04T04:56:41Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > I assume it’s the _“big hands, I know you are the one”_ line. Ah. In the context of the masturbation interpretation, I always heard that lyric as addressing the singer’s own hands. But I never really quite bought the masturbation interpretation of this song (although I can see some of the imagery suggesting it.) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blister-in-the-sun-about-masturbation/708809/27 "2015-01-04T11:54:26Z")
The song is HUGE when played in a cover-band context. Gets the biggest dance-crowd, sing-along engagement every time. I just sing it with a vaguely sexy-sneery-shaky tone. That’s about all the lyrics require. As I think about them, yeah, I guess I assumed they were basically that he felt sexual tension all the time - like a blister in the sun - and all the other lyrics are word salad related to that. Maybe a bit of a sense that his girlfriend is upset because he whacks off all the time, but it’s the only way he can relieve the tension. Simply because it fits the sexy-sneery-shaky vibe I get from it. Ultimately, though, it’s just catchy. The VF’s have a few like that - they just get stuck in your head. Add it Up, Gone Daddy Gone… ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blister-in-the-sun-about-masturbation/708809/28 "2015-01-04T13:26:32Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That’s more-or-less what I think is going on here. It’s just words that sound good together that kind of make sense and might have some thematic coherence but, then again, they might not. It’s not a completely uncommon form of songwriting. I’m not convinced it’s explicitly “about” masturbation, and I don’t get the homosexual angle at all. I just can’t figure out how people are getting that. The delivery must have something to with it. I mean, they are the Violent _Femmes_ after all. [QUOTE=Femme] a lesbian or an effeminate male homosexual who takes a traditionally feminine sexual role. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blister-in-the-sun-about-masturbation/708809/29 "2015-01-04T13:28:13Z")
To my knowledge, they picked the name because _Femme_ was used as an insult by the “cool kids” against Gano at school. Lemme check…and it appears I am incorrect: > [@](#): > > Violent Femmes was founded by bassist Brian Ritchie and percussionist Victor DeLorenzo following the demise of the initial wave of American punk rock, and became a full-fledged band upon the arrival of lead vocalist and guitarist Gordon Gano. According to Ritchie, he came up with the name of the group as a fake band name when one of his bandmates questioned his assertion that his brother was also in a band—he and DeLorenzo liked the name, so they used it for the rhythm duo they played in prior to Gano joining the group.[5] In its early days, the band frequently played coffee houses and street corners. They were discovered by James Honeyman-Scott (of The Pretenders) on August 23, 1981, when the band was busking on a street corner in front of the Oriental Theatre, the Milwaukee venue that The Pretenders would be playing later that night. Chrissie Hynde invited them to play a brief acoustic set after the opening act.[6] From Wikipedia: [Violent Femmes - Wikipedia](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violent_Femmes) ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blister-in-the-sun-about-masturbation/708809/30 "2015-01-04T15:29:24Z")
It seems to me that some songwriters like to make a game of saying their songs aren’t really about [topic] when in fact they are totally obviously about [topic], and then smirking in self-satisfaction at the fans who take their word for it. Yes, _Blister In The Sun_ is about masturbation. Half the songs I listened to in the 80’s were about masturbation - _She Bop, Turning Japanese_… ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blister-in-the-sun-about-masturbation/708809/31 "2015-01-04T16:26:43Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Yes, _Blister In The Sun_ is about masturbation. Half the songs I listened to in the 80’s were about masturbation - _She Bop, Turning Japanese_… I wouldn’t have thought songs on this topic are incredibly common, but in retrospect I can think of quite a few. My favorite song about masturbation is a 90s song - Green Day’s _Longview_. (Also about depression.) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blister-in-the-sun-about-masturbation/708809/32 "2015-01-04T18:42:26Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > 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). That was always my take: “You’re masturbating, but you won’t have sex with _me_?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blister-in-the-sun-about-masturbation/708809.md?page=1)