Sex Changes

I think the song is about gender re-evaluation; the explicit lyrics are about replacing a penis with a vagina. "One never-ending 'hope you're feeling better'" is the result of any major surgery, "no money back once you've been ripped off" is the loss of the penis, "the boy's'll murder for it but what will the neighbors say"- a vagina- "it leaves you feeling pretty hollow"- replacing a protrusion with an orfice, "love to have a little thing with which to play"- a penis; many other lines refer to about the same sort of thing (keep on beating it tomorrow, stick it in you never know when it will end, etc). The primary thrust of the song seems to be a male-to-female change, but there are references to it either failing or a female-to-male change.

My favorite line is probably "Of course it's what's inside that matters." So many meanings...

The Macbeth analysis is freaking brilliant. As I understand it, Lady Macbeth is considered a literary symbol of transgenderism by the modern GBLT etc community.

Did anyone else catch the Macbeth allusions?

"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" - one of the most famous speeches in the play. It's about the passage of time, which is perverted and made unnatural in the duration of the play. There are also lots of other references to time in the song ("tick tock tick tock," etc.)

"Starting from the time you get this letter...it might not be what you expected" - The witches prophecy that Macbeth will be king, but instead of this being a joyous thing he starts murdering everything and things get more and more terrible.

"You're big enough to stop pretending" - Illusion plays a big part in Macbeth. At first Lady Macbeth is completely fine with all the murder and is convinced that she and her husband can still be pure and innocent. Over time though she realizes the horror of what's going on.

"Boys will be boys...they always said that sex would change you" - Over the course of the play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth somewhat change places in terms of traditional gender roles. When at first he's reluctant to commit the murders, she teases him and says he's not being manly enough. She also rejects traditional motherhood and is very driven to attain a higher status (like a man, traditionally, at least in Shakespeare's time.) Later though Macbeth gets caught up in all the murdering and is a "man," but a crazy one.

"The knife is nearing" - Macbeth hallucinates a bloody knife hovering toward him before committing his first murder.

"The whole charade is ending...caught up in a long life of regretting" - Macbeth often expresses sentiments that he is jealous of the people he's killed, because he's so tortured by what he's done. He feels like death is the only true peacefulness.

"Once you get a taste for it you keep on cutting" - Once he commits one murder he can't stop.

"You never know when it will end, tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" - At the end of the play Macbeth, now king, is killed. At the beginning of the play he killed the original king, so it's like the cycle is starting over.

....I don't know how that all meshes with the other interpretations of the song, which all seem pretty sound. But we just studied Macbeth and this song just jumped out at me...thoughts?

It is about how sex changes you. (title, hello.) And I think its more concering teens.

First verse- Now that you've had sex thing are goign to get really complicated. Its not what most teenages probably imagine, but its not like you can un-pop the cherry.

Second and third verse- all the guys want it, but you have to worry about reputations. sex may be 'in', but it'll hurt you if you're not mentally ready for it, and people will probably be able to tell that something's up.

Fourth- You should stuff your feelings and just fuck, since sex isn't about love anymore. otherwise you're just making things more complicated for yourself.

Fifth- About how boys and girls think of each other concering sex. How they use each other

Sixth- Too late to take it back, and now things are all complicated and stuff. Reassures you that he love you, even though your know it most likely is just for the sex.

Last- Oh whatever, just do it. I can take it, since its going to happen anyway.

Eh, prolly a little off.

(and I've just about beaten the word 'complicated' to death, but i can't think of any synonyms. :P )

Since this song is obviously a reference to abortion, I think the following line is about a biological clock.

"we'll need to chop your clock off (tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock)"

When you kill your baby your biological clock keeps ticking away.

"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" reminds me of Macbeth's famous speech. I wonder if Amanda thought of that when writing that song. (Maybe it's my nerd speaking.) For those who don't know it: Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

I always thought this song was a satire/parody of how the far right think of gender reassignment surgery with the transphobic idea of people regretting their surgeries(the reminder of "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow")and the brutal imagery("CHOP your clock off","keep on CUTTING")which,as far as I've seen,is how transphobes think of gender reassignment as something violent and/or predatory and i think in this song those ideas are played for laughs and/or a political message

ahh the damn truth here .. the first person ive ever heard say this .

i love this song. she expresses everything so perectly. and so true

what i don't understand is what exacly she's saying.

alright, at first glimps i assume this song is about cosmetic surgery and the like, but then referancing the name there are implications that the cosmetic surgery is gender reassignment and than there are just some other things hinted at too that are a bit under my radar i guess. either way, i do love this song, especialy singing the ohwohoh parts.

I think its more about how sex changes teens.

First verse- Now that you've had sex things are going to get very complicated. Its probably not how you expected it, but its not like you can un-pop the cherry.

Second and third verse- All the guys want it, but you have to worry about reputations. Sex is a 'cool thing' to do, but if you're not mentally ready for it, it'll hurt you, and people will be able to tell that something's up.

Fourth- You should just stuff your feelings and fuck, since sex isn't about love anymore. Otherwise you're just making things overly complicated for youself.

Fifth- About how boys and girls think of each other about sex. How that use each other.

Sixth- Its too late to take it back now, everything is very confusing now. Reassures you that its because he loves you, even though you know its just for the sex.

Last- Oh whatever, just do it. I can take it, and its bound to happen anyway.

Its probably a bit off. And i used the word 'complicated' a bit too much...