This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
I couldn't escape this feeling
With my China Girl
I'm just a wreck without
My little China Girl
I'd hear her heart beating
Loud as thunder
Saw the stars crashing
I'm a mess without
My China Girl
Wake up mornings, there's
No China Girl
I'd hear hearts beating
Loud as thunder
I'd see stars crashing down
I'd feel tragic, like I
Was Marlon Brando
When I'd look at my China Girl
I could pretend that nothing
Really meant too much
When I'd look at my China Girl
I'd stumble into town
Just like a sacred cow
Visions of swastikas in my head
And plans for everyone
It's in the white of my eyes
My little China Girl
You shouldn't mess with me
I'll ruin everything you are
I'll give you television
I'll give you eyes of blue
I'll give you men who want to rule the world
And when I get excited
My little China Girl says
"Oh Jimmy, just you shut your mouth"
She says "shhhh..."
With my China Girl
I'm just a wreck without
My little China Girl
I'd hear her heart beating
Loud as thunder
Saw the stars crashing
I'm a mess without
My China Girl
Wake up mornings, there's
No China Girl
I'd hear hearts beating
Loud as thunder
I'd see stars crashing down
I'd feel tragic, like I
Was Marlon Brando
When I'd look at my China Girl
I could pretend that nothing
Really meant too much
When I'd look at my China Girl
I'd stumble into town
Just like a sacred cow
Visions of swastikas in my head
And plans for everyone
It's in the white of my eyes
My little China Girl
You shouldn't mess with me
I'll ruin everything you are
I'll give you television
I'll give you eyes of blue
I'll give you men who want to rule the world
And when I get excited
My little China Girl says
"Oh Jimmy, just you shut your mouth"
She says "shhhh..."
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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I love how it starts as just another bowie imitation track and at about 2:00 he just starts screaming his head off like he's in the stooges again
You do realise that this was recorded BEFORE Bowie's version, right? Although they wrote it together, I believe.
@RobotHouse "Bowie imitation track" Jeez! Lol
i just love iggy's voice so much, i can't explain it. it's really fucking amazing. so cool, so beautiful, and yet at times so wild and primal. he's a musical god. i love both his and bowie's version, as i'm a huge bowie fan. they wrote the song together though and i think its fitting that they both had a shot at it.
Iggy Pop & David Bowie wrote this while they were recording with in France. They were recording in the same place as the French artist Jacques Higelin, and Iggy became smitten with his wife, who is Vietnamese. He confessed his love for her and she rebuked him. The song is a pretty good summary of falling for someone and not having them reciprocate; the feelings go from tender and loving to angry and frustrated. He sounds so hurt and dejected by the last line of the song... awesome recording.
must be my favourite song ever. can't believe no one commented on it. so superior to bowie's version, the vocals are unbelievable
this is one of my favorite songs.
I think this version is really beautiful and sounds very rich. I like it a lot better than Bowie's version, although I think Bowie's version is easier to understand. This is so glam, I love it.
read the book. Open up and Bleed: Iggy Pop. i just finished it. they talk about the inspiration behind it.
What is the inspiration behind it?
the first portion of the lyrics has minor inaccuracies..
here's the correct lyrics:
"I couldn't escape this feeling With my China Girl I'm just a wreck without My little China Girl I'd hear her heart beating Loud as thunder Saw the stars crashing"
Better than the bowie version IMHO. Iggy's voice feels more vulnerable and desperate, which Bowie is trying to be sensual in a kind of gross over the top kind of way.
Swastika? What is it with Bowie and Iggy when it comes to Nazis?
Though the album was recorded in France, the two guys were mostly living in Germany at the time. The town Iggy (and David) stumbled into was Berlin, hence the swastikas.