1
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 mostly this song is about heroin addiction. "China White" is a brand of heroin (see also Dee Dee Ramone's "Chinese Rock" and Tom Waits' "Heartattack and Vine". There are plenty of songs where a woman is used as a metaphor for a drug ("Another Girl Another Planet" is another).
Towards the end it maybe veers off into a comment on western cultural imperialism though. Women in China and Japan are actually getting eye surgery these days to make themselves look more 'European'.
I always thought it was about China and its relationship to the West. Many of the lines fit this interpretation, including the last paragraph, where he says:<br /> <br /> My little China Girl<br /> You shouldn't mess with me<br /> I'll ruin everything you are<br /> I'll give you television<br /> I'll give you eyes of blue<br /> I'll give you men who want to rule the world<br /> <br /> It seems like he's warning China to not let itself become too westernized.<br /> <br /> The lines "I'll give you television" and "I'll give you eyes of blue" don't seem to fit with the theory that the song is about drugs.<br /> <br /> And the last line, "I'll give you men who want to rule the world" doesn't to me fit with any of the theories about a romance gone wrong.