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I'm Afraid Of Japan Lyrics
Nippon, won't you take me into your arms and make me
Into a sergeant, emboldened and enlargened
For some the spell was shafted, but I am in your sway
Yes, I am still enchanted by the ways of yesterday
To the public park I walk with my new wife
And in the summer heat, I lose my head
I tell her that the army needs a modus operandi
I tell her where I really went that evening in Chelsea
I tell her I don't think I'll last another single night
She says, Yeah, right
If I do it with an ice pick, will I come back as a jock?
If I fast until starvation will I be born again a Christian?
I hear that death by burning means returning as a girl
But only by seppuku can I retain my virtue
But all my efforts have only made
An army of greedy gays
Will no one read The Sound Of Waves?
Oh, oh, I am afraid.
Into a sergeant, emboldened and enlargened
For some the spell was shafted, but I am in your sway
Yes, I am still enchanted by the ways of yesterday
And in the summer heat, I lose my head
I tell her that the army needs a modus operandi
I tell her where I really went that evening in Chelsea
I tell her I don't think I'll last another single night
She says, Yeah, right
If I fast until starvation will I be born again a Christian?
I hear that death by burning means returning as a girl
But only by seppuku can I retain my virtue
An army of greedy gays
Will no one read The Sound Of Waves?
Oh, oh, I am afraid.
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I think this song is about a man struggling to accept his homosexuality. He is married to an asian girl (their bodies tend to be less curvy and developed, similar to males) but he knows he can't be with her because he is attracted to men. Chelsea is the famous gay neighbrohood in New York City. "I hear that death by burning means returning as a girl" might also mean that he is struggling with his gender as well. Seppuku is a japanese ritual of suicide samurais performed to avoid shame, so maybe he feels like he must kill himself to avoid the shame of knowing he is gay and living the lie that is his marriage.
"But all my efforts have only made An army of greedy gays"
the guy's concept was dungeons and dragons school of magic "enchantment" for this one. link: http://www.ampnet.co.uk/rock/Final_Fantasy/final_fantasy_footnotes.html
but that's hardly the song's meaning. its meaning is much more subjective.
according to interviews this song was actually inspired by japanese writer yukio mishima, who was gay and commited suicide by seppuku... http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=81&csid2=778&fid1=20815
This song refers to Uikyo Mishima and written from his perspective. You get a much better idea of the song if you read Mishima's "Confessions of a Mask" An semi-fictitious autobiography of homosexual man growing up in war time Japan (Nippon is Japanese for Japan)
"and in the summer heat I lose my head" - made me think of Sufjan Steven's "Holland" the first time I heard it. kinda odd that the lyric is so similar, although I'm sure it's a coincidence