Karma Chameleon

Boy George was in the band Culture Club. He is gay (you didn't know - gasps) and was having a secret affair with the drummer of the band. So the song is about that:

I listen to YOUR lies would YOU say I'm a MAN without conviction I'm a MAN who doesn't know How to sell a contradiction

Would YOU say that I'm a MAN....

The affair is secret so the lover is angry that he would be "outted".

He came and went - could not make up his mind = contradiction.

Love would be easy is you let your true colors shine through. The way you are with me (when they are together but also in his dreams). But your FEAR makes it very difficult. They fight (rival) over this.

I think green just happens to rhyme with dream... no importance.

the song is about fear that people have, the fear of standing up for one thing. It's about trying to suck up to everybody like if you aren't true, if you don't act like you feel, then you get Karma-(justice), that's nature's way of paying you back."

UrJoking, THANK YOU. That's the only sensible SongMeaning I've seen for this song. :P

I saw the comments about the song being about a woman and nearly fell off my chair, by the way.

Anyway, apart from him being a scary dirty old man, Boy George is pretty fucking awesome.

her??? maybe i meant 'him'...wups

Here is my take (combining info from other posts and my guesses):

It's about his relationship with the drummer. The fact he was a bisexual and wouldn't commit signals a lot of the metaphors in the song:

'Desert Loving': In a desert you see an oasis which isn't really there.

'If I listened to your lies..I don't know how to sell a cotradiction': Lies reinforce the oasis in first line and not being able to sell or carry off the drummers bisexuality(contradiction) was the reason the drummer broke it off.

'Come and go': bisexuality and commitment to the relationship

'Chameleon': bisexual

'Red, Gold and Green': I think it signifies blacks(the african flag). The comparison is blacks to gays. Blacks are black they can't change it and it's obvious to everyone. In his dreams ('loving would be easy if the colors were like my dreams'), he wishes his partner was gay like blacks are black. Not able to change sides or hide.

Okay, submitted a typo - desert loving isn't the right lyric. My interpretation:

Is the loving in your eyes all the way? If I listened to your lies would you say I'm a man without conviction, I'm a man who doesn't know How to sell a contradiction? You come and go, You come and go

I always believed "come and go" is a play on words here - meaning that his partner is different in bed than when they're not sleeping together. Like as soon as they cum, he's out the door. The narrator's in a double bind because if he stands up for himself he can lose his lover, but if he doesn't, he feels like his lover doesn't respect him for going along with the lies and he might lose him anyway. He just can't win. What he's really wondering throughout this song is does his partner even want the relationship to work, and is it possible to fix things?

Karma karma karma karma karma chameleon You come and go you come and go Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams: Red Gold and Green, Red Gold and Green

I like the explanation someone else gave about Red Gold and Green being a symbol of political opinions (Rastafarian, etc) being a source of conflict. In many ways, the couple here just isn't right together. They have different values. As for karma chameleon, for some reason I think he used karma because it sounded good, but he probably meant "aura." Back in the 80s, a lot of the target audience wouldn't have known the difference anyway.

Didn't hear your wicked words every day And you used to be so sweet I heard you say that my love was an addiction When we cling our love is strong When you go you're gone forever You string along

George is coming to terms with his own denial of the change in the relationship. Again, the lover is sweet as anything until he's gotten what he wants, then he's consumed with bitterness, leaving and coming back over and over again. It's possible the lover is even having difficulty coming to terms with his homosexuality and taking it out on the narrator. So sweet as the lover used to be, George is starting to hear the wicked words and take them seriously as a problem.

Every Day is like survival You're my lover not my rival

This seems to indicate jealousy (possibly over George's greater fame?) but not just that, the feeling that the relationship is a struggle, the only thing that's working is the sex and the dawning realization that as much as he wants this to work, his lover just isn't open or honest enough for that to be possible. But he never quite makes up his mind in this song.

In an interview, Culture Club frontman Boy George explained: "The song is about the terrible fear of alienation that people have, the fear of standing up for one thing. It's about trying to suck up to everybody. Basically, if you aren't true, if you don't act like you feel, then you get Karma-justice, that's nature's way of paying you back.

Great song! I dont really know what it means, but 'desert loving' can be a reference to the movie "Priscilla Queen of the Desert"

very catchy, boy george freaks me out though

kublip.. in reply to your question 'how can you not know what this song means?' well this is my answer.. be an idiot... like me.... so for all people like me 'idiots' tell me what YOU think it means, thanks :)