Maybe it's a tiny bit pretentious of an interpretation, but it really looks like it's meant to be about female sexual awakening, and the adult fear of it? The combination of all the sexual references with the insistence on "little Janie" only being a kid is one part of it. The sandman in this case being her realisation of sexuality, hence why he keeps on causing all her sexual feelings, congregating around the waistband of her jeans and all. But he's only a sandman- he isn't real, he's a mental process.
Now, the second part of it is more interesting. There's something very, very sinister about the sandman- the name itself evokes a kind of bedtime monster. And similarly, there's lines like "there oughta be a law against me" reflect the feelings the narrator has towards him. Overall, it seems like "little Janie" is portrayed as very innocent and passive, and the sandman is the corrupting influence.
But if the sandman is nothing but Janie's thoughts herself, then it ends up as meaning that the narrator (and, I suppose, society itself) is scared of her growing up. And to prove it IS Janie who is the sandman after all, the chorus shows her being her own influence, going "we're gonna have a real good time tonight". So overall it really seems like that's the main was to interpret the song?
Maybe it's a tiny bit pretentious of an interpretation, but it really looks like it's meant to be about female sexual awakening, and the adult fear of it? The combination of all the sexual references with the insistence on "little Janie" only being a kid is one part of it. The sandman in this case being her realisation of sexuality, hence why he keeps on causing all her sexual feelings, congregating around the waistband of her jeans and all. But he's only a sandman- he isn't real, he's a mental process.
Now, the second part of it is more interesting. There's something very, very sinister about the sandman- the name itself evokes a kind of bedtime monster. And similarly, there's lines like "there oughta be a law against me" reflect the feelings the narrator has towards him. Overall, it seems like "little Janie" is portrayed as very innocent and passive, and the sandman is the corrupting influence.
But if the sandman is nothing but Janie's thoughts herself, then it ends up as meaning that the narrator (and, I suppose, society itself) is scared of her growing up. And to prove it IS Janie who is the sandman after all, the chorus shows her being her own influence, going "we're gonna have a real good time tonight". So overall it really seems like that's the main was to interpret the song?