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:
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:
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
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
It seems like he's warning China to not let itself become too westernized.
It seems like he's warning China to not let itself become too westernized.
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.
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.
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:
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:
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
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
It seems like he's warning China to not let itself become too westernized.
It seems like he's warning China to not let itself become too westernized.
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.
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.