Like anybody else I may be wrong, but so far I find the song's interpretations here adorably naive rather than anything holding much weight.
To me the lyrics seem to be pretty clearly about reaching sexual maturity. A song about sex, just like so many of Led Zeppelin's songs, which have been a noticeable influence on the White Stripes in general, but especially so on this debut album of theirs.
Let's start with the title; it's about a character named Jimmy--Jimmy, "the exploder." If you still don't get what that could mean, the line "Do you want to explode now?" should do the job. Green apples are premature and they turn red when they become ripe. Jimmy "sees red now", and is "jumping on the bed," have a passionate loss of virginity, giving in to his animalistic urges, like a monkey. The lyrics could've also used a rabbit as a symbol, but I guess that wouldn't have been as cool.
Oh, and don't get me started on all those sexual "whoo"s.
Like anybody else I may be wrong, but so far I find the song's interpretations here adorably naive rather than anything holding much weight.
To me the lyrics seem to be pretty clearly about reaching sexual maturity. A song about sex, just like so many of Led Zeppelin's songs, which have been a noticeable influence on the White Stripes in general, but especially so on this debut album of theirs.
Let's start with the title; it's about a character named Jimmy--Jimmy, "the exploder." If you still don't get what that could mean, the line "Do you want to explode now?" should do the job. Green apples are premature and they turn red when they become ripe. Jimmy "sees red now", and is "jumping on the bed," have a passionate loss of virginity, giving in to his animalistic urges, like a monkey. The lyrics could've also used a rabbit as a symbol, but I guess that wouldn't have been as cool. Oh, and don't get me started on all those sexual "whoo"s.
Kickass song.