Lyrics for China Girl as interpreted by Boonechic_21

China Girl Lyrics
I could escape this feeling, with my China Girl
I feel a wreck without my, little China Girl
I hear her heart beating, loud as thunder
Saw they stars crashing

I\'m a mess without my, little China Girl
Wake up mornings where\'s my, little China Girl
I hear her heart\'s beating, loud as thunder
Saw they stars crashing down

I feel a-tragic like I\'m Marlon Brando
When I look at my China Girl
I could pretend that nothing really meant too much
When I look at my China Girl

I stumble into town just like a sacred cow
Visions of swastikas in my head
Plans for everyone
It\'s in the whites of my eyes

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 a man who wants to rule the world

And when I get excited
My little China Girl says
Oh baby just you shut your mouth
She says ... sh-sh-shhh

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CJF
08-01-2002

Rated 0 
A song about having a Chinese girlfriend.

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1 Reply
Koncorde
09-04-2002

Rated 0 
It's a reference to the doll like fragility of relationships, whether it's about his estranged wife or not is another matter - but Bowie has a history of writing about his own life and its influences. Bowie had such great hopes, destroyed by his own ambition, any number of times he did indeed like the Sacred Cow arrive to be slaughtered quite willingly. At one point he exhibited certain Nationalist beliefs and I think everybody remembers the "nazi" salute image that made him infamous (though in recent times he has merelu suggested it was the angle of the camera catching him at an inopportune time).

"Man who wants to rule the world" - this is actually mentioned by another artist of the time "Ian Hunter" who wrote 'Boy' about a particular artist of the 70's. Some say it was Bowie, some say Bolan - but the simple fact Hunter refers to "genocidal tendancies" and similar obviously bare a lot of similarity to Bowies life more than Bolan. Is Bowie make an unacknowledged nod towards the former frontman of Mott The Hoople (for whom he'd written All The Young Dudes). Maybe.

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emoBettyrocket
04-16-2004

Rated 0 
I love Bowie's voice...it's so haunting..and the music is great!

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Ana Byrd
06-12-2004

Rated +1 
A nod to Koncord for his most excellent post - and a reminder that these lyrics were in fact written by Iggy Pop. Sorry.

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WolfTickets
06-20-2004

Rated 0 
I've always gotten a hint of commentary on Western imperialism, especially the "give you television, give you eyes of blue" and "plans for everyone" lines. In fact, on tour, Bowie's been jokingly saying it's a new song, which is probably his way of taking a shot at the Bush "presidency."

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oldflashy
01-01-2005

Rated 0 
I think it was co-written with Iggy Pop.
Again, this is very likely a reference to drug addiction. China is a nickname for heroin - during the 1800s China was the main source for opium. If you re-read the lyrics with this in mind, the excitement, triumphalism and despair of addiction suddenly leap off the page at you.
It's not about having a Chinese girfriend.

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theChemistmusic
03-16-2005

Rated 0 
i think it's about this guy who
gets so obessesed about this crazy world & wants to 'fix' it with dictator/hitler/messianic tendencies of the extreme as solutions to it all.

but that its her & only her he tries to focus, to live for him, them, & not be involed with the rest because he can't realistically be this one world solution, he knows it, aggravating as it is.

he gives her an out even with warnings that he'll take even her down he's so determined & might go to the ultimate extreme to do so, even writes her off as some silly thing that will be ok with tv like all the other boob-tube freaks.

& she says in so many words
oh you silly man, that's why i love you just shhh
& enjoy this moment cos thats all we can really have.

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theChemistmusic
03-16-2005

Rated 0 
i think it's about this guy who
gets so obessesed about this crazy world & wants to 'fix' it with dictator/hitler/messianic tendencies of the extreme as solutions to it all.

but that its her & only her he tries to focus, to live for him, them, & not be involed with the rest because he can't realistically be this one world solution, he knows it, aggravating as it is.

he gives her an out even with warnings that he'll take even her down he's so determined & might go to the ultimate extreme to do so, even writes her off as some silly thing that will be ok with tv like all the other boob-tube freaks.

& she says in so many words
oh you silly man, that's why i love you just shhh
& enjoy this moment cos thats all we can really have.

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Pixelated4
06-17-2005

Rated 0 
I agree with WolfTickets. It sounded like a commentary on the U.S.'s imperialist Asian foreign policy (Korea, Vietnam). The song likens the U.S.'s relations with Asia to an abusive relationship: an alpha-man (see: Marlon Brando) who loves an asian woman who, in his eyes, doesn't know what's good for her.

"My little China girl, you shouldn't mess with me."

The Brando reference brought to mind the character Stanley Kowalski, which he played in "A Streetcar Named Desire"- a violent, abusive, self-loathing ex-soldier.

"I'll ruin everything you are, I'll give you television" - despoiling foreign cultures through America's mass-produced goods - "I'll give you eyes of blue" - American soldiers raping Asian women, producing half-Asian blue-eyed babies.

Then again, it could be about any number of other things previously mentioned.

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qdbac
09-19-2005

Rated 0 
i am completely confused with the meaning of this song. it was written with iggy pop and you would think the meaning would be about heroin. but when bowie realesed it. it could possibly be about china.

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cycoticnymph
12-18-2005

Rated 0 
I think this song may have something to do with drugs. China girl means female cannabis? as cannabis originated in china.

if not that then heroin like oldflashy said.

great song, i love the beat.

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cycoticnymph
12-18-2005

Rated 0 
oh yeah and.... "stumble into town just like a sacred cow" he's referring to being loaded on drugs probably pot or heroin.
"Visions of swastikas in my head
Plans for everyone
It\'s in the whites of my eyes"

Bowie was stoned alot though.

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wackydeli3
12-28-2005

Rated 0 
i dont know what this song means, though im leaning more towards "china girl" being some drug reference, but hell, this is one of my favorite songs of all time. like someone already said, bowie's voice is just so damn haunting and awesome.

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dtjurick
02-26-2006

Rated +1 
I feel like that China Girl is a code word for cocaine:

"I could escape this feeling, with my China Girl"
He's escaping his sorrows with the drug.
"I feel a wreck without my, little China Girl"
Withdrawals from the drug when he doesn't have it
"I hear her heart beating, loud as thunder"
He's experiencing the increased heart rate that the drug causes
"Saw the stars crashing"
No too sure about this one but it might be referring to all the movie stars and celebrities who have ruined themselves on it
"I stumble into town just like a sacred cow"
He's high on cocaine and feels the typical feeling of omnipotence.

Well thats just a look at some of the lyrics, but thats just my opinion of this song's meaning

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blackblack
06-25-2006

Rated 0 
it's about heroin

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JoeTheLion
08-27-2006

Rated 0 
dtjurick thats awesome! really makes sense.

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dreamer85
09-24-2006

Rated 0 
I agree with Pixelated4 but Im also keeping in mind the heroin.

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deeuutee
10-15-2006

Rated 0 
"I stumble into town just like a sacred cow
Visions of swastikas in my head
Plans for everyone"

Pretty sure reading this was written during a trip to Berlin (hence the reference to swastikas). Visiting Iggy Pop.

The "just like a sacred cow" and "Plans for everyone" is Bowie having a dig at his own importance

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rot
11-03-2006

Rated 0 
Always with the fuckin heroin, ain't you a boring lot. They're Iggy's lyrics, db didn't start using words like swastika until his Tin Machine days.

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noncogito42
12-11-2006

Rated 0 
I am inclined to go with the coke/heroin because in the video has his china girl sniffing something out of her fingers andsome of the lyrics seem to go with it hes a wreck with out his china girl if you have never expirimented you wouldnt know that sometimes you feel like you are in this twisted dysfunctial relationship

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noncogito42
12-12-2006

Rated 0 
oh yeah and the fact that iggy pop (the authour of this song) has it on the album Heroin Hates You.

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TheMoTaMedier
02-21-2007

Rated 0 
Well.. I have to say, I read most of the comments above and I think it's a combination of many things: heroin (used to control Nazis?), imperialism (walking in like a sacred cow ya know... ).. So I think Iggy was thinking about what heroin feels like (stars crashing) and then refers to the drug itself (China Girl) and makes it a tricky and double edged meaning to actually mean imperialism in the Orient and the East in general (sacred cow)... Then this China Girl is fragile, sure. yes.of course, it's made of china! So this type of behavior (addiction or imperialism/control) wont last. It's going to break. Yes and the eyes of blue is definitely the dilution of the Easterners with the Westerners. I like this song. It's amazing. I am a big Bowie fan but seriously just realized Iggy wrote this. Props to the shirtless man as well!

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rollinstrummin
04-18-2007

Rated 0 
It's about doing coke with a Chinese girlfriend. "I hear her heart beating loud as thunder," yeah that's because she's coked up too. He begins feeling great, but he knows they are doing wrong. He goes off on a coke rant, a little too wired, talking fast. She is the one that is able to control herself and calm him down by telling him shut up. Sh-sh-sh.

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Childlight
07-30-2007

Rated +1 
I have to commend CJF on their great meaning. Must have taken you hours to think that one up.

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Dustin_Moritz
08-21-2007

Rated 0 
read the book. Open up and Bleed: Iggy Pop.
i just finished it. they talk about the inspiration behind it.

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