Ive heard from a few people on what they think this song by the Vapors means. What does it really mean?

> Ive heard from a few people on what they think this song by the Vapors
> means. What does it really mean?

its about masturbation. "turning japanesse" is a euphomism for that. listen to the words closely.

> its about masturbation. "turning japanesse" is a euphomism for
> that. listen to the words closely.

I've heard that as well . . . Read it in books (yes I'm making an Echo and the Bunnymen reference), saw it on VH1, etc. .

However, it's not true. Dave Fenton, the group's frontman said that he simply wrote it as a love song. Here's what he has to say about it:

"It means whatever you want it to mean," he says, before admitting: "I wrote it as a love song. But when I went to America everyone said to me, "Is it about wanking?" In interviews, I'd say alternatively, "Yes it is", and "No, it's not". It could be about a lot of things. I just woke up with that phrase in my head. It's just an image which captures what that song was all about. But, no it wasn't intended to be about wanking at the time. What surprised me was that the Americans thought it was an English phrase!" (The source for this quote is the URL link included with this message. This is not my page.)

As noted above, it was written as a love song; and the phrase "turning Japanese" is not, as commonly thought, a British eupemism for masturbation; and any confirmations of the song's being about masturbation are the result of Dave Fenton having fun with the media by switching his story around.

One thing that clearly contradicts the "masturbation" theory is the chorus of the song. Note the lyrics: "I think, I'm turning Japanese, I really think so." This puts the action of turning Japanese into some doubt. The singer *thinks* he is "turning Japanese", he may even be quite sure that he is, but he is not 100% positive that he is (otherwise he would sing "I'm turning Japanese, yes I am," or something more definite). One would think that someone masturbating would be pretty sure of what they were doing.

To me, it's just a fun song. Anyone else out there also own a copy of "Magnets", the Vapors' other album? Both albums are excellent. There was more to the Vapors than this song.

Fun fact: The Vapors were managed by both Bruce Foxton of the Jam, and John Weller (Paul Weller's father).

> I've heard that as well . . . Read it in books (yes I'm making an Echo and
> the Bunnymen reference), saw it on VH1, etc. .

> However, it's not true. Dave Fenton, the group's frontman said that he
> simply wrote it as a love song. Here's what he has to say about it:

> "It means whatever you want it to mean," he says, before
> admitting: "I wrote it as a love song. But when I went to America
> everyone said to me, "Is it about wanking?" In interviews, I'd
> say alternatively, "Yes it is", and "No, it's not". It
> could be about a lot of things. I just woke up with that phrase in my
> head. It's just an image which captures what that song was all about. But,
> no it wasn't intended to be about wanking at the time. What surprised me
> was that the Americans thought it was an English phrase!" (The source
> for this quote is the URL link included with this message. This is not my
> page.)

> As noted above, it was written as a love song; and the phrase
> "turning Japanese" is not, as commonly thought, a British
> eupemism for masturbation; and any confirmations of the song's being about
> masturbation are the result of Dave Fenton having fun with the media by
> switching his story around.

> One thing that clearly contradicts the "masturbation" theory is
> the chorus of the song. Note the lyrics: "I think, I'm turning
> Japanese, I really think so." This puts the action of turning
> Japanese into some doubt. The singer *thinks* he is "turning
> Japanese", he may even be quite sure that he is, but he is not 100%
> positive that he is (otherwise he would sing "I'm turning Japanese,
> yes I am," or something more definite). One would think that someone
> masturbating would be pretty sure of what they were doing.

> To me, it's just a fun song. Anyone else out there also own a copy of
> "Magnets", the Vapors' other album? Both albums are excellent.
> There was more to the Vapors than this song.

> Fun fact: The Vapors were managed by both Bruce Foxton of the Jam, and
> John Weller (Paul Weller's father).

I agree with your thoughts about this song. It's just a fun song! Seems like so many people are always trying to read into song lyrics, and often end up intrepeting them differently from what the artist meant.

Did you see "South Park" last night (11/3)? The episode spoofed "Pokémon" and turned all the kids of South Park (except Kyle, who was slightly behind the times) Japanese by the Japanese makers of the spoof toys, who were bent on world domination. Unfortunately, they did not play the song "Turning Japanese" during the closing credits. Would have made a nice touch, though.

> Did you see "South Park" last night (11/3)? The episode spoofed
> "Pokémon" and turned all the kids of South Park (except Kyle,
> who was slightly behind the times) Japanese by the Japanese makers of the
> spoof toys, who were bent on world domination. Unfortunately, they did not
> play the song "Turning Japanese" during the closing credits.
> Would have made a nice touch, though.

whoa...that was really random