The co-star of Bowie’s 1983 video, "China Girl," New Zealander Geeling Ching, spoke out
today about how her turn as the legendary rock star’s love object —
which transcended video magic as a real-life romance — absolutely
changed her life.
Ching was a 23-year-old waitressing at a Sydney cafe when the living whirlwind that is Bowie swept her off her feet, AP reports. "There was something quite other-worldly about him. He was beautiful. Just beautiful,” Ching told AP.
But
has “China Girl” aged well? It’s been maintained for decades that the
racial stereotypes blatant throughout the video were always intended as
satire. Bowie himself was an admirably progressive proponent of racial
diversity and inclusion. That much is evident from this clip, wherein he
called out MTV for essentially segregating black artists for fear that the channel would alienate their largely white viewership.
Popular
culture and media are more often held accountable for cultural
appropriation today than in the 1980s, to be sure. The video ostensibly
parodies southeast Asian stereotypes that, sadly, still persist today,
perpetuating the Western world’s fetishization of Asian women. Still,
when Bowie pulls at the corners of his eyelids, then laughs, one can’t
help but cringe.
In critical texts, “The ‘China Girl’ Problem”
has been scrutinized not as a negative reflection on Bowie (or Iggy Pop,
with whom “China Girls” was written, first appearing on 1977’s The Idiot)
but as something inevitably problematic regardless of how
well-intentioned the song’s message was. “Though Bowie may mean to
parody what people say about 'China girls', the video seems, by so
clearly endearing the stereotypes, to be in danger of supporting them by
not critiquing them enough, or by making the critique too subtle,”
according to a new book, David Bowie: Critical Perspectives,
released last year. “By shifting the song's intention from personal
romance to something like politics or ideological critique, Bowie opened
the text to multiple interpretations, but also destabilised meaning in
the song, creating possibilities that he was perhaps not able fully to
anticipate or control."
What we all loved about David Bowie was
just that: he was unafraid to make a statement, however divisive it
might be to a whitewashed media fueled by the unenlightened attitudes of
the American (and European) public. And, in retrospect, he was very
likely aware that some people wouldn’t get that “China Girl” was a
parody. But this justification for the work only applies within this
specific context. If we didn’t know Bowie better, “China Girl” would
look like an egregiously racist video today. It goes to show that Bowie
was a visionary in ways we may not have even considered until now: He
practically foresaw the advent of Poe’s Law.
Lyrics
Oh, oh, oh, little China girl Oh, oh, oh, little China girl
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 You know, I'll give you television I'll give you eyes of blue I'll give you men's who want 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 She says, sh-sh-shhh She says She says And when I get excited My little China girl says Oh baby, just you shut your mouth And when I get excited My little China girl says Oh baby, just you shut your mouth She says, sh-sh-shhh She says
Oh, oh, oh, little China girl Oh, oh, oh, little China girl Oh, oh, oh, little China girl Oh, oh, oh, little China girl
In
this song, the singer warns the China Girl that he will destroy her
culture by imparting Western values of materialism and superficial
beauty ("I'll give you television, I'll give you eyes of blue, I'll give
you a man who wants to rule the world"). Paul Trynka, the author of David Bowie's biography Starman,
claims the song was inspired by Iggy Pop's infatuation with Kuelan
Nguyen, a beautiful Vietnamese woman. She was staying at the studio and
Bowie encouraged the couple's relationship. It has also be argued that
the song is about heroin addiction, as "China White" is slang for the
drug.
Iggy Pop wrote this with Bowie. It first appeared on Iggy's 1977 album The Idiot. The song did not see commercial success until later performed by Bowie. Iggy
Pop was a very influential musician, but he didn't sell a lot of albums
and was often low on cash. The proceeds from this gave him some
financial stability for the first time.
>>
In the 2018 documentary American Valhalla, Pop revealed that "China Girl" was indeed about a real woman - it was somebody's wife that Pop "got to know." In
this scene, Josh Homme is reading a typed note from Pop that mentions a
French singer as being the husband of this woman. This indicates that
the song's subject is indeed Kuelan Nguyen, who was dating (although not
married to) Jacques Higelin, a French singer.
Stevie
Ray Vaughan is the lead guitarist on this song and most of the album.
Bowie discovered him after seeing him at a music festival. Bowie got him
to play on his album and asked him to tour with him, but Stevie
surprisingly declined. He believed in his group Double Trouble and
thought they could make a go of it on their own.
The
original Iggy Pop version of this song didn't have the famous oriental
guitar riff that featured on Bowie's recording. Bowie's version was
produced by Nile Rodgers, who came up with that guitar riff. According to Rodgers, they had finished recording the song "Let's Dance,"
and Bowie game him a recording of the original "China Girl," explaining
that it could be a hit if they could come up with a hook. Rodgers went
literal, playing off the word "China" to come up with the riff, which he
knew bordered on parody. Said Rodgers: "David was either going to hate
this so much he would fire me, or he was going to get the comedic value
of writing this silly little poppy thing." Rodgers was nervous
when he played Bowie the riff, but David loved it straightaway. With
this riff and a much smoother production, the song sounded little like
Iggy Pop's version, and the song became a hit.
The
video was banned in many countries, but it went over very well on MTV.
It won the first ever award for Best Male Video at the 1984 Video Music Awards.
New Zealand waitress Geeling Ng was chosen by Bowie to play his object
of affection. She is now a TV presenter. Ng recalled to Q
magazine June 2009: "David was my idol. When I met him, it was
terrifying. But he was very easy to get on with." She added: "David and I
started dating soon afterwards, but I didn't enjoy the lack of
privacy." In the video, Ng has a beach romp with Bowie. She told Q
magazine: "Can I point out, contrary to popular belief, David and I did
not have sex on the beach! It was shot at 5am; the water was freezing
and wasn't a great lubricant and we were being watched by a film crew
and joggers passing by. Not very romantic."
In the film, The Wedding Singer, Drew Barrymore's character, Julia, sings this song in a nightclub.
Francis from NycChina
Girl was written by Iggy Pop and David Bowie helped with the musical
arrangement. Iggy released the song on his 1977 “The Idiot” album. The
song wasn’t inspired by Iggy’s relationship with a Vietnamese woman. Like many of the songs on that album, China Girl was ultimately a metaphor for Iggy’s career with the defunct Stooges. Bowie released China Girl as a single in 1983, with a more commercial arrangement. Iggy
released the best version of China Gir in 2017 in his Live at the Royal
Albert Hall album with guitarist Josh Homme and some of the Artic
Monkeys backing them.
Bruce from San Jose, Calif.Always
enjoyed the primal, tugging beat of this song (dare I say, a great beat
for lovemaking? [blush]) and as a young guy, it also got me interested
in "Yellow Fever" at the time...
Clare from AustraliaTwo
things - Bowie did NOT have different coloured eyes. His eyes were
blue, it was only his damaged pupil in his left eye that made it appear a
different colour. The condition is called anisocoria.
Geeling Ng
has stated time and again that she did not have sex with Bowie in this
clip. Marlow of Perth, you are thinking of Lori Mattix as the consenting
16 year old!
Arthur from San DiegoDoesn't
anyone think this song might just be a double entendre? Video portrays
it as a white guy falling in love with an Asian woman and warning her of
the stigmas and problems with the white mans society. Truth of the song
was that it was written about China white heroin? I think it has two
meanings and can be interpreted either way that is the beauty of it.
Jodie from XxIt's about heroin, definitely.
Pekay from Warringah, AustraliaThe film was filmed at Long Reef beach on Sydney's northern beaches, I surf there and have done for 35+ years.
Michael from San Diego, CaThat's maus; like cat and mouse game in a cat house!
Michael from San Diego, CaAlso
as I learned in 'vulgar' standard German: 'ich lieben sie mause, wollen
sie zug-zug?' to come-on to a 'street walker' (I love you honey, would
you like to have sex?).
Michael from San Diego, CaI
thought that this video was about the Japanese invasion of British
Manchuria; like in the movie "Empire of the Sun" (an axis force member
of Nazi Germany).
Steve from London, United KingdomLet's
take this song and video at face value...It's a love song, a western
man full of western values falls in love for a chinese girl, get's
addicted to her, misses her when she's not around, loves her wildness,
is scared of succumbing to her totally........references to Nazism,
power, and domination are his attempts to warn her to stay away even
though he wants her he doesn't want her corrupted....
Dave from Norfolk , VaStevie
Ray Vaughan almost did do the tour, however Bowie told him that he
would have to where the costumes and dance the choreography as the rest
of the band. The other comments made are true about why SRV did not as
well however the reason that SRV gave to Bowie was the dancing.
Holly from Hamburg, GermanyI
find it interesting, that in 1983 Bowie was a huge fan of an Icelandic
Band called Kukl, whose female singer had a somewhat asian look. This
girl later became famous as Bjork ....
Aerok from Paris, FranceThat
Song Was recorded In LE Chateau D herouville That Was managed at the
Time by Yves Jaget there was also a T Rex Album recorded there The
song was written at the wery Lat minute Cause Iggy was inspired By a
"china girl" (vietnamese in fact) That lived in a big house depending
of the castle So he meet That Girl in the Park and wrote the song very
quickly That Laday was at the time the wife of a frenchy Singer So I
will not Write her Name in here but it starts with a K
Don from Munster, InI
always thought it was about a relationship between the male abuser and
his female enabler. The first part (verses through the first part of the
bridge) depict a man looking for his woman and growing more and more
agitated. The second part ("My little China Girl...to Rule the World")
has the guy at a moment of remorse, telling the girl to go away from
her, and the final part (And when I get excited..."Just you shut your
mouse") is the girl enabling the guy and, in a way, saying she's not
leaving.
Ella from Basel, Sierra LeoneBob
from Lakewood, you are a complete and total idiot for writing this huge
heap of crap about psychotic people being 'mentally afflicted' and them
not knowing they're experiencing an illness. I despise intolerably
ignorant and dumb people like you and hope you all die out within the
next minute. China Girl is one of the great songs.
Karina from Blieskastel, GermanyI
find it a bit exaggerated to call Joey Feer a racist. In the LP
version, you can recognize that Bowie kind of imitates the way a
prototypical non-native Asian speaker of English would pronounce the
sentence "just you shut your mouth". It's not only the pronunciation of
"mouth" but the whole diction that sounds somewhat "non-native". Hope
you allow me to say this given that I'm a non-native speaker, too, and
we all have our troubles with your nice little "th"es. Anyway, a nice
detail in the song, makes the speaker appear somewhat dubious and
ambiguous (like Bowie in the video).
Ian from Paddock Lake, WiFinding
out more about the idea I wrote about below, I did find out that Iggy
Pop and David Bowie moved to Berlin around the same time to wean
themselves of their drug addictions (don't know how it would help but
that's what WP says). This was among the songs they wrote together in
Berlin, which could explain the swastika thing, because through the
division of the city, you could see the effects of WWII and the
"swastika" era "in the whites of your eyes." So that explains mixing
swastikas, stumbling into town, and drug addiction all together.
Ian from Paddock Lake, WiI
don't argue that it's about drugs. It definitely is. After all, Iggy
did co-write it. It's a portrait of an addict, possibly himself. The
swastika and sacred cow thingy might refer to when he lived in West
Berlin in the late '70s, during which he recorded the landmark "Heroes."
And Joey Freer from NY, you are a racist.
Jeff from Long Beach,Actually,
Bob in Lakewood, OH, many people with a mental disorder DO KNOW that
they have one. All of my clients do. Also, its the BIPOLARS who most
often suffer the feelings of grandiosity - NOT the psychotics. Don't
state facts if you don't know what you're talking about. Jeff Chudner, MA, CGACII
Joey Freer from Kingston, NyDavid Bowie Says Oh Baby Just Your Shut Your Mouse than mouth because the china girl can't say mouth.
Jerry Lee Lewis has been mentioned in pro wrestling of late, with his hit oldies song “Great Balls of Fire” being the name and theme song for the WWE pay-per-view event in July.
It’s not his first connection with pro wrestling, however, as this story of him almost getting his ass kicked proves.
In the mid 1970s, the Memphis wrestling territory was generally on fire. On the heels of local legend Jerry Lawler, the company was doing gigantic television ratings at the time. In some weeks it drew among the highest syndicated ratings of any show on television in the country. They also sold out the Mid South Coliseum numerous times, sometimes on a weekly basis.
In the 70s and early 80s, virtually everybody in Memphis watched the local wrestling show.
Jerry Lawler was a household name in that part of the country. When I went to college in the mid 90s, there were students from Memphis who were not wrestling fans, but they ALL knew Jerry Lawler, Dave Brown, Lance Russell, and they all watched the show when they were kids.
Our point is that anyone on that show in that time period was a local celebrity. This story doesn’t involve Jerry Lawler, but it does involve some of the wrestlers working for him who became famous thanks to Lawler’s own popularity.
Jerry Lawler (left) with Lance Russell (right) in their Memphis heyday
Jerry Lee Lewis is of course a music legend. We don’t know the details of his career, though it’s safe to say in the mid 1970s he was probably still a strong draw and huge name nationwide. He would’ve been in his 40s when this took story took place.
The Incident
Hernando’s Hide-a-Way, which no longer exists today, was a legendary music hall in Memphis. Jerry Lee Lewis played there often, and there are videos of him on YouTube playing there numerous times.
The original Hernando’s Hide-a-way in Memphis, TN
On the night in question, Bill Dundee was there with Plowboy Frazier. Dundee is another Memphis legend, also known for his booking prowess. He was short, which limited his potential as a wrestler outside of Memphis. He had runs in the AWA and NWA, and most modern fans may know him as Sir William, the manager of Lord Steven Regal when Regal debuted with WCW in the early 1990s.
Make no mistake about it, though, Dundee was a big name in Memphis.
Bill Dundee
Plowboy Frazier would be best known to wrestling fans as Uncle Elmer. Elmer was part of the WWF roster when Vince McMahon first went national in 1984 and 1985, and his “wedding” is one of the more famous early memories of Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC.
He was absolutely enormous, standing a legit 6’9” or so, and weighed over 400 pounds. He was not athletic or in shape, but his sheer size made him a star as the huge country bumpkin. He too was a star in Memphis at the time.
Frazier/Elmer fancied himself as a country singer, and had a Southern accent. While he and Dundee were at Hernando’s Hide-a-Way, he got on the stage and started singing some songs by himself.
It was early in the night, and while the bar wasn’t empty, the place had not filled up yet.
Uncle Elmer’s wedding on Saturday Night’s Main Event
Jerry Lee Lewis had a show to play that night, and as he was backstage preparing, he heard Frazier singing and came out.
Lewis had an entourage of security with him, so Lewis asked them to tell Frazier to step off the stage.
Frazier, with his enormous size, refused to get off. Security approached him, probably very carefully, and asked him again.
Eventually Frazier, who wasn’t known to be a bully or tough guy, got off the stage. All was well.
That is, until Jerry Lee Lewis made a snide remark about that “Fake wrestler.”
Uh oh.
Bill Dundee overheard Lewis say this, and got steaming mad. While Dundee wasn’t the tallest guy around, he was tough and fearless. If he wasn’t afraid of Randy Savage, he sure wasn’t going to be afraid of a blues singer in his 40s.
Dundee charged the stage with the intention of punching Jerry Lee Lewis out.
Luckily for Lewis, his security stopped him before that could happen. But there was a lot of chaos in the meantime, as Dundee was red hot.
Jerry Lee Lewis
Dundee looked for Frazier to back him up, but couldn’t see him. Finally he saw Frazier out the front door, where he was probably very hard to miss given his immense size. Realizing he had no backup, Dundee “took a powder,” which in wrestling lingo means he got off the stage and bailed out the door.
Dundee pulled Frazier aside and said something to the effect of, “Where the f*ck did you go??”
Frazier, who really was a naïve country boy, simply said in his Southern accent, “Well I just went to get my knife!”
Frazier coming back and wielding a knife would’ve been bad news for all involved, and certainly would’ve led to his arrest. Fortunately nothing happened, and Dundee and Frazier simply left.
What could’ve been a big national story ended up being nothing much, as most wrestling fans don’t even know this story. We find it humorous in hindsight, and it’s something to keep in mind as we hear the “Great Balls of Fire” song playing nonstop on WWE television in the days leading up to the show on July 9.
What could’ve been a big national story ended up being nothing much, as most wrestling fans don’t even know this story. We find it humorous in hindsight, and it’s something to keep in mind as we hear the “Great Balls of Fire” song playing nonstop on WWE television in the days leading up to the show on July 9.
