The song's lyrics consist mainly of the singer talking about pictures of his love. Musically, the song features an Oriental riff played on guitar. The band knew they had a success with "Turning Japanese", so much so that they waited until their second single before releasing it, fearing that if they released it as their first they would become " one-hit wonders ", but they never matched its success. The song enjoyed some sales in Japan after its great success in Australia , where it spent 2 weeks at number 1 during June It has nothing to do with the Japanese. It was written about that 'turning Japanese' was an English phrase for masturbation, which it wasn't.

The band was asked about the meaning of the song and they said it was about a man who just lost his girlfriend and is slowly going crazy. This song is about the face you pull when you masturbate. The reference to having her picture only furthers the point of the character in the song indulging in self love. I bet you just pulled a Japanese face.

All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use. By logging into your account, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy , and to the use of cookies as described therein. Mark Forums Read.

There was also talk at the time that certain members of the band had a fascination with the Japanese culture, which was rubbish too. There really is only one small connection to the East and that it the guitar sound that opens the song. That recognisable riff which is also repeated a few places in the song is actually called the oriental riff and is generally used when a Western band wants to invoke the sound of the Far East in a song.