Listen to the song and/or read the song lyrics, which band members say was written about a girl. ‘China’ (as the band member called her), who was supposedly elusive and mysterious but remarkably intriguing. You can read a few of the listener explanations of the song meaning if you search for them online.
Your assignment is to interpret the lyrics further than what you will read online as they relate to China, the country. Using what you have learned about China thus far – its physical diversity, rich history, cultures and politics – write a thoughtful comparative essay of the song, ‘China’, and the country. Remember the context will be to illustrate an analogous parallel of the lyrics – including the conceptual viewpoint of the girl through the eyes of the band member – and the country of China that you are beginning to understand much more about than perhaps you did before you began this course.
A successful essay will include examples from the chapter readings that illustrate your comparison. An important point to examine would be the time when the song was written – 1983 – and the state of China at that time. What was happening in China in the early 1980s?
