Sinister: seeing other people

[Michelle Jouan]

>Now a question for you all: the song "Seeing other people", I read in a
>review a while back that it was about an adolescent gay boy and a straight
>girl, but I've gone over the lyrics again and again and I still can't
>understand where this reviewer could get that the boy was homosexual. Am I
>missing something here? Or is the reviewer just off in the deep end?

i can see it. it depends on who you consider the narrator and who you
consider to whom the narrator is singing. 

>We lay on the bed there
>Kissing just for practice
>Could we please be objective?
>Cause the other boys are queuing up behind us

above, it could be a boy singing. let's say he's singing to a girl. they
other boys are allegorically lining up to see both of them. 

>A hand over my mouth
>A hand over the window
>Well, if I remain passive and you just want to cuddle
>Then we should be ok, and we won't get in a muddle
>Cause we're seeing other people
>At least that's what we say we are doing

it seems that the narrator is confused about who they really like and what
they are doing. 

>How are you feeling?
>I don't think you can be dealing
>With the situation very well
>You take a lover for a dirty weekend, that's ok
>But when it's over
>You are looking at the working week in the eyes of a gigolo

now is it my imagination, or is someone else singing this verse? 
it could be the first boy's boyfriend. (?)

>You're kissing your elbow
>You're kissing your reflection

*implies* he's kissing another boy

>But if they don't see the quality then it is apparent that
>You're going to have to change
>Or you're going to have to go with girls
>You might be better off
>At least they know where to put it

the person who is singing (in the sessions case, is a girl) seems to be
telling the other person that if they can't get all they need out of a
relationship, maybe they should try going out with girls. but, again, it's
not clear whether it's a boy singing to a boy or to a girl. [or a girl
singing to a boy.]

to ME, this song is about being young and confused about relationships and
sexuality. there are some (seemingly deliberate) blurring of the sexuality
lines in this song. that is why i love it so. it reminds me of early smiths
music where things were a bit...ambiguous. but not so ambiguous that it was
very difficult to understand. does that make any sense? i hope so. 

:)
michelle

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