He’s a Woman - She’s a Man

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a disorienting picture of an encounter with an androgynous figure. The narrator is struck by someone walking down the street, describing them as "cool like a cat and like a crazy dream." This initial observation is met with disbelief, as the figure's appearance defies easy categorization, leading to the repeated "I looked twice again, I can't believe." The core of the confusion crystallies with the revelation: "It was a man, it was a woman, too." This sets up the central paradox that the song hinges on. The dominant tension arises from the narrator's struggle to reconcile the figure's presentation with traditional gender binaries. The chorus, "He's a woman, She's a man," directly articulates this cognitive dissonance. It’s not just a simple statement of androgyny, but a seemingly contradictory declaration that flips expected pronouns, suggesting a fluidity or multiplicity that challenges the narrator's perception. This creates a sense of bewilderment and fascination, pulling the narrator in. The lyrics employ a hypnotic, almost surreal narrative to convey this feeling. The figure is described as having "come from far away" and the narrator feels "hypnotised," indicating an otherworldly or captivating quality. The invitation to "Come on, let's go" and the subsequent statement, "He starts to move, she starts to play," further blur the lines, suggesting coordinated actions that still maintain the dualistic pronoun usage. This deliberate ambiguity in action and identity is the song's primary artistic device. Ultimately, the effectiveness of these lyrics lies in their ability to capture a moment of profound perceptual disruption. The narrator is drawn into an experience that forces them to question fundamental assumptions about identity. The repeated, almost chant-like chorus, coupled with the disorienting descriptions, creates an immersive feeling of being caught in a captivating mystery, leaving the listener to ponder the nature of the figure and the narrator's own reaction to it.