Touchy-Feely

Today I will touch on the third of our FIVE SENSES, the sense of Touch.  The feeling of being touched is possible through all those receptors in your integumentary system (in your skin) communicating with your somatosensory system (in your brain).  Your skin is your largest organ (on you maybe) and with it we feel the world around us.  At an AC/DC concert, we feel it, bombarding us in the chest.  I love that feeling.

"See Me, Feel Me, Touch Me, Heal Me" screamed Roger Daltrey in Tommy.  The deaf, dumb and blind boy experienced his world primarily through touch.  Going to a Who concert is a tactile experience.  You feel it.  Carole King said "I Feel the Earth Move".  MGMT had an "Electric Feel".  And Lil' Wayne's basic request was "Feel Me".

There is a difference between FEELING and FEELINGS.  In the greatest song of all time "Like A Rolling Stone", Bob Dylan asks, "How does it feel?".  He is not asking us to describe the our sensation of touching something that might be rough or smooth, cold or hot, etc.  He is, of course, referring to an emotional feeling. A lot of songs containing the word FEEL are referring to emotions, like Lou Reed's "How Do You Think It Feels?" or Madonna's "What It Feels Like For A Girl".  For me, it's fun to think about those songs and other FEEL songs as if they were referring to the Sense of Touch.  For instance, songs like Kid Rock's "Somebody's Gotta Feel This", Brian Eno & David Byrne's "I Feel My Stuff",  or Dylan's "To Make You Feel My Love" take on an entirely different meaning.  Morris Albert gave us "Feelings" (I won't say what kind of feeling that was for me).

Because feelings are complex, let's concentrate on TOUCH instead.  The Doors put is very simply..."Touch Me".  The lead singer of the Divinyls was equally blunt when she declared "I Touch Myself".  The Black Keys want "Your Touch".  Joan Jett asked politely "Do You Want To Touch?".  Journey were out of control with their "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin".  That certainly was not the "Invisible Touch" that Genesis said she had. Perhaps it was the "Bad Touch" that the Bloodhound Gang craved.  Bruce Springsteen realized that we all want the "Human Touch", but often "You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)".

Sometimes were not allowed to touch.  Kevin Fowler did not want his girlfriend to put her grubby mits on a particular LP in his collection when he told her "Don't Touch My Willie".  And Lyle Lovett has often said "Don't Touch My Hat".  Sometimes, we are commanded to touch. Mike Myers said "Touch My Monkey!  Touch Him!"

If you enjoyed Samantha Fox's song "Touch Me", be sure to check out the recent remake by Gunther (the Pleasureman).  Many of his videos are on YouTube.  Let Gunther touch you, now.