27
May
Day 2 of The 69 (Alternative) Love Songs
“Touch Me,” The Doors.
Oh, The Doors. I may not really listen to them anymore, but I still count the William Blake-inspired band among my favorites. Although “Touch Me” may be one of Morrison and Co’s more famous songs (it gets much more radio play than, say, “My Wild Love”), it is undoubtedly one of their most bizarre.
As a kid, I remember getting all embarassed when it would come on the radio—Morrison shouting with Tom Jones-esque abandon for some girl to “touch” him was much more intensely direct than any of the stuff sung by the crooning boy banders my sister and I listened to (the New Kids on the Block were too busy “hangin’ tough” to proposition much of anything).
It’s the ultimate “false promises tune.” (Seriously, Jim: You’re going to love her ‘til the “heavens stops the rain”? Could it, perhaps, be raining at this particular moment?) Although the Lizard King is peppering this woman with romantic caterwauling and a shower of awesome guitar riffs, everyone knows he’ll be gone as soon as she breaks down and “touches” him.
Score one for schmaltz and directness.
