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Touch Me (Yoko Ono song)

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"Touch Me"
Single by Yoko Ono & Plastic Ono Band
from the album Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band
A-side"Power to the People" (John Lennon & Plastic Ono Band)
ReleasedMarch 22, 1971 (US only)
RecordedSeptember–October 1970, Abbey Road Studios, London[1]
Length3:40
LabelApple
Songwriter(s)Yoko Ono
Producer(s)John Lennon
Yoko Ono

"Touch Me" is a song written by Yoko Ono that was first released on her 1970 album Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band. An edited version was later released in the U.S. as the b-side to John Lennon's single "Power to the People."

"Touch Me" was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London during recording sessions in September and October 1970.[1][2]

Music and vocals

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"Touch Me" features vocals by Ono backed by Lennon on guitar, Klaus Voormann on bass guitar and Ringo Starr on drums.[1] Beatle biographer John Blaney describes the instrumentation provided by Lennon, Voormann and Starr as a "jazz-rock fusion" and states that "their investigations into group dynamics [produce] a wave of sound to support Ono's vocal modulations."[1] On the other hand, Beatle biographer Bruce Spizer states that the song consists of "little more than Yoko wailing over a changing and disjointed musical backdrop."[2] Music lecturers Ben Urish and Ken Bielen describe the song as "a gritty effort, with grumbling and staccato guitar work from Lennon under Ono's alternately fractured and wavering vocals."[3] Music critic Johnny Rogan describes the song as a "highly wrought performance by Yoko, reinforced by instrumental contributions from Lennon, Voormann and Starr."[4] In addition to instrumentation, the song includes the sound of a tree falling early on.[3]

Interpretations

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Pop Matters critic Adam Mason interprets "Touch Me" as an outpouring of Ono's inner torment.[5] Musician Thollem McDonas described "Touch Me" as "a desperate plea for connectivity."[6] He went on to state that:

John's guitar seems to ascend, going on infinitely, while Ringo plays the drums like orchestral timpani. The pause at 3:25 is so pregnant. It makes you wonder, where is this piece going? It's like the beginning of the end...Sweet anticipation that is ultimately unfulfilled, before dissolving into the sound of joyful, or wrathful, creatures.[6]

According to Blaney, the song was improvised.[1] Blaney describes Ono's improvisations as being "the first step in Ono's creative praxis," and that she intends for the listener to add to her work and thus "elicit positive reciprocity."[1] Ono has stated that "I called it Unfinished Music, which meant that you were supposed to put your own thing on, in the same way that remixers do today."[1]

Single release

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While in the UK Ono's "Open Your Box" appeared as the b-side of "Power to the People," that song was censored by the record company in the US as a result of a belief that it promoted promiscuity, particularly a line suggesting that Lennon should open his legs.[2][7][8] As a result, "Touch Me" replaced "Open Your Box" as the b-side to "Power to the People" in the US.[2][3][8] According to Ono biographer Jerry Hopkins, "Touch Me" was selected largely because it was a track from Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band that was short enough to fit.[8] Nonetheless, the version on the single was edited down to 3:40, from 4:37 on the album version.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Blaney, John (2007). Lennon and McCartney: together alone: a critical discography of their solo work. Jawbone Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-906002-02-2.
  2. ^ a b c d e Spizer, Bruce (2005). The Beatles Solo on Apple Records. 498 Productions. p. 46. ISBN 0966264959.
  3. ^ a b c Urish, Ben; Bielen, Ken (2007). The Words and Music of John Lennon. Praeger. pp. 25–26. ISBN 9780275991807.
  4. ^ Rogan, Johnny (1997). The Complete Guide to the Music of John Lennon. Omnibus Press. p. 152. ISBN 0711955999.
  5. ^ Mason, Adam (February 5, 2018). "Relisten without prejudice to Yoko Ono's Plastic Ono Band". Pop Matters. Retrieved 2021-08-21.
  6. ^ a b Kruth, John (2021). Hold On World: The Lasting Impact of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Plastic Ono Band, Fifty Years On. Backbeat. p. 193. ISBN 9781493052363.
  7. ^ Carr, Roy & Tyler, Tony (1978). The Beatles: An Illustrated Record. Harmony Books. p. 94. ISBN 0517533669.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b c Hopkins, Jerry (1986). Yoko Ono. Macmillan. p. 141. ISBN 0025539507.
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