Honestly, I can't really say I ever loved this song. I like the beginning 'rain' sound that starts out but then those little 'blip blip' noises start and they really bug me. HA! I know, I may over-analyze at times, but lots of things about this song just irritate me for some reason. I hate to be negative about it, and I really do enjoy it 'live' because it adds so much excitement and energy to the show, but I do tend to skip it when it comes up on the CD or on my Mp3 player.
I have to say my FAVORITE part is that "ow, ow, ow ow" that he blurts out towards the end and the sax ~ I love that part also!..... To this day, if I ever hear this song on the radio, I do get all excited, but that may be just because I actually hear a Rick song coming across the airwaves. I guess this is just a 'take it or leave it' song for me.
- Amy L.
For me, Human Touch has kind of taken on a life all its own. It is not just the first track off LIO. It is (was) one of the highlights for me during EFX…because it was a glimpse of the real Rick, which was always my favorite part of the show (well…..alright……..a EXTREMELY close 2nd would be the opening sequence when Rick Springfield is flying above me on a saucer….hair and long coat flowing in the wind, how often can we truly feel like we are 16 years old again?? But that is a whole different review
) I would look around at all the non-Rick fans in the EFX theater and they were always amazed when he came off the stage, singing HT and dancing all around them. I felt like I had a big secret, sitting there watching all the fairies and magicians, and when Rick leaped out into the crowd everyone was let in on the secret….that Rick is so much more than you see on that stage.
But as we all know too, it signifies the end of the live show now…..JG closely follows. So that is bittersweet. I still marvel at how Rick leaps into some of these crowds that frankly, I am a little nervous to be standing in!!! I love that he is not as afraid of us as he was in the 80’s. It always reminds me of that story I saw on the news in the 80’s…..do you remember the girls (and I am not sure where they were from in the USA...East coast I think) who screamed SO much during a Rick show that they needed dental repairs to their actual teeth? They were my heroes!
When I heard HT originally, I liked it. I related to the isolation of the modern world……we did not have a computer yet but many people I knew did……they seemed so odd to me. I had always wished however, that LIO would have been the 2nd single released. That being said…..corny dance moves and all….I love the video. The song is s Springfield classic no matter what the decade we are in!
- Tina W.
This is a great `classic' Rick song and a fun song to see live! I like this one a lot, but it's not one of those Rick songs where I'm just sitting around and suddenly I have this dying urge to hear it and then find myself saying, "I HAVE to hear Human Touch!" (I actually have many Rick songs that do pull me in that way). That being said, I really enjoying singing along to this song and I think it has significant meaning. I think it is *the* perfect choice of starting songs for the Living In Oz collection. It feels like a warm-up for what's to come, like an introduction. It sets the tone for the whole sound of this `album.' I also feel it was very appropriate for the times in which it was released. We really were coming into the age of
computers---"Everybody's talking to computers, they're all dancing to a drum
machine." It sounds as if there are drum machines in this song. (I'm guessing that's what that is) The opening music has a computerized sound to it and something that reminds me of a space ship landing.
One of the things I love so much about this song is how I can hear and feel Rick's fear throughout most of the lyrics…and in his voice--- Fear of people losing that physical contact, one of the most basic things in life---Fear of the future---Fear of being "isolated"---Fear of commitment. I remember listening to it when it first came out and I recall how I found it comforting. I mean, the coolest and most rocking guy in the universe was actually feeling insecure in our changing world, just as *I* was. That was and is so appealing to me. And with him I feel it comes from the heart. Times were changing, we were all getting older and music was moving on through the 80's (just as all of this applies now, in today`s time of modern technology. And even now, we sure aren't getting any
younger!)---"I know I'm living on the outside, scared of getting caught
between." This is when I realized Rick was not a real computer `geek.' Of course, he didn't `come of age' in the days of computers as I did, or many of us have. He was used to good old-fashioned love and courtships (LOL ), the way people used to do it before computers connected everyone. That `human touch' is so important. He is right about that one!
I adore how Rick put so much emotion into how he pronounces a lot of the words in this song. The parts where he says
"need" as in "We all need. We all need the human
touch," and he emphasizes it…as if it`s so crucial (especially at the end where he says it over and over in the last verse). Then I love how he jumps in with,
"and I need it TOO!" There is also a neat effect when he says, "knack" and "back." Then there's the
"Come on GIRL!" (Just makes you want to go running to him…*here I come*…haha) Yes, the sound effects in this song are pretty awesome, and there are so many of them scattered throughout. There's the handclapping type sounds in certain parts, which I tend to like. And then there's the saxophone, which I don't always care for. It has to be just right, and in this song it is. It fits perfectly. I also like the
"Ow ow ow ow!" noise he does towards the end and then the way the ending to the song fades off with the drum beats. It reminds me of the drums in a marching band.
Other great lines are when he says---"I'm so cool and calculated alone in the modern world. Uh
huh." Or when he says, "I sit so smug and isolated alone in the modern world. Uh
huh." To me the "uh huh" makes him sound so confident all of a sudden, as if he's decided to be comfortable with the existence he's been used to. But "Sally" is not. She has had one too many broken hearts. Rick uses a cool analogy for this woman with all the
heartbreak---"The alley to her heart is a beaten track." That's a really good line since "alley" and "Sally" rhyme, and it makes sense in the context of the song. Apparently "Sally" noticed that Rick had problems with
commitment---"You know I got my walls, Sally calls them prison
cells." This sounds to me like emotional walls, which often CAN be like a self-created prison of sorts. But then he's telling
her---"If you want love I got it, come on girl." I'm guessing he means physical love in this case since he seems to have up his defenses about relationships. That seems pretty common in a lot of Rick's music. He writes as if he has the hardest time with the emotional aspects of relationships, but the sexual part of it never seems to be an issue! Ok, so maybe that's just a `guy thing!'
On a side note about this song and the collection itself…I can remember being a bit `shocked' when this album came out. The first thing was the cover and the new hair Rick was sporting. I remember seeing the cover and thinking, "OH NO…what have you done Rick?" because I was used to his `feathered' look, clean shaven face and a certain style. But I came home, put on the tape and began listening…over and over and over for years to come, until my tape became warped. In a matter of minutes while listening that first day, I had completely "forgiven" him for the changes! Fortunately I was old enough to realize that changes happen and it's part of the normal flow of life. I think it was just difficult right at first because it's sometimes hard to `let go' of the things you know and love. Little did I know that I'd STILL be loving this man all these years later. That's a sign of a truly talented artist. I found that I liked the changes to his music style and I really enjoyed the edgier, harder sound he had created with LIO. In a lot of ways this album has more depth than the ones before it, and certainly more `pain' and `issues' than the other two from the 80's. This whole album is awesome to me and I'm forever grateful that Rick did what HE wanted to do and not what everyone `expected' from him. (I love the "rebel" in that man! ) In a way he took a step out musically. This collection is chock full of honesty and emotion, and I could just kiss him and tell him "thank you" for such a perfect collection of songs. I never dreamed back then that I'd have the chance to get the `human touch' from Rick himself. What an incredible thing it is too, to actually have a hug or `touch' from the man who's rocked my world for the biggest part of my life. (thanks to meet and greets and good opportunities!) Rock on Rick Springfield!
- Kelley Pearson
Be careful what you wish for.
The message of this song speaks to my heart. Even 20 years ago, when technology seemed to be developing faster than my hormonal body, I get the feeling that Rick began to sense that something was getting lost in the shuffle of communication and interaction. We developed stronger relationships with technology, and began to rely on these relationships to satisfy whatever void needed to be filled, be it making music, entertainment or as a matter of convenience.
Rick picked up on what was happening. I do find it most interesting that one of his favorite movies is 2001: A Spacey Odyssey, a movie in which the ship (Hal 9000) displays human characteristics, so much so that it learns to be suspicious, paranoid and takes action with regards to self preservation. This is a scary thought when something man-made develops our own traits, a reflection of what we are and what machine can become… The ugly side of being human.
Having said my appreciation for the message this song gives, I cannot stand the music. He still plays it at every show, and it does seem a fitting way for him to get this message across because he sings it while he surfs the audience, a sea full of fans.
Then there are times when I think he may have become a bit immune to the message of this song, maybe he has become desensitized to his original message. A tour can become somewhat of a routine. The travel, the venues, the fans, the bookings, the promotion, the management, and just the repetitiveness of how and when this song is played during the show. Lately, I've been feeling that something is missing, a bit of the 'human touch' aspect. I won't venture as to speculate what is going on but I do think the release of a new CD in 2008 may help alleviate some of what I am feeling. His music speaks to me on so many levels but, oddly enough, 'Human Touch' leaves me feeling somewhat empty these days. I generally skip it to save myself the grief.
- Kat M.
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