| Book of Love – I Touch Roses Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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In writing, the rose and roses have always been symbolic of a woman's femininity, often directly referencing a woman's down-below. In the rock era, lyrical metaphors are usually very on-the-nose. When Susan Ottaviano - a gay woman - sings, "I touch roses," it's a literal "touch" she's referencing. I've always taken it to be a big, collective rolling of the eyes from gay women to the straight men who are infatuated with them. Breaking it down: First verse starts, "If you think I'm magical/'Cause roses bloom with my touch"...seems to be remarking on some hetero man's fantasy imagery of her setting another woman's orgasmic pleasure aflame with a supernatural touch. But she dismisses it as just sexual: "That's mathematical/I think you think too much." Next verse: "If you try to talk with me/If you try to copy my/Pocket full of poses/You still can't touch my roses." This seems to address the popular juvenile male fantasy that he can turn a gay woman to him, or get himself into a threesome with two gay women. The pocket "full of poses" line conjures up all sorts of posing and fronting from the man, trying to get the women to play along with the fantasy. She's saying, "Uh...no." Last verse, same message as the first: "If you think I'm magical/'Cause roses bloom with my touch/But magic's just not practical/I think you think too much." Again, telling him it's not some secret fairytale lesbian magic; it's just sex; just a normal, regular-day thing, just like with hetero folks. Remember that this was released in 1985, written in 1984. America was very different then with respect to gay people. The White House referred publicly the the exploding AIDS epidemic as "The gay plague." Being gay at that time basically meant you were either demonized, misunderstood, or both. Lots of songs were written in the 80s that expressed this, and many were like an "Idiot's Guide to Gay" for all the people who didn't understand that they were just normal people like them. The chorus just repeats the title of the song over and over: "I touch roses." This fits perfectly with the rest of the theme: "I am who I am, it is what it is. Deal with it, dude, and move on." |
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