Intimacy

If I hear two good songs from an album, then the chances are I'll buy it. If I like an album from an artist, then there's a good chance that I'll also buy the next one or the previous one. That's how come I downloaded Tess Wiley's "Not Quite Me" and then "Rainy Day Assembly" - about which more another time.

I can't remember what led me to buy the Corrs' "Talk on Corners". It wasn't the smug, tedious "So Young", nor was it the unedifying "Runaway" - so I guess, in terms of singles, "What can I do" probably had most to do with it.

There are, however, two excellent tracks on it. "Queen of Hollywood" is good, but the band just doesn't quite have the passion that the singer and the words demand. But "Intimacy" is one of the most amazing songs not only sung by the Corrs, but by anyone.

The writing credits aren't theirs, unlike many of the songs on their albums (though they also borrowed Hendrix's "Little Wing", and somewhat gaelified it). The writers credited are Rick Nowels and Neil Geraldo. The first verse has words of uncertainty in the night:

Last night before you fell asleep
You whispered something to me
Was it just a dream?
I’m gonna listen to you close
Cause your goodnight kiss
Felt like a ghost

What are you trying to say to me?
What are you trying to say?

Everybody’s searching for intimacy
Everybody’s hurting for intimacy

... and the rest of the song looks at the loneliness of the world, and the need for somebody to share that loneliness with.

We come into this world alone
From the heart of darkness
The infinite unknown
We’re only here a little while
And I feel safe and warm
When I see your smile

Baby don’t move away from me
Baby don’t pull away

Remember when you were a child
And your momma would hold you in her arms
And rock you to sleep
Now darling there’s just you and I
Let’s give each other everything, baby baby...

Everybody’s searching for intimacy
Everybody’s hurting for intimacy
Baby come and lay down next to me...
Everybody’s searching for intimacy

Companionship, and especially marriage, are gifts from God, and integral to who we are as human beings, so that this lonely, fragmented world need not be. The uncertainty, nervousness and suspicion that is the undercurrent of this song is the experience of too many people. The song is powerful because it lays bare the emotions that so many people suppress for so much of the time.