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August 4, 2014 by tomdalzell

He Touched Me

I have a friend who was an altar boy in a Roman Catholic church.  He was never molested by a priest.  His nickname was briefly “Tater-Tot.”  I find that to be a great nickname.

2709283

This friend flinched when he saw a record album by Greg Kenrick in the Gabby collection of Christian albums entitled He Touched Me.  A young boy saying “He Touched Me” is open to interpretation as an accusation of sexual molestation.

LOWRY_ MARK _He Touched Me_

It could be something not intended by the speaker.

6351010880_a5ccde18a7_z

Or even something Oh So Much worse to the Evangelical mind:

Gat

The gospel hymn “He Touched Me” is a popular one.   Gospel song writer and performer Bill Gaither wrote it in 1963.  The premise is simple – the singer has been touched by the hand of Jesus.

He touched me, Oh He touched me,
And oh the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened and now I know,
He touched me and made me whole.

A number of gospel albums have been released with that name.  I wonder if they will continue to run with it, or will they run from it?

Screen Shot 2014-08-04 at 6.06.07 AM Screen Shot 2014-08-04 at 5.53.10 AM MrsB294000_10151155562391644_1295207408_n 67994_10151152577551644_986611285_n Screen Shot 2014-09-08 at 4.33.35 AM Screen Shot 2014-09-08 at 4.34.39 AM 15390_10151152582421644_1234084111_n 1470082_10151727626231644_104159518_n 537360_10151174125586644_1938189436_n Screen Shot 2014-09-08 at 4.38.52 AM 1544617_10151983612286644_1245262650975424428_n Screen Shot 2014-09-08 at 4.40.57 AM 934658_10151421438046644_1626696157_n 7685_10151709234936644_1238756317_n Screen Shot 2014-09-08 at 4.42.52 AM 32415_10151153299576644_1213831446_n 1472849_10151721392981644_617987398_n 197719_10151370356061644_557886487_n 548631_10151152570831644_353996126_n 481457_10151152608416644_1241468676_n 540170_10151152570411644_257203005_n 12119_10151153806796644_1910456333_n 1461050_10151766310426644_1549077775_n 3460358

Lamplighters_ The _He Touched Me_ IMG_6691 images hetouchedme He+Touched+Me+and+Other+Beautiful+Songs+Living+Strings++He+Touched+Me e71e62cbdbca211f31305285f6d8c831 d609ea12ed5b68784f519b8be035b20a Cover.170x170-75 Collins_ Charlotte _He Touched Me_ c1ed8bd03db82d743a9b9ba6ddb18ca4

443369 2672509 a3838527374_10 Eduard Klassen gaithertrio-hetouchedme gblackshear He Touched Me John Hughney P1060327-500x500 PAAAIAKPKDJBNEBEt Tennessee+Ernie+Ford+-+He+Touched+Me+-+LP+RECORD-529856CASTRO__LEE__He_Touched_Me_sdfsdf images-1 IMG_9698

And sheet music:

Screen Shot 2014-08-04 at 6.08.00 AMhetouched_zps4222eb4b

It is the title that was chosen for an album of gospel music as performed by Elvis.

He Touched Me SingleElvis+Presley+-+He+Touched+Me-+The+Gospel+Music+Of+Elvis+Presley+-+CD+ALBUM-439571 f

The meaning of words changes over years.  Let’s take “gay.”  Pretty big change.  Same thing for phrases.  After high-profile incidents with Joe Barron of the Prestonwood Baptist Church, Tony Alamo of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, and Wayne Bent/Michael Travesser of Lord Our Righteousness Church, one might think that “He Touched Me” would be toxic, or at least to-be avoided.  Just sayin’.

I am not done here.  There are other religious albums with “touch” in the title, again a poor choice of word if you ask me.

It Might have been good not to touch The Touch of Father Tom Smith Let Me Touch Him Touch Him Touch Me Again Just One Touch Someone Touched Me The touch of God Touch of the Master's Hand 2 The Touch of His Hand Somebody Touched Me Something YOu can Fell I Feel the  Touch Touch Me Lord Jesus 1 Lord touch Me Touch of the Master's Hand Touch Me Lord Jesus Touch Me Lord Jesus 2 Do You Want ot Touch Me Lord Touch Me 2

My goodness – what a looking of touching and feeling.   We aren’t done with sexual innuendo / double meanings in Christian album covers.  A couple of these approach x-rated, at least to the jaundiced mind to which the world is yellow:

Don't Miss the Great Snatch Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus 2 jpg Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus 3 Lord Split me Open Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus 1The Strategy of Penetration

And, second-to-lastly, at least for the moment, the “come” and “coming” album titles.  Lenny Bruce had a riff on “to come” that got him in trouble.

To is a preposition. 
To is a preposition. 
Come is a verb. 
To is a preposition. 
Come is a verb. 
To is a preposition. 
Come is a verb, the verb intransitive. 
To come. 
To come. 
I’ve heard these two words my whole adult life, and as a kid when I thought I was sleeping. 
To come. 
To come. 
It’s been like a big drum solo. 
Did you come? 
Did you come? 
Good. 
Did you come good? 
Did you come good? 
Did you come good? 
Did you come good? 
Did you come good? 
Did you come good? 
Did you come good? 
I come better with you, sweetheart, than with anybody in the whole goddamn world. 
I really came so good and I came so good ’cause I love you. 
I really came so good. 
I come better with you, sweetheart, than anyone in the whole world. 
I really came so good. 
So good. 
But don’t come in me. 
Don’t come in me. 
Don’t come in me 
Don’t come in me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me. 
Don’t come in me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me. 
Don’t come in me. 
Don’t come…. in me…in me in me. 
Don’t come in me, in me….in me. 
I can’t come. 
‘Cause you don’t love me–that’s why you can’t come. 
I can’t come. 
I love you, I just can’t come; that’s my hang-up. 
I can’t come when I’m loaded, all right? 
‘Cause you don’t love me. 
Just what the hell is the matter with you-what has that got to do with loving? I just can’t come that’s all. 
Now if anyone is this room or the world finds those two words decadent, obscene, immoral, amoral, asexual– the words “to come” really make you feel uncomfortable–if you think I’m rank for saying it to you, you the beholder think it’s rank for listening to it, you probably can’t come. And then you’re of no use, because that’s the purpose of life, to re-create it.

We are clearly back in the territory of dirty minds, but these record album titles cannot be ignored:

Dear God I am Coming We Come with Music I Know He's Coming He's Coming Then Jesus Came Sounds of His Coming When We Call Come Together

Some might find this just a tad puerile.  For me, though, it is not simply the double entendre.   It is the setting, the context.  Wholesome Christian music meets sexual pun.  Call it puerile if you must.  I am amused.

This final album demands listening, no?

Sex and the Bible

My friend was cleansing himself from the wholesome faces of these album covers (“Any one of those creeps on the album covers comes down the street, I cross the street and turn around” he says) with a small dose of the best known antidote.

Screen Shot 2014-08-04 at 6.20.18 AM

He knows the friend who pointed out the whole deal with “He Touched Me.”  He thinks that my former-altar-boy friend is a “righteous dude.”  But what does he think of all this album cover art?

IMG_3677

 

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One Response to He Touched Me

  1. Stace says:
    December 24, 2014 at 4:45 am

    Thanks for putting those together, I just saw the ad for the Elvis Gospel album, ” He touched me”, and said out loud (to myself “whaaaat?”, so did a search to see if anyone else feels that title is is little off. Your post is very amusing, thank you.

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