Touch Me, I'm Sick: The 52 Creepiest Love Songs You've Ever Heard
In a follow-up to I Hate Myself and Want to Die: The 52 Most Depressing Songs You've Ever Heard, L.A. writer and TV producer Reynolds (thanks owed for Elimidate) assesses the queasy subgenre of pop songs in which love turns to obsession, ranging from The Police's "Every Breath You Take," to Fergie's "Fergilicious" to Michael Jackson's "Ben." In 52 admittedly subjective profiles, he talks breezily about the history of the song and performer before a guided tour through the song and an analysis of why, exactly, it's such a creepout. His sarcastic one-liners are hit or miss (MySpace jokes?), but his analysis is often thoughtful and vivid; "Every Breath" is "a ballad of utter loneliness. The lyrics ingeniously mimic the elliptical thoughts that fly around an obsessive's brain in mad loops." He's in no way above trashing a song he doesn't like or dishing dirt on those he does, but his brief, loud profiles can be unfulfilling. Other tracks include George Michael's "Father Figure," Air Supply's "Making Love Out of Nothing at All," Alanis Morssette's "You Oughta Know," Divynly's "I Touch Myself," and more contemporary chart-toppers like Clay Aiken's "Invisible." Like his last book, this should start many debates among pop music die-hards.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.