Out Of Touch

Album

Big Bam Boom

Label

RCA Victor

Genre

Synthpop

Composer(s)

Daryl Hall,;John Oates

Entered Chart

Sep 29, 1984

Peak Date

Dec 8, 1984

Released

October 4, 1984

Recorded

Studio Electric Lady, New York City

Catalog #

RCA 13916

B-Side

Cold, Dark And Yesterday

In a 1985 interview with the New York City Tribune, John Oates, who came up with the original idea for the song and wrote the chorus, explained the importance of the line in the song, "We're soul alone and soul really matters to me": "'Don't lose your soul' is one of our central themes. Soul matters. Roots matter. They're the source of your power, your core, the energy that sets you apart from the molecules in the wallpaper." This was the last of Hall & Oates' six American #1s - it remained at the top for two weeks (#48 in the UK). The rising sound at the beginning of the Big Bam Boom album is a metal gong struck with a hammer then played back in reverse with a keyboard sound layered under it. In 2004, a dance act called Uniting Nations sampled this for their song, also called "Out of Touch." This version had a long UK-chart run, which spanned over several months, peaking at #7. It was also a hit in continental Europe. Uniting Nations are Scotsman Paul Keenen and Englishman Daz Sampson, hence the name. In 2006 Daz Sampson represented Great Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Teenage Life." It came 19th out of 24. Rapper Jeezy's 2006 track "Streets On Lock" from his album The Inspiration: Thug Motivation 102 heavily samples this. Jeezy's track was produced by Miami-based producers Cool and Dre. Report this ad To give the song an urban feel, the duo brought in Arthur Baker, who produced the hip-hop soundtrack for the 1984 drama Beat Street, to help mix and produce the track. The video was directed by Jeff Stein, who also did the surreal videos for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "Don't Come Around Here No More" and The Cars' "You Might Think." This was a time when big-name artists were getting huge budgets for their videos, so there was plenty of money to burn in making the promo for "Out of Touch" - at least enough to purchase a Brobdingnagian drum kit with a bass drum that enveloped the duo. The video fit went well with the song's meaning, as we see the drum roll over Daryl Hall and John Oates, and later on we see them trapped inside, an apt metaphor for the feeling of isolation expressed in the song. For the last shot, Hall and Oates were actually sealed inside the drum. Oates told Golden Age of Music Video: "We were looking at each other between takes saying, 'So this is what it's all come to! We are at the top of the pop music world, and we're sealed inside a bass drum at 3 o'clock in the morning in a warehouse in Queens." This is featured in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

Shake it up is all that we know
Using the bodies up as we go
I'm waking up to fantasy
The shades all around aren't the colors we used to see
Broken ice still melts in the sun
And times that are broken can often be one again
We're soul alone
And soul really matters to me
Take a look around

You're out of touch
I'm out of time (time)
But I'm out of my head
When you're not around
You're out of touch
I'm out of time (time)
But I'm out of my head
When you're not around

Oh, ohh
Ohh

Reaching out for something to hold
Looking for a love where the climate is cold
Manic moves and drowsy dreams
Or living in the middle between the two extremes
Smoking guns hot to the touch
Would cool down if we didn't
Use them so much, yeah
We're soul alone
And soul really matters to me
Too much

You're out of touch
I'm out of time (time)
But I'm out of my head
When you're not around
You're out of touch
I'm out of time (time)
But I'm out of my head
When you're not around

Oh, ohh
Ohh
Ooh
Oh, ohh
Ohh (ohh)

(Out of touch, out of touch)

(Wow!) You're out of touch
I'm out of time
But I'm out of my head
When you're not around
You're out of touch
I'm out of time (time)
But I'm out of my head
When you're not around

You're out of touch (we're soul alone, girl)
I'm out of time
But I'm out of my head
When you're not around (not around)
You're out of touch
I'm out of time (out of touch, out of time)
But I'm out of my head (out of touch, out of time, girl)
When you're not around

You're out of touch
Reach out for something to hold (time)
But I'm out of my head
When you're not around (too cold, girl)
You're out of touch (too cold, girl)
I'm out of time (too cold, girl)
Yeah open eyes (not around)

You're out of touch (out of touch)
I'm out of time (out of time, out of touch)
But I'm out of my head (out of time)
When you're not around
You're out of touch
Yeah I'm out of time (time)
But I'm out of my head
When you're not around