Think ‘Untouched' shouldn't have been in the Hottest 100? You may just be out of touch
It's a stinking hot afternoon. The windows are down. We are approaching turn-offs for Forster and holding mild concerns about how our Korean chariot will handle the rest of the long trip. Its tiny back seat is packed to the brim — bags, tents, and another friend stuffed in among them. We should have left earlier, we say. Tired and sweaty, morale is sliding.
Then, we hear the violins.
When Untouched by The Veronicas ranked third in yesterday Hottest 100 Australian Songs Countdown, ahead of more obviously 'Aussie' classics like Beds are Burning, You're the Voice or Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again, it took some by surprise.
But, as someone who has scream-sung every word — including the harmonies — to the 2007 song while driving up the highway to a music festival, the placing could not have made more sense.
After reaching number two on the ARIA chart as the first single off their second album, Untouched has emerged as Brisbane-raised duo Jess and Lisa Origliasso's most enduring track.
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The song is loved by the LGBTQ community, particularly as Jess identifies as queer. As Triple J has reported, the sisters introduced Untouched as 'the national gay anthem' to a crowd of expats at Los Angeles Pride in 2019.
And, on any weekend across the country, Untouched will bring the girls to a wedding dance floor. Making it through the song's four minutes and 14 seconds is an endurance event: memory, stamina and diction are all required to keep singing the right – 'or wrong, or wrong or right' – repetitious words at 177 beats per minute.
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