Olivia Newton-John

Earlier today I recalled some of the albums given to me when I was in kindergarten or elementary school. I remembered Michael Jackson's Bad, Madonna's Like a Virgin, Whitney Houston, and Def Leppard, but I forgot Olivia Newton-John's Soul Kiss.

One weekend I was at my cousins' house in Raymond, MS. I don't remember where everyone else had disappeared. It is possible I stayed behind when others went to the grocery store to get hot chocolate, or my aunt went to pick up her youngest daughter. But I had my record with me, or maybe it was Aunt Jane's? It is possible that I discovered her album and played it loudly in her empty house, dancing, bouncing around on the long white couch. I marveled at my flexibility, dance moves that now would be interpreted as dramatic stretches and twirls. Way too young to know anything about the song's meaning, I was instead learning what movement was comfortable to me: this look over my shoulder, pretending to be seductive.

 "Oh, let's get physical, physical, I wanna get physical, let's get into physical. Let me hear your body talk, your body talk, let me hear your body talk."

Of course I was too young to really know what Olivia was singing about, but I had a small clue. This song would eventually be forgotten, but replaced by Grease's popular songs and duets. I just knew that Olivia portrayed herself as a seductress in her video, which meant anyone singing this song must act as a seductress. Being shy didn't allow me to pretend around others, but alone I could pretend to be mysterious, mythical, and grown-up.

 Of course, now, I cannot even remember how the lyrics were sung. I'd probably laugh if I heard "Physical" on the radio. Its certainly not a song I identify with anymore, if I ever did in that fantasy world I created when I heard it. After looking at Wikipedia, I have learned so much more about the song... Or even better, watch the video that MTV often cut off at the end in the early '80s. Some countries even banned the song from playing on the radio. "Physical" was popular in 1981 and 1982, but I doubt I knew it at that time and probably stumbled across it when I was around 10 or 12.