Secret Touch

Background and Commentary

Called “highly textural” by Martin Popoff in Contents Under Pressure, the piece evokes the idea that once you’re scarred by life, you become out of sync with the rhythms of the world around you, and your scar remains with you, like a secret touch on the heart, as you try to live and love again.

The line “secret touch on the heart” comes from Joseph Conrad’s Victory and “there is never love without pain” comes from Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

“I think ‘Secret Touch’ is my favorite song on Vapor Trails, and I love playing it live. It’s got a great intensity about it.”—Geddy in Contents Under Pressure

Lyrics

The way out
Is the way in
The way out
Is the way in . . .

Out of touch
With the weather and the wind direction
With the sunrise
And the phases of the moon
Out of touch
With life in the land of the loving
With the living night
And the darkness at high noon

You can never break the chain
There is never love without pain
A gentle hand, a secret touch on the heart

Out of sync
With the rhythm of my own reactions
With the things that last
And the things that come apart
Out of sync
With love in the land of the living
A gentle hand, a secret touch on the heart

A healing hand, a secret touch on the heart

There is never love without pain
Life is a power that remains

Tablature

By Travis Lausch

Excerpted from Ultimate Guitar.

This is only a partial tab

||—————————-|——0—0—0—-||
||—————————-|—-3—3—3—3–||
||—————————-|——————-||
||———2—-7p5p0—–0—|——————-||
||—–2h5—-5——–7——|——————-||
||–0————————-|——————-||

||—————————-|——3—3—3—-||
||—————————-|—-5—5—5—5–||
||—————————-|——————-||
||———2—-7p5p0—–0—|——————-||
||—–2h5—-5——–7——|——————-||
||–0————————-|——————-||

Pre Verse Riff A————————–|
||—————–||—————–||————–||
||—————–||—————–||————–||
||*—————*||*6–6—6—6–6*||-6-6-6–6-6-6-||
||*2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2*||*x–x—x—x–x*||-x-x-x–x-x-x-||
||—————–||-4–4—4—4–4-||-4-4-4–4-4-4-||
||—————–||—————–||————–||

Verse Chords:
D5 G5 C7 (x-3-2-3-x-x)
E5 (2nd time)

Chorus
||—————|————|—————|—————–||
||—————|————|—————|—————–||
||———–(4)-|————|—————|—————–||
||——–(2)—-|-7——-/9\|-4——-5-4-0-|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-||
||—–(2)——-|————|—————|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-||
||-0————-|————|—————|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-||
Play Riff A after 2nd Chorus

For rest of tab, go to Ultimate Guitar.