The Beaches
Touch Myself

The thread of the story for The Beaches new single, ‘Touch Myself’, seems to be a breakup. Having lost a relationship and suffered the heartbreak, the protagonist can’t stop thinking about their ex.

This tale is wrapped in a cheeky lyric, and bundled in an indie tune with a crispy guitar intro, melodic summery verses, and enough ooh-oohs to impress Church of Roswell. It’s a bit genius because it has wit, but retains the ability to be quite emotionally moving.

The chorus is a big moment in the song, but I also enjoy what the guitars get up to in the verse. The rhythm guitar chugs along, while the second guitar lays a low version of the intro hook underneath, before hitting the pre-chorus where it starts to progress along the fretboard towards the chorus hook.

‘Touch Myself’ is a song about being so heartbroken you can’t even masturbate, because when you do, it just makes you think of your ex. It’s about how grief can sneak into the most private parts of your life and leave you feeling totally wrecked.

Their album, No Hard Feelings, is out on 29th August 2025. You can pre-order it from the band’s store.

Touch Myself Video

Watch The Beaches – ‘Touch Myself’ (Lyric Video).

Touch Myself Lyrics

Heartbreak, gold mine
Might cry at the party, hope you don’t mind
I’m okay in the sunlight
The memories are wasted in the night time

You said I should
Try to come again
But when I do
Dark thoughts creep on in

Oh
And I know I could have someone else
In the shower of a cheap motel
But I’m scared to even touch myself
‘Cause when I do, I think of you
Oh-oh
You’re the best thing that I ever felt
The nostalgia’s so bad for my health
I’m so scared to even touch myself
‘Cause when I do, I think of you
Oh-oh

Velvet cushions
Just the feeling of them, oh my goodness
Up my insurance
Got therapy bills in the millions

You said I should
Try to come again
But when I do
Dark thoughts creep on in

Oh
And I know I could have someone else
In the shower of a cheap motel
But I’m scared to even touch myself
‘Cause when I do, I think of you
Oh-oh
You’re the best thing that I ever felt
The nostalgia’s so bad for my health
I’m so scared to even touch myself
‘Cause when I do, I think of you
Oh-oh

Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh, ’cause when I do, I think of you, oh-oh

Hid my bullet
‘Cause everything waist-down is broken
Don’t need no batteries
‘Cause the strap’s in the trash with my self-esteem

Oh
And I know I could have someone else
In the shower of a cheap motel
But I’m scared to even touch myself
‘Cause when I do, I think of you
Oh-oh
You’re the best thing that I ever felt
The nostalgia’s so bad for my health
I’m so scared to even touch myself
‘Cause when I do, I think of you
Oh-oh

Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh, ’cause when I do, I think of you, oh-oh

Written by Fenton on 12th July 2025

Steve Fenton writes in our music, words, and culture categories. He was Editor in Chief for The Mag and covered live music for DV8 Magazine and Spill Magazine. He was often found in venues throughout the UK alongside ace-photographer, Mark Holloway. Steve is also a technical writer and programmer and writes gothic fiction. Steve studied Psychology at OSC, and Anarchy in the UK: A History of Punk from 1976-1978 at the University of Reading.

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