Can you help me to understand a word in lyrics. Here are two lines from Memory. If you are familiar with it, can you help me to understand the word 'touch' here? If you touch me, You'll understand

Cyanidefree

Can you help me to understand a word in lyrics. Here are two lines from Memory. If you are familiar with it, can you help me to understand the word 'touch' here? If you touch me, You'll understand what happiness is. We know the character is a cat, and she wants the listeners to touch her. But why doesn't she sing cuddle, hug, stroke or perhaps pat? Isn't touch here kind of too weak?

Apr 18, 2014 12:02 PM

Corrections · 3

Sorry: 因为主人公是一只猫！

April 20, 2014

我的理解是：直接翻译就是“如果你触摸我，你就会明白什么是真正的快乐”（因为主人公是一只帽）。如果按意思译我觉得可以翻译成“如果你爱我，就会明白什么是真正的快乐”。

April 20, 2014

The cats in the musical "Cats" are stray cats, they are "wild". Actions like petting, stroking or cuddling are alien to them because they are something an owner/pet parent would do. So "touch" is actually are more poignant word to use here because it represents the *least* of kind gestures, and that's all that the cat is asking for. An analogy would be if a hungry person sees someone cutting the crust off his sandwich, and he asks him if he can have the discarded crust, not the sandwich. The implication is sadder and more desperate.

April 18, 2014

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