The song is about a very bumpy relationship, which is a common theme in the album. The singer expresses anger against their partner using phrases like "Praying I wake up tomorrow, get the guts to tell you off", which refers to the singer hoping one day they will get the confidence to speak up, because their partner keeps screaming and mistreating the singer, and crawling back to them. This is expressed in the lines "You can scream you wish me dead, but I'll crawl back to you tomorrow, why the hell can't I get mad?"
The song was inspired by a real-life incident that occurred during the brothers' career. In an interview with The Zach Sang Show, the band members revealed that one of their previous managers stole around $70,000 (USD) from them. Some of the lyrics in the song allude to this event, such as "Now I can't even talk to ya" and "Now your lawyers talk to mine".
Promotion[]
It was first teased on August 15, 2023, with the caption "Teasing another one. The album is ready." The teaser shows Ryan sitting in an airport on Pro Tools, listening to the song. It was teased again on August 30, where the instrumental of the song was shown in a video captioned "Let’s talk about the album". On September 3, more lines of the chorus were revealed in a video captioned "I would give anything to not give a shit, but I do." The video shows Jack sitting in a bathtub singing the chorus of the song. On September 22, another 49 seconds of the song was revealed to people in AJR's texting list.
On November 2, the Rec Room AJR event had multiple songs in it, one being all of Touchy Feely Fool.
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1]
Well, I'm not too superstitious
But I knock on wood a lot
Prayin' I wake up tomorrow
And get the guts to tell you off
But I know I'll never get there
You could scream you wish me dead
But I'll crawl back to you tomorrow
Why the hell can't I get mad?
[Pre-Chorus]
Someday, won't this be funny?
Well, I want it funny now
Man, I wanna laugh so loud
Someday, won't this be long ago?
I wanna feel that now
Sorry if I can't see how
[Chorus]
I'm screwed
But, hey, what can you do?
I'm a touchy feely fool
I would give anything to not give a shit about you
Life is pretty cruel
For a touchy feely fool
I would give anything to not give a shit, but I do
I would give anything to not give a shit
[Verse 2]
Well, I'm not too claustrophobic
But I lose my breath sometimes
Now I can't even talk to ya
Now your lawyers talk to minе
Could you teach me to be ruthlеss?
Could I be unfeeling too?
Maybe someday when I'm older
I'll be better off like you
[Pre-Chorus]
I'm better off a stick, I'm better off a stone
I'm better off a jerk, I'm better off alone
I'm better not feeling stress or feeling bliss
I won't feel much, at least I won't be feelin' this
[Chorus]
I'm screwed
But, hey, what can you do?
I'm a touchy feely fool
I would give anything to not give a shit about you
Life is pretty cruel
For a touchy feely fool
I would give anything to not give a shit, but I do (I do, I do)
I would give anything to not give a shit
[Bridge]
But someday, won't this be funny?
Well, I want it funny now
Man, I wanna laugh so loud
Someday, won't this be long ago?
I wanna feel that now
I'm sorry if I can't see how
