They did an experiment with babies   Back in world war II   And the babies all were orphans   So no one cared or knew   They called it touch deprivation   And this is what they did:   If a baby started crying   Put a hand out from its crib      The nurses glid on by   As if they'd seen nothing at all   The nurses glid on by   And checked the chart off on the wall   Writing: "Nothing unusual here   Subjects continue rocking   Back and forth   As if they sense a   Thunderstorm is coming,"      And that flock of springtime babies   Nesting quiet in the lab   Were just fistfuls of feathers   Stuffing pillows after that   And those second world war nurses   Who had killed the orphan kids   Lived out cursed lives as spinsters   In trade for what they did      They did a similar experiment in New York   And this is what they did:   They rolled out the sheets of tarmac   And sliced them into grid   Then they filled the maze with people   But they told them not to touch   They convinced them it weren't civilized   And we believed as much      Why do you apologize   When you bump into my arm on the train?   And you apologize three times   Like it really caused anyone harm or pain   Being bumped into   Do you know you are the first person   To touch me in a month?   And sometimes I like the feeling of accidental touch      An experiment with ladies   With ladies and with men   We could decide to lose our language   So that we might try our skin   Strangers piggyback each other   The thrill of contact sport   And I finally could talk to you   But this time without words   'Cause you don't realize how you pollute the game   When you keep speaking circles   And your circles sound the same saying:   "I'm fine, how are you?   I'm good, how are you?   I'm fine, how are you?   I'm good how are you?   I am...finding it hard to relate to situations   Where I am asked to speak."