We also wish a happy birthday to Diane Holroyd. Diane comes from my old teenage hunting ground of Cleckheaton and now lives in Blackpool. Enjoy your special day, Diane.
My song today is ‘Don’t Close Your Eyes’. This song was written by Bob McDill and was recorded by American country music artist Keith Whitley. It was released in March 1988 and reached the Number 1 spot in the United States. It peaked at Number 2 in Canada and was Billboard's Number-1 country single of the year in 1988. The song was also later covered by Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks.
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I have often wondered why some people close their eyes when they are giving their lover a romantic kiss and others don’t. Surveys have shown that most men keep their eyes open to kiss their lovers while most women close their eyes when snogging. I remember my mother telling me, “Billy, there is no fool like an old fool. Never kiss someone with your eyes closed. They could be laughing at you unknowingly to your face!” If I was to speculate why some people close their eyes when kissing, I might suspect it was the lips of another who they had on their mind at the time. It has been well documented that the picture of the person one has in their mind when they are making passionate love, is not always the image of the man or woman to whom they are making love.
Scientifically, we are told that people close their eyes while kissing to allow the brain to properly focus on the task at hand, and psychologists have found that ‘tactile awareness’ (sense of touch) depends on the level of perceptual load in a concurrent visual task. Psychologists believe that kissing with closed eyes gives participants a better chance of moving towards more intimate interaction by keeping them focused and allowing them to build the momentum of a kiss, rather than quickly getting distracted and diverting their attention elsewhere.
I have always kept my eyes open when kissing a woman. I recognise, that like most men, I am a visual person in things I derive pleasure and satisfaction from. I do not know if this part of my heterosexual behaviour requires visual stimulation to achieve greater sexual arousal, or whether I have never forgotten what my mother once told me in jest about the other person laughing at me to my face unknowingly should I close my eyes.
Come to think of it, I would not put anything past this modern generation of kissing cousins and cell-phone snoggers, whose attention span is all of three seconds before their mind suddenly switches to another task. Besides, in today’s all-embracing world of heterosexuals, homosexuals, bisexuals, transsexuals, pansexual, etc etc, it is difficult enough for any regular guy to know with any certainty the true nature of the other person they are kissing and exchanging the taste of lipstick products with.
Love and peace Bill xxx